After 18 months, I struggled to get students to engage with me, the church, and ultimately with God. It didn't matter how many hours I put in, how hard I worked, or how many personal phone calls I made, I couldn't get the students engaged. It was clear I was not the right person for the job.
After I left that youth group, I started a journey of education, ministry, and understanding me as a pastor. Along the way, I had the privilege of working for incredible pastors, mentors, and sat under innovative professors.
What I learned was that many pastors struggled with the same thing that I did as a youth pastor. They worked hard, served with dedication, prepared and delivered quality sermons, and still saw their congregations plateau or decline.
I knew there had to be something all of us were overlooking. What did the pastors of healthy growing churches know that we didn't?
That's when I discovered what I had been missing as a youth pastor, and what countless other pastors were overlooking.
It wasn't about working harder, being more charismatic, or preaching better sermons. It wasn't about the service or worship style.