“Don’t Walk This Tightrope Alone?”

I’m Don’t Walk This Tightrope Alone: Would you ever venture out on a tightrope without a safety net below?

If you would, you are a braver person than me! I like my safety nets, my legs, and my face.

Isn’t that what we do in Youth Ministry, though? We put ourselves on a tightrope, up high in front of everyone. Everyone is watching our every step as we try to balance everything, holding tight to whatever we are trying to use to keep us up there.

If we are honest and real, those watching us are also waiting to see if we are just another person in ministry falling into whatever trips them up and knocks them off the high place they have put themselves in.

We have been called to this role. We have been given a special skill, place, and opportunity, but if we are wise, we will not go it alone and will not do it without some well-placed nets to catch us.

Here are 3 “nets” that we can use to catch us in our ministry walk in front of others.

Inter-NET

Before you jump to the immediate conclusion and assume that I am going to launch into another tirade about pornography or social media, I am not. I am actually going to go a different direction and talk about the positive for a change. The inter-NET provides us, as a youth pastor an excellent and helpful resource for being accountable, finding friends, and connecting with others doing the same thing as we are.

Through Facebook, X, Apps, and blogs, we find others with us in the day-to-day struggle and walk-in ministry. Youth ministry can sometimes be lonely, especially if you are not blessed to have others on staff or in your area to talk to. All be it virtual, you can find great relationships, connections, and a safe place to land when times in ministry get tough.

*Check out places like…

Middle School Workers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/msmnetwork/ 

General Youth Ministry: https://www.facebook.com/groups/538534589861581

Youth Ministry Creators: https://www.facebook.com/groups/YMCreatorsExchange 

Youth Ministry Games: https://www.facebook.com/groups/youthgroupgames  

NET-Works

It may seem like that guy down the road or the other side of town is the competition, or even dare I say, the “enemy,” but I have learned that getting together personally with others in ministry in your area is an excellent thing.    I have been a part of local area networks for 26 out of 30 years of youth ministry in some shape or form. The men (and women) of my local network in the past have been some of my closest friends. They are probably also my truest friends, with whom I can be more transparent and authentic than anyone other than my wife and family. I confidently say they have been and will be there to “catch me” if I fall or begin to lose my balance on the crazy tightrope circus act that is sometimes ministry.

I would strongly suggest finding or creating a local network for your area. It will not only help you; it will help others. It will offer real in-person accountability, encouragement, and support with people who honestly “get” your life. No one else will understand the struggle and challenge of your specific town or area like others trying to do the same thing locally.

*Find a Local Network or if this is a Network Near You by Checking Out- National Network of Youth Ministries-  http://www.youthworkers.net/ 

NET-Worth

You need to understand that, as much as it feels like you are “out there all, alone,” you are not. You are not doing this thing alone. You will never do this thing alone! Your value and mission are not in what you do but in what is done through you. Your focus can not be on your little “k” kingdom of your ministry and church. Your focus, vision, and direction are found in the worth of the big “K” kingdom of God that you are called to.   You know this, teach it, but do you honestly believe it?

How you define your NET worth—your “total value minus outside liabilities”—will determine whether you succeed or fail in your ministry.  

Your value must be found not in your prideful, self-sufficient, “I-can-do-it-all” attitude but in the person who saw you and called you out onto the tightrope in the first place. He sees you can do it despite your flaws. He watches you and continues to call you forward. The “Net” that will catch you in ministry is securely in the hands of the one who will always catch you. We lose sight of that, and we will fall! When we lose sight of Christ and our worth in Him, each of us begins to slip, our ministries lose balance, and we will come crashing down in front of our family, church, and students.

I beg you–do not walk this tightrope without “Nets” to catch you, as you live upfront and out front in youth ministry.   Find strong nets of people and continue to rely on the net that Christ always provides.

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>> If you are feeling alone and cannot find a “net” in ministry, here is my email: “distvanik@youthminhub.com.” Email me, and I will be more than happy to try to find a time to talk and pray with you and even help you find others in your area to connect with.