Confrontation in Youth Ministry--Caring

Caring is what teenagers sense in us when we talk to them, look at them, talk about other people around them, and generally the way we live our lives. If your students were asked if they could choose 3 people to take to an island where they knew they would face tough obstacles and would look at these 3 people for support and care, would your name come up? I think for some of my students, the answer would be yes, but for many more if would be no. That is something I need to continue to work on.

If you want to be able to confront effectively, the person you talk to must know you care. They will know that if you care about them when they first enter the youth room, when you see them in the parking lot, and wherever else in the city. They will know you care about things by the way you treat your spouse, the way you talk about your elders/pastor, etc.

Caring about a student leads to that student opening up to you. Caring about a student leads to you confronting them when you see them diverting from the path of truth. Caring about a student is always intentional and that is what we will discuss next time.

Here is a question you could ask your students: When is the last time you felt a leader didn't care about you? What did they do that made you feel that way? Have I ever made you feel that way?

Let's be about caring!