Fatherhood has not mellowed me...

some may have thought, since i have not made a post since my son was born, that i have been mellowed. that i have lost my edge. well, that's not really true, whats more true is that i am more tired and more likely to nap then i am to rant on here. but i am back, and i got some stuff to say. i actually have several rants in my head. but we will try to pace ourselves.

as a youth pastor i often am in communication with other youth pastors and workers. and i am often able to observe some of my colleagues in their work and in their way of doing things. one thing that i am noticing, and its not an isolated thing, but i do have some particulars in mind as i type this, the thing i am noticing is this complete lack of authenticity. it frustrates me to no end when i see someone who is politicking their way through youth ministry. they are great at telling the right people the right things. but the fact of the matter is they are not motivated by making an impact in a young persons life. they are motivated by a pat on the back from a higher up. meanwhile a generation of students are left with a lack of depth, a lack of true relationship. i would rather sit in a administrative council meeting nervous that i am not going to be able to impress a group of out of touch old people, but know that the kid that was in my office earlier is in a place of real understanding, of real deepening of faith. i don't care what the 60-87 year olds sunday school class thinks. sure, those are the folks that are most likely paying me. they are the ones supporting the most financially. but i will not gear my ministry to making them happy. the problem is that some senior pastors, some church leaders don't recognize that the almighty dollar is not what we are working towards. we find ourselves compromising ministry in order to not offend or piss off the top 15 givers in our congregations. so we have people doing inauthentic ministry because it makes a group of out of touch control freaks more comfortable. that's not right. i know we need to financial support of those people, but i would rather focus on helping them see the value in what is needed, not in their own personal value to our bottom line.

get real, its the only thing that lasts. stop putting on this facade of what you think the "right people" need to see. do ministry. don't do used car sales.

--aaron