There are many things as a Youth Pastor I do not do well. There are some things that come easy, and there are things that are terribly difficult for me. There are things I love to do, and there are things I hate to do but do anyway. There are times when I do some things well and other times that I do not. But there is one area where I often seem to fail. My guess is that if you are on staff in a church you do as well.

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:8:

So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 1

There is a two-fold encouragement and challenge to us in this passage: Share the gospel, and ourselves. I think in general most Youth Pastors do well with the gospel side. We teach it, share it, and teach students to share it. It is for me I know, constantly present in our ministry.

The side I tend to not do as well in is the sharing of myself. I am an introvert by nature which brings its own set of challenges in this. However, for many Pastors there is a tendency to guard against genuinely sharing our lives. To be sure there are areas where this is a must and certainly details that must be guarded. We must though be aware of this and be intentional to share our lives with those we lead. Here are two thoughts on this:

1. People need to see the gospel lived out in our own lives to truly know we really believe what we teach and preach.

What we do magnifies what we say. If we preach and teach it, we better live it. Sometimes we don’t and as a result we fail to share our lives with others.

2. We need to live in community so we can be held in check within our own hearts and lives.

This looks different in every situation, and can be a difficult one to balance. In some contexts this may include people within your church. In others, this may mean a group outside of it. Either way however, we have been called to live life alongside and with one another. We desperately need people who see beyond the “prettied up Sunday” us and see our lives day in and day out. We need these people to speak into our life when they see us straying, struggling, and failing.

What about you? Where do you often fail? How do you do with sharing both the gospel and yourself? Leave a comment below and share.