What Will You Do Without Leadership?

Remember in Braveheart when William Wallace asked the men of Scotland, "What will you do without freedom?" He was asking them, how will you live without everything that makes life worth living? In much the same way I like to ask youth pastors around the country, "how will you do youth ministry without leadership?" If youth ministry's main goals are to reach and grow students for Christ, how can you do that without focusing on leadership? To reach students you need leaders or influencers who will get into the mess of this world, stand against it and lead people in the direction of Christ. Seriously, how will you do that without leaders? When students take a stand and lead for Christ, they strive towards the goal of accomplishing the Great Commission, and it is amazing to see.

For the longest time youth ministry has focused on just having students come to church or church events. We measure success by the numbers of students. What if instead we had developed a few students into leaders and we had sent them into the world prepared to lead others to Christ? I think of the story of Gideon in Judges 7. God didn't need the masses; he just needed the right people who were ready and willing. If we take seriously God's call to train students as leaders, he will use to accomplish a lot in this world.

Here at LeaderTreks we have just finished writing the Leadership Live Curriculum. We wrote these lessons because we believe that youth ministry is all about leadership. The long-term effect of a ministry is going to be found in the leaders it produces. For leadership development to move into the DNA of a youth ministry, it has to be taught to the adult volunteers as well. So Leadership Live has lessons for student and adults. The more leadership your adult volunteers demonstrate the more ministry they will own and the more students will learn from them. Creating a culture of leadership will grow the capacity of your ministry and change its long-term effects. What if your youth ministry had 5 new leaders in it - both adult and students, how would it be different? You and I both know that just a few leaders can make all the difference. So don't just wait for leaders to show up, they are not coming. Start now to develop leaders to make long-term difference in the lives of students and in the impact of your ministry. Check out Leadership Live.