There's No Miracle Answer
I often find myself asking the Lord to refocus my attention on the bottom line principles that make a youth ministry one that makes heaven celebrate. Interestingly enough, I found that in an article about the famed UCLA Bruins and their historic coach, John Wooden, its implications in youth ministry significance are quite profound. So, allow me to share some of my thoughts with you. Youth ministry basketball, anyone?
The UCLA Bruins basketball dynasty of the 1960's and early 1970's is still referenced by sports lovers today. Most basketball fans know that the Bruins won ten NCAA Championships in only twelve years. Equally impressive, at one point in their history the Bruins under Wooden's leadership assembled a 61 game winning streak!
But a vital part of Bruin history, that we as youth leaders need to know, is NOT often shared in the sports magazines. Do you know how many years Coach Wooden coached the BRUINS before his FIRST NCAA Championship? Fifteen! From 1948 until 1963, Coach Wooden worked with his teams in relative obscurity before winning his first championship in 1964. Year after year, Wooden built the underlying foundations for good basketball, developed a recruiting system, improved his own skills, and implemented a consistent philosophy refining his full-court press style of play. No one paid too much attention to the quiet, soft-spoken coach and his team until ... WHAM!! ... they seemingly hit a breakthrough point and began to systematically crush every serious competitor for more than a decade.
What's this have to do with youth ministry, you ask? Everything ...
You see, human nature wants to look for "the miracle answer" ... "the miracle moment." But in truth, true youth ministry success does not come from that kind of short-lived "magic moment." Granted, there are simple principles that are key in all youth ministries, but much like John Wooden, most people who want to create powerful youth ministries will need to spend lots of "seasons" in relative obscurity. Anyone can coach a youth ministry when everything is exploding positively. But the Lord looks for people who have enough character to spend the hypothetical "15 seasons" of faithfulness prior to major spiritual and numerical breakthrough.
Maybe that's why the Lord continues to stress that He's looking for those who can be termed, "enduring" and "faithful." The basics in both youth ministry and in basketball are pretty simple and pretty non-glamorous. Those basics in youth ministry include consistent prayer, consistent quality in weekly youth services, a systematic approach to discipleship, and a few more of those seemingly mundane consistent disciplines. Michael Jordan once said, "All true basketball greatness rises and falls on greatness in the fundamentals." After a little over four decades in youth ministry, I need to tell you that the same could be said from this end.
People want great youth ministries... and they want them FAST! But I challenge you to find an overnight youth ministry success story that has sustained. It just doesn't happen that way. Every vibrant youth ministry is characterized by the non-exciting repetition of the fundamentals. Scripture exhorts us over and over to be people who not only START in the race... but more importantly, people of commitment who FINISH. Youth ministry leadership has a lot of great starters these days... but not a lot of great finishers.
I often find myself asking the Lord to refocus my attention on the bottom line principles that make a youth ministry one that makes heaven celebrate. Interestingly enough, I found that in an article about the famed UCLA Bruins and their historic coach, John Wooden, its implications in youth ministry significance are quite profound. So, allow me to share some of my thoughts with you. Youth ministry basketball, anyone?
The UCLA Bruins basketball dynasty of the 1960's and early 1970's is still referenced by sports lovers today. Most basketball fans know that the Bruins won ten NCAA Championships in only twelve years. Equally impressive, at one point in their history the Bruins under Wooden's leadership assembled a 61 game winning streak!
But a vital part of Bruin history, that we as youth leaders need to know, is NOT often shared in the sports magazines. Do you know how many years Coach Wooden coached the BRUINS before his FIRST NCAA Championship? Fifteen! From 1948 until 1963, Coach Wooden worked with his teams in relative obscurity before winning his first championship in 1964. Year after year, Wooden built the underlying foundations for good basketball, developed a recruiting system, improved his own skills, and implemented a consistent philosophy refining his full-court press style of play. No one paid too much attention to the quiet, soft-spoken coach and his team until ... WHAM!! ... they seemingly hit a breakthrough point and began to systematically crush every serious competitor for more than a decade.
What's this have to do with youth ministry, you ask? Everything ...
