Facets of Youth Ministry – Youth Pastor as Best Friend
This is part of a series of posts detailing my own experience and what I have found to be helpful/necessary in my own ministry. It might not hold completely true for you, but maybe it will…
Inasmuch the Youth Pastor as Administrator is difficult, Youth Pastor as Best Friend is even trickier.
The role of youth pastor requires a level of trust and intimacy that only best friends typically share. Understand that I am not saying youth pastors should be buddy-buddy with students all the time. Remember there are other facets that must be balanced. But as best friend there are a few principals that need to be remembered.
- A friend is honest – Real friends will be brutally honest with each other. There will be times when the youth pastor is required to call the student out on a sin and aid them in correcting said sin.
- A friend is available – Friends share contact info – e-mail addy, IM screenname, phone number, etc. – and make it a point to be available should their friends need their assistance, advice or just to share a humorous story.
- A friend is selfless – Real friendship is modeled by being selfless, not seeking attention, creating drama that should not exist in the friendship, or monopolizing all time together. This requires the youth pastor to meet teens where the teens are coming from, and seeks their pleasure first.
These are all items that you will find within true friendship. It is better defined as unconditional love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13. If ever in doubt, use this passage as a guide.
