Behind the Desk
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03/09/2009
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I often find myself developing great new ways to engage and work with teenagers. The strange thing is they all involve me sitting behind my desk. I have two main issues with spending most of my time in front of the computer.
Issue number one: I'm always at my desk. Log in to your instant messenger and you will find this out the hard way. Yes, I am that guy. I might even hunt you down on Facebook.
Has youth ministry come down to text messaging systems and fancy technology? Raise your hand if your iPhone is used for "youth ministry." I rest my case.
Issue number two: I'm giving my students the impression that it's okay to spend life hiding behind technology, cell phones, computers, and other stuff I'm not cool enough to know about yet. This brings with it an entirely new onset of problems.
Yes the days of bringing a football out to the park and having 50 students show up are over. That doesn't mean youth pastors should be hiding out behind high tech devices.
I started thinking: When was the last time I went to a high school basketball game, took a group of teenagers out for no reason, or sat around outside the local school and waited to hand out flyers?
Get out from behind your desk and get in person.
John Denton is the youth pastor at Central Community Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California. yeahjohndenton@gmail.com. youthpastorjohn.com.
Conversation
Jeremy, I love bbq's and
Jeremy,
I love bbq's and camping. When I hang out in front on the church with my skateboard and an ice chest full of soda you would be amazed the ministry that takes place.
John
This problem of sitting
This problem of sitting behind the desk is most likely a problem for most youth pastors unless there are still some who are computer illiterate. However, I can’t imagine a youth pastor that isn’t up with the latest technology. You have to be in order to relate to teens, it’s like an unwritten rule. The problem is that everything these days is technology driven. You have high tech phones, computers, TVs, and game systems. We are a generation that is literally consumed with our gadgets. In fact it is scary, because we often spend 2 or 3 hours minimum playing around and don’t even realize it. However, when it comes to praying or reading the word we just don’t seem as enthused. We might begin to ask ourseleves what is more important.
Therefore, we must come out from behind the desk and do something that doesn’t involve twenty first century technology. We need to realign our priorities and get back to the basics. Reclaim street ministry, campouts, and bar-b-ques. These are the simple but effective things that not only bring people together but reach out to the rest of the world. We all can learn from this article and thereby take a tech break and rediscover the things that got it all started.