Why So Serious

Why So Serious
While the work of student ministry is serious business, you don’t want to take yourself or your circumstances too seriously for too long.
Three reasons:
First, things never stay the same for very long so why get too accustom to it or spend too much time lamenting it. Learn from it, take a minute to study it but move on rather quickly.

Second, most student ministry mishaps are not as bad as it seems even when something is truly bad. It is simply human nature to replay the bad stuff over and over in our head but don’t let your imagination run wild with making it worse than it truly is. We also have an adversary roaming around looking for our soft spot to shoot an arrow of defeat into our armor the second we remove a piece. So never remove the protection you have by sinful conduct or dwelling on the negative. Our enemy loves to hit the replay button over and over in slow motion. In fact, he often likes to add special effects to magnify the sense of failure.

Third, nothing is ever as good as you remember. It is also our human nature to amplify our successes or listen to the voices of the cheering crowd. We allow the fan club to hold too much of our attention for too long until we believe we have what it takes to become a local church legend.

Rarely is anything exactly as you think it is because that would assume that you know everything about something or something about everything. Stupidity is thinking what you know is pretty much all there is to be known about that particular subject. If we do not steer clear of extreme highs and lows, then we fall victim to wrong thinking and practical stupidity.

The secret is to take the ministry serious without taking your ministry life too serious. If you are a serious person by nature, then you may have to work at getting jokes, giving in to humor, learning to laugh at yourself or your situation. Failure to manage your serious side can lead people to think you are acting superior, disapproving of their sense of adventure or fun. It may also cause you to miss out of the benefit of lighthearted work. Taking yourself too seriously can put a strain on relationships so lighten up and level out.

Maybe serious is not how you operate or how others would describe your personality. You are by nature the life of the party, the humorous one, or the jokester. Your struggle can be just as frustrating but for different reasons. Since student ministers are already viewed as living on the fun side of ministry-ville, some people might not take you serious enough to allow your ministry strategies to have major impact. Those in your leadership team who favor their serious side may find it challenging to convey their concern for a seriousness situation. It is important for you to strike a balance between being serious about ministry and being serious in ministry. If you can strike this necessary balance you will find the ministry, your leadership team and your mission much more enjoyable during day to day ministry life.

"A happy heart makes the face cheerful" Proverbs 15:13

"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart." Proverbs 15:30

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. ⁷ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸ and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.” Titus 2:6-8