The No. 1 Reason for Youth Ministry Burnout
青年事工精力耗尽的首要原因
By Christian Post Guest Columnist Greg Stier | Sat 21 Jul 2018 9:30 EDT
Youth leaders face a ton of pressure. Unrealistic parental expectations, teen apathy, stressed marriages, low pay, overpacked schedules and under-appreciated efforts are all contributors to youth leader burnout. According to The State of Youth Ministry Report commissioned by Youth Specialties, the average youth leader stays in their position for 3 years.
青年领袖面临着巨大的压力。不切实际的父母期望,青少年冷漠,婚姻压力,低工资,过度紧张的日程安排和不满意的努力都是青年领袖耗尽的原因。受青年专家委托的国家青年事工报告的数据显示,青年领袖任职的平均时间是3年。
Over the last 25+ years of equipping teenagers to share their faith through Dare 2 Share I have met countless youth leaders who were on the brink of burn out. During these times my role has had to switch from evangelist/trainer/preacher to counselor/shepherd/friend with my hurting brothers and sisters in Christ.
在过去25年多的时间里,装备青少年通过Dare 2 Share分享他们的信仰,我遇到了无数青年领袖,他们正处于崩溃的边缘。在这段期间我与在基督里受伤的弟兄姐妹一起,我的角色已经从传福音/培训师/传道人辅导员/牧者/朋友。
My heart breaks for youth leaders close to being burnt out. Most of them love God passionately and love teens deeply but their frustrations and disillusionments have begun to boil over in their souls in visceral and painful ways.
我因青年领袖崩溃而心碎。他们中的大多数人热情地爱上帝并深深地爱着青少年,但他们的挫折和幻灭已经开始以内在和痛苦的方式在他们的灵魂中消耗。
Of course there are many factors in youth leader burnout but, after talking to thousands of youth leaders over the years, I'm convinced there is one overarching reason. It's simply this... most youth leaders, down deep inside, are not convinced they are making a lasting difference in the lives of the teenagers they are ministering to on a weekly basis.
当然,青年领袖崩溃有很多因素,但在多年来与数千名青年领袖交谈之后,我确信有一个首要原因。简单来说……大多数青年领袖从内心深处,并不相信他们每周对青少年的服侍能够对这些青少年的生活带来持久的影响。
There is a gnawing feeling in the center of their soul that whispers to these youth leaders that they're not really making the spiritual impact they thought they were. This whisper is bolstered by the statistics that say the majority of teenagers who currently go to youth group will bag their faith after they graduate from high school.
在青年领袖里面有种声音在作祟,这声音对他们说,他们所做的并不像他们所想的那样能对年轻人带来属灵的影响。而这种声音被一个数据证实,参加青年团契的大多数青少年在高中毕业后会将他们的信仰抛诸脑后。
How discouraging is that? You pour your life into a group of teens, do your best to teach them the latest curriculum, relentlessly encourage and counsel them, teach them week after week in youth group and small group and Sunday school and, after all of this, most of them will check out spiritually after they leave high school!
那是多么的让人沮丧?你将自己的精力放在一个青少年小组中,尽力去教他们最新的课程,无畏地鼓励安慰他们,在青少年组、小组和主日学中,周复一周的教导他们,而所有的这一切之后,当他们从高中毕业后,大多数几乎就放弃了信仰。
So what's the answer? I'm convinced we need a new model of ministry (that's really not all that new after all) that will give us the sense of impact we are all longing for as we minister to young people. Teenagers need to be called to something more significant than just showing up to youth group every Wednesday night. They need to be invited to join a movement of Gospel Advancing, disciple-multiplying activists who are unleashed into their schools to reach their peers with the hope that only Jesus can offer.
所以答案是什么?我坚信我们需要一个新的事工模式(其实并不是那么的全新)让我们可以感受到我们服侍年轻人带来的影响。青少年需要参与到更重要的事情中,而不是每周三晚上仅仅出现在年轻人小组中。他们需要被邀请到福音扩展的运动中,作为门徒倍增的参与者在学校同龄人中传讲只有耶稣才能给予的盼望。
This sort of youth group environment will not only increase the spiritual impact you are making with your teenagers, but it will give you a sense of legacy. This will lead to a growing confidence that you are really making a difference in the lives of your teenagers and will increase your longevity and decrease your chances of burnout.
这种青年小组模式不仅可以提高你对青少年属灵的影响,你自己也有传承感。这会让你不断增长信心,知道你真的改变了你带领的青少年生命,增加你服侍的持久性,降低耗尽的几率。
In the movie The Water Boy, Adam Sandler's character, Bobby Boucher (pronounced "boo-shay"), moves from a not-so-bright water boy to a one-of-a-kind defensive player who can tackle the biggest and baddest opponents. All this happens when Bobby finds his "tackling fuel." To help him do this his coach has him picture all of the people who have hurt him over the years and then take out his boiling fury on the other player. This mental exercise transforms him from a mild-mannered water boy to a rage-fueled tackling machine.
在电影《茶水男孩》中,亚当·桑德勒饰演的Bobby Boucher (发音"boo-shay"),从一个毫不起眼的茶水男孩成了一个可以对抗最大最坏对手的防守球员,所有这些都发生在Bobby发现他的“战斗燃料”时。为帮助他做到这点,Bobby的教练让他找到多年来伤害他的人们,并将多年来对他人的怒火发泄出来。这种情感上的训练使他从一个懦弱的茶水男孩转变成了愤怒的攻坚机器。
When you make your "tackling fuel" a Holy Spirit inspired passion to make and multiply young disciples you transform from a typical youth leader to a supernaturally charged one. Imagine every lost teen in your community having every last chance to hear the Gospel through a Christian teen you've helped to equip. Choose to Gospelize Your Youth Ministry by applying 7 values in the book of Acts. Marinate these values into the meat and muscle of your youth ministry and relentlessly pray for God's divine power to tackle the huge vision of seeing your community transformed through an army of teenagers.
当你使你的“战斗燃料”--一种被圣灵激励的热情--培养和增加年轻的门徒时,你就从一个典型的青年领袖转变为一个超自然的青年领袖。想象一下,你们社区里每一个迷失的青少年都有最后的机会通过你帮助装备的基督徒青少年听到福音。通过应用使徒行传里的7个价值观来对你的青年事工进行福音化。将这些价值观作为青年事工的肉体和肌肉,并不懈地祷告求上帝给你属灵的看见,看到一只青少年军队对社区的改变。
This will give you the tackling fuel you need to fight through every problem and push through any discouragement. Yes, there will still be long days, hard times, unrealistic expectations and, most likely, low pay. But the excitement that erupts from seeing lives changed and souls saved will give you all the tackling fuel you need to keep on keeping on in the power of the Holy Spirit.
这会给你在面对沮丧中的每个问题和压力时所需的“战斗燃料”。确实,仍然会有很多天,困难的时候,不现实的期待,更多的是低收入。但看到生命的改变和被拯救的灵魂会给你所有的战斗燃料,这能让你持续在圣灵的大能中。
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