(posted : Friday Oct 1, 2010)
When I was in middle and high school, one of the sports I participated in was track and field. I ran relays and did high jump. High jump was by far my best and my favorite event. For a few years, I even held the middle school high jump record for our school and for a few meets (don't worry, it has been since broken). As I was going through my junior and senior years, I was starting to threaten our high school record, but I had kind of hit a plateau and couldn't get any higher. I figured that I just was at my limit. One day in practice, my coach, Mr. Bob Becker, put the high jump bar a full foot higher than I had ever jumped. Then he put a special jumping box in the take-off area of the high jump pit. He told me that he wanted me to run in and jump like normal, but I would jump off of this box. I am sure I looked at him like he was crazy. I knew that it was against the rules to jump off a box in a meet, so why was he having me do that in practice? He told me that he wanted me to get used to jumping over a bar that was so high, so that it wouldn't feel foreign when I did it for real. The end result was that I gained about 4 or 5 more inches in my jump.
When I was in middle and high school, one of the sports I participated in was track and field. I ran relays and did high jump. High jump was by far my best and my favorite event. For a few years, I even held the middle school high jump record for our school and for a few meets (don't worry, it has been since broken). As I was going through my junior and senior years, I was starting to threaten our high school record, but I had kind of hit a plateau and couldn't get any higher. I figured that I just was at my limit. One day in practice, my coach, Mr. Bob Becker, put the high jump bar a full foot higher than I had ever jumped. Then he put a special jumping box in the take-off area of the high jump pit. He told me that he wanted me to run in and jump like normal, but I would jump off of this box. I am sure I looked at him like he was crazy. I knew that it was against the rules to jump off a box in a meet, so why was he having me do that in practice? He told me that he wanted me to get used to jumping over a bar that was so high, so that it wouldn't feel foreign when I did it for real. The end result was that I gained about 4 or 5 more inches in my jump.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if he would have looked at me and told me to pack it in. That I had reached my full potential and I was not going to jump any higher. What if he had lowered the bar instead of raising it? I am pretty sure that I would not have jumped any higher in my career.
As I think about one coach who refused to let me settle, I can't help but think about student ministry. How many times do we let teens settle in their walk with God? I recall a conversation with someone who said we should only expect teens to do a quiet time 2 days a week. I know of student ministries that attract a lot of students because they are loaded with fun and games, but they never challenge them to make a difference for God.
Two of the men I look up to the most in student ministry have challenged me (and many others) with this exact concept. Mike Calhoun, Sr. Vice President of Word of Life Fellowship (Word of Life and Mike Calhoun), and Alvin Reid, Professor of Evangelism and Student Ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Southeastern and Alvin Reid). I say that because much of what I am thinking about and saying is not new to me, but are things that I have learned from these men (and others).
It is time for those of us in student ministry to raise that bar up and challenge students to make tough choices and do the right thing, even if it is difficult. It is time that we are turning them into men and women, and not extending their childhood. Teens need to learn theology. Teens need to memorize Scripture. Teens need to be able to share Jesus effectively and lead someone to faith in Him.
So how about it, Student Pastor? Let's stop with just doing games. Let's stop "playing church". Let's get on it. Let's go do the work of equipping the saints for the ministry. Let's challenge teens to change the world for Jesus.
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