Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry 1

I am loving this book! Here are a few quotes and thoughts from the introduction:

"There is no 'third thing', no 'end' to which the relationship should lead...the relationship is the end. Ministry, then, isn't about 'using' relationships to get individuals to accept a 'third thing' e.g. the gospel, rather, ministry is about connection, one to another, about sharing in suffering and joy, about persons meeting persons with no pretense or secret motives. It is about shared life, confessing Christ not outside the relationship but within it." - pg. 15

I want a student ministry full of leaders who will live the gospel with our students. Furthermore, I want us to wrestle with Andy's words, "Ministry is not about helping these kids be better Christians; it is about helping them be what God created them to be - human. Ministry is about suffering with them in their dehumanization, celebrating their human endeavors and in all things pointing to the true human, Jesus Christ our Lord." - pg. 15

I am beginning to realize that I've failed in my student ministry to point our students to regularly to the true human, Jesus. My ministry has pointed them to Jesus being 100% God, but rarely being 100% man. I want a more incarnational student ministry!