How do I define success in my youth ministry? This is a question I've been asking myself lately. Is it defined by the number of students who show up to all the different events that we have? Is it the number of students who accept Christ? Get baptized? Live moral lives? Is it the number of students that we meet or make contact with in any given period of time? Is it the number of students that go into full-time ministry? Does success have anything to do with a number at all? Maybe success for my youth ministry is more defiened by how I live out Christ in my life, instead how my students attend or participate or grow. Or maybe is just how many conflicts I avoid or how long I can keep my job. Recently someone pointed out to me that God does not call my to be successful in ministry, but rather He just calls me to be a servant. This is very hard for me to accept, frankly since I grew up playing sports and really seeing the value in competition. I mean, if I don't measure my success in ministry by how much or how many, than how do I know if I'm doing well? Or even if I'm doing right? Sorry, no real answers today, just a bunch of questions.

For an interesting article (or rant) on God's ambitions for Youth Ministry versus ours read Dave Ambrose's Youth Ministry Arrogance at youthspecialties.com.