When it comes to reaching young people it can be easy to overlook the necessity of the Holy Spirit in our ministry. Zechariah 4:6 says “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, Says the Lord” We must remember this as we work towards the ministry that God has called us to do.
The work of the Spirit is vital to accomplish the mission! The early church understood that power of the Holy Spirit is essential for this, they sought Him often for the work they were called to. It is easy in a world of strategy and productivity measurement to believe that the church is only as good as it’s plan, or more pointedly, the church is only as good as it’s leadership. However, in the Kingdom of God the plan and the leadership is not the source of power and success, the Holy Spirit is! As God’s people proclaim the good news of His kingdom and demonstrate that kingdom to others, Christ builds His church!
We can be tempted to believe that our style or our model of ministry is what drives life-change in people. The corporatization of churches may push us to think this way. It has been said, the Jews turned the Gospel into a religion, the Greeks turned the Gospel into philosophy, the Romans tuned the Gospel into a government and today we try to make the Gospel a business strategy. We must remember that, while strategies are important, it is always the Spirit that drives the work of the ministry.
As youth leaders, we must be careful to not look to anything other than Jesus and the power of the Spirit to accomplish the mission. Full reliance on the Spirit unlocks full availability for God, which in turn calls upon the One with unlimited power and resources to move for us! When the church has access to human resources, such as finances, facilities, curriculum…etc. it is easy to maintain a subconscious reliance on those human resources instead of God for the success of mission. This may seem basic to us, however we have a tendency to forget, we must rely on the Spirit to do the work.
Has the Lord called you into youth ministry? At Calvary Chapel University we offer a fully online university to encourage you in your ministry calling by allowing you to pursue ministry while attending a Christian college to study youth ministry. For more information visit CalvaryChapelUniversity.edu