There's No Such Thing as Part-Time

"Raise your hand if you're a part-time youth pastor or youth leader," said Kirby St. John. "You guys are my heroes."

What!? This was a little stunning to hear, and it was the first time I had heard it. Here's why he said it. As a part-time youth pastor, putting in time at another full-time job, we are putting in about 50-60 hours a week-- not with our families. That's on the verge of, if not firmly entrenched in, workaholicism (don't even get me started on how stupid of a word that is). We was admiring our dedication to God's call.

It was good to hear from someone who is in full-time ministry for so many reasons. The first? Self-loathing. If you are a part-time youth pastor or youth leader, you may have struggled with this as well. I've asked myself, "If I'm called to be a pastor, why don't I just quit my full-time job in faith that God will have a full-time pastor job for me?" The answer of self-loathing comes back as, "Because I must not have enough faith."

That's wrong for so many reasons, but I'll touch on one: Paul, the Apostle and evangelist, worked a full-time job making tents (the type you see setup at a farmers market). But, as far as we know, he didn't have his wife and kids suffering from his absenteeism. Those kinds of hours require some deliberate family maintenance. I came home from my 40-hour tent making job, only to immediately head to my home office to study and write a sermon. In the in between time, my 3-year-old welcomed me in, and asked, "Are you going to stay in my house now? Going to stay?" As opposed to go to the office. Or church. Or youth gathering. Or a meeting. "Yes, I'm going to stay... it's my house too," I replied. He repeated his question a few more times, just to make sure I understood. I understand all too well.

The second? Recognition of effort. Part-time pay and hours does not mean part-time ministry. Ministry is full-time. Whether you have a set number of office hours, or expectations of hours "put in" to your ministry job, there are countless other tasks and responsibilities of student ministry that add up. Putting in 10 hours each work could mean: 2 hours for youth gathering, 1 hour for worship team practice, 1 hour for setup/tear down, 4 hours for study/sermon prep, and a monthly meeting with leaders. What we don't add is the time spent thinking about our next fundraiser for missions.Praying for kids. Praying for the leaders. Praying for God to lead us and tell us what to do next. Replying to parents emails about great ideas (they are great). Carefully thinking about how to reply to those parents. Preparing for camp. Preparing for retreat.Planning group events. Keeping in touch with kids who have been AWOL for a few weeks.  Some of that is just part of life. But so much more is either self-imposed or God-imposed. What gets cut out must be those things that God doesn't prioritize.

This could easily become a rant about how much a part-time youth pastor must do, but that's not the point here, because any leader in a church must only do what God has called them to do, and what God is telling them to do right now. The point is, my own self-loathing and embarrassment that I wasn't full-time was annihilated by an encouraging word from a respected leader. Someone who didn't follow that statement up with, "but have you thought of doing XYZ? It would be great!" There was no catch. Just encouragement. Just a word from God through his obedient vessel.