You see, human nature wants to look for "the miracle answer" ... "the miracle moment." But in truth, true youth ministry success does not come from that kind of short-lived "magic moment." Granted, there are simple principles that are key in all youth ministries, but much like John Wooden, most people who want to create powerful youth ministries will need to spend lots of "seasons" in relative obscurity. Anyone can coach a youth ministry when everything is exploding positively. But the Lord looks for people who have enough character to spend the hypothetical "15 seasons" of faithfulness prior to major spiritual and numerical breakthrough.
Maybe that's why the Lord continues to stress that He's looking for those who can be termed, "enduring" and "faithful." The basics in both youth ministry and in basketball are pretty simple and pretty non-glamorous. Those basics in youth ministry include consistent prayer, consistent quality in weekly youth services, a systematic approach to discipleship, and a few more of those seemingly mundane consistent disciplines. Michael Jordan once said, "All true basketball greatness rises and falls on greatness in the fundamentals." After a little over four decades in youth ministry, I need to tell you that the same could be said from this end.
People want great youth ministries... and they want them FAST! But I challenge you to find an overnight youth ministry success story that has sustained. It just doesn't happen that way. Every vibrant youth ministry is characterized by the non-exciting repetition of the fundamentals. Scripture exhorts us over and over to be people who not only START in the race... but more importantly, people of commitment who FINISH. Youth ministry leadership has a lot of great starters these days... but not a lot of great finishers.
Related Items
Two separate studies showed that 3% of all Yale and Harvard graduates were financially far more successful than 97% of their counterparts. So much more successful, one study showed that the 3% earned more than the 97% combined. What set them apart from the others? You might find this surprisingly simple, it was written goals with a plan of action.
In this Youth Leader's Coach, "The Uncommon 3%," we cover goal-setting in detail. Hopefully, understanding what setting goals can accomplish, along with guidelines for effectively writing them, will encourage and equip you to take your next step toward mastering the skill. For the results are in, our lifelong success depends on it!
Becoming intentional with you,
It's the "dragon" most all of us deal with in youth ministry - the success syndrome. We all know how it feels and the secret thoughts that pound in our minds. If we listen to its promptings, we never DO enough...we never GIVE enough...we never CARE enough in our youth ministry journey.
This Youth Leader's Coach, "Slaying The Success Syndrome," deals with all those issues. We take a look at what true biblical success IS and ISN'T. After all, it would be positive if we built our concept of success around our Maker's Handbook. Besides adding a lot of internal peace to your day, this mentoring session might even add years to your life - both physically and spiritually.
Yours for being a "Dragon Slayer,"
It's football season, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to do a teaching entitled, "Vince Lombardi On Youth Ministry." Lombardi was obviously the esteemed historical coach of the Green Bay Packers. He was a legend in his football leadership.
As I've studied his leadership, many of his primary principles are really applicable to building effective youth ministry teams. So whether you're a football fan or not, I think you'll enjoy our mentoring time together.
Lombardi would remind us that, "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather, A LACK OF WILL."
Excitedly "WILLING" to serve you,
Have you ever met those youth pastors that seem to turn everything they touch into "gold"? While we know that life isn't perfect for them, no matter what they do, they always seem to win. Even though we may never admit it, often we feel very frustrated watching others always "get it right."
In this Youth Leader's Coach, I take a look at the "winning secrets of champions" by reviewing some of the greats of the athletic world. Standouts such as Tiger Woods, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan and others are not just "great" in their fields, but truly seem to "always win." The same principles that made them amazing also apply to our "playing field" of youth ministry. Take this hour, listen, and realize that it isn't just what happens "in the ring" of our Wednesday Night service but "outside of the ring," in our everyday life, that determines a "champion." May this hour between us be one that would make you into a youth leader that "runs up the scoreboard" everyday!
Honored to have you in my life,
I still study lots and I love growing and hearing new things...but I also love reminding myself of things I've read many times before, but can be too easy to forget...and this topic is one of them. In his book, Good to Great, management researcher, Jim Collins reveals his findings in what makes a company not only good...but great. What ONE THING do all of these companies have in common? They were all led by a "Level 5 Leader."
A Level 5 Leader may not be what you would expect. In this Youth Leader's Coach, I examine what makes a "Level 5 Leader," how you can grow in your "Level 5 Leadership" and how being a "Level 5 Leader" applies to the church world.
Lovingly,
