We Have Seen The Enemy, And He Is Us!

It's amazing the unusual sources where wisdom can be found. The Bible obviously is the best source, but I believe that the Lord has a habit of occasionally surprising us by putting wisdom in unusual places. The title of this post actually is a line from the comic strip character Pogo the Possum. Pogo's statement is such a correct and disturbing indictment of whom it is we must fight with all our might.

It was good old Plato who formalized the idea that material things are inferior to spiritual things. In a sense he was right but God created all of us both material and immaterial and to understand how God expects us to live, both must be taken into account. So the fact of the matter is that our spiritual state is not dependent on our physical state but our physical state can and does reflect the state of our spirit. A better way of making this point comes from Proverbs 23:7 where the Psalmist states, "...as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

"Okay, enough with the philosophy, Mike what are you getting at?" I'm glad you asked. The fact of the matter is that the reason why youth ministry suffers trends like 75% of students graduating and not returning has more to do with the state of the hearts of youth pastors than anything else. We as youth pastors and leaders have no one to blame but ourselves. I know this sounds harsh but think with me for a moment.

Everyday a student pastor goes to work; he has to make a decision. This decision is whether or not I am going to follow God's word explicitly or am I just going to do what it takes to pack out the youth room. Don't miss the import of this question because how you answer it says volumes about the state of your heart. If you as a youth pastor or leader are not willing to make tough decisions to do what is right the only alternative is building your kingdom and not God's. And friends I'm here to tell you that even a quick observation of the many youth programs in some of this countries largest churches clearly demonstrate whose kingdom is being built.

So my challenge to all of you pastors out there who read this post, is if you are building your own kingdom, stop. Don't be ashamed, don't feel guilty, just consider this a friendly wake up call and stop. Make it your focus to follow God's word and train parents to disciple their kids. Be happy that your students are more interested in learning from their parents and spending more time with them than they are shouting you on as you stand in front of them and eat goldfish. Build your ministry around principles instead of personalities or activities. Let God's Word be the focus of your teaching ministry. I know this might sound radical but Jesus was a bit radical too and He gives us His blessing to do radical (Luke 6:22-23). Yes we have seen the enemy and he is us, but this enemy can be defeated!