i'm amazed at how perceptive students are. many of the junior high students i see on a tuesday night have the capabilities to read the temperature of a room right away and to feel the anxiety in relationships whether at home or with friends. but what often confuses me is the way they process those perceptions. i heard David Beighley once say, "students are highly perceptive; just crappy interpreters." i think our role as student pastors and volunteers is to help equip our students with the necessary tools to appropriately interpret life in a new way. this is what Jesus did. he constantly was inviting people into a new reality; offering people the awareness to see the world as God sees it.
but how do we do this well?
for us on the mh student team, we see this as a process that starts with the individual leader. we have asked each of our volunteer leaders to be committed to these 4 ideas; live, show up, relate, and pastor. if our leaders are actively pursuing the best kind of life by the way they orient their lives, then that can only make this ministry healthier. we also ask that these leaders show up...if they're healthy and not there (physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually); that doesn't help us. our students long to belong. we ask our leaders to build healthy relationships with their students and really get to know their stories. it is in this place that the leaders who have built those strong relationships begin to learn how this student perceives life. these moments create a special opportunity for our leaders then to pastor our students by asking great questions and discovering together what the next best right choice is.
how do you help your students interpret their perceptions in a healthy manner? i'd love to hear...
Great insight!
Posted by: Josh(ua) | February 09, 2008 at 11:16 PM