Pushing without Shoving

     Ministry is tough!  There is no doubt about that.  Personally, I believe that student ministry is so much harder than ministering to adults. 

     My reasoning?  By the time that students become adults, most of them are already set in their ways.  If they believe in God and are pursuing Him, it is hard (though not impossible) to change their mind about that.

     When it comes to students, we get them at a very fragile stage in their lives where they are asking a lot of questions and trying to work out the “concrete” things in their lives.  With that in mind, I believe that it paralyzes us at times from teaching them what we know to be right.  We are afraid that they might decide NOT to follow Jesus because we ask them to put their cell phones away or to pay attention during worship.

     That is why we have to become masters at “Pushing without Shoving. “  Students don’t mind a push here or there if you are pushing them in the right direction.  I believe that has to be our primary focus in our ministry...pushing students into a deeper understanding of God and how to live the way that He has called us to live.  We must do this without shoving, though, because no one likes to be shoved!