We’re taught to say “no” a lot in ministry. I’ve been told countless times that you need to say no more often so you don’t spread yourself too thin and become ineffective. As youth workers this a good principle because we are constantly confronted with good opportunities that would drain us from the things we need to be doing.
Taken to the extreme, this can lead to a mentality where we only focus on the things directly within our ministry and job description. We see church ministry like an assembly line where we focus only on our widgets. The problem with this is that the church is a family, not a factory. A family where the parts are connected. That means we need to say “yes” from time to time to ministry opportunities in other areas of the church.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve said yes to serving other areas of our church that don’t directly effect my ministry to teens. One with a singles’ mission trip and another with a young families father/son retreat. Both are completely outside my job description. So when I was asked by leadership to take part, I could have declined. I said yes because I believe it makes ministry better.
Saying yes makes the Body healthy. The members of God’s body are interdependent. We should care about the health of the single’s ministry of your church, because it is just as important as yours. Both contribute to a healthy church body. I accepted the role of leading a single’s ministry mission trip because they needed someone and I was available. Saying yes means I am contributing to the health of the church at large, not just my own ministry.
Saying yes gives you opportunities for growth. When you step outside your normal ministry realm you get stretched in new ways. As part of the father/son retreat I had to speak to both dads and young sons. I have little experience teaching to either audience. It was challenging to come up with talks that could work for both an 8 year old and a 40 year old. Saying yes meant I learned to be a better communicator.
Saying yes shows your leadership you are ready. Many youth pastors, including myself, don’t want to get pigeon holed into one role. While ministry to teens is our main passion, we have other abilities to offer. Sometimes this helps leadership see you in a new light that might open doors in the future.
I’m not saying that you should say yes to everything. But maybe God is calling you to say yes to something that is outside your normal ministry. It may lead to an unexpected ministry experience, but you’ll never know unless you say yes.
