Are we afflicted...

"As ministers we are called to comfort the afflicted, AND afflict the comfortable."

I had the great opportunity to hear Dr. Alvin Reid speak this summer at SuperSummer Arkansas. He is probably one of the most influential speakers I have heard in my life. It took everything I had not to be on my phone tweeting and facebooking every other sentence that he said. One of the topics that he covered was what true ministry looks like. When he said, "As ministers we are called to comfort the afflicted, AND afflict the comfortable," my heart dropped. I want to share with you a few thoughts I have about this topic.

One of the main reasons I was so brokenhearted over this statement, was because I knew instantly I was guilty. I knew that on Wednesday nights I was all about comforting the afflicted. One lesson I was taught growing up was that if you can leave church after hearing a sermon feeling all warm and bubbly then it was not a good sermon. Instead of telling the pastor "good sermon" after church our response should be "I needed that." I realized I was applying that idea to the "big church sermons" I was hearing on Sunday mornings, but not making that that the purpose for my lessons on Wednesday nights. If we put the emphasis on God our students will walk away changed.

Along the same lines Dr Reid talked all week about truly challenging the students and not watering down everything for them. Again I knew instantly I was guilty. I was guilty of thinking that just because they were in a small town and never had a true youth minister, that they couldn't grasp theology. I thought I needed to water it down for them. I was very wrong. I find it is difficult to balance between the students that instantly grasp the point and those who it takes longer. But one thing that I have found true is that all students are tired of being talked down to. With all the information at their fingertips, this generation can handle the challenge. If the church stops challenging the students, they are going to go somewhere else to find that challenge. We need to stop treating our students like babies and start treating them like the smart students they are.

I could write pages and pages about what Dr. Reid talked about. From family to revival, he covered lots of topics but one quote that sums it all up for me and my ministry, and has been posted on my desk ever since, was this one:

"If we keep doing what we are doing we are going to keep getting what we are getting"