Youth Ministry Thought: the students in the back

Do you have "those students" in your group? The students who show up every week but no one talks to them. What are the words we use to categorize them? Quiet. Unpopular. Awkward to be around. Bitter. Sarcastic. Are there days you avoid them because you don’t want to use the energy needed to carry a conversation? Are you the only one who might talk to them on a given day?

"My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favortism." James 2.1 (NIV)

In youth ministry it can become easy to focus our attention (and inadvertently train other adults) on the “easy to minister students.” Youth ministry can be stressful and frustrating, so we want to make our time with the students fun and easy. This is the time where real ministry happens, right? It is natural to, without thinking, spend most of our time with certain students.

Naturally we all gravitate to people who have a similar personality to ours. We have friends who are a lot like us. Many youth workers carry this into the youth ministry realm. Is it wrong? No. We can spin a lot of ministry tires trying to connect with a student who just will not ever connect with us.

It is wrong, though, to neglect the students in the back. These students might be neglected everywhere they go. They might not connect with others at school, at work, or even at home. The one place they need to be able to connect with someone is in the Church. (Church as a body of believers, not a building) These are the moments where are actions can be much more effective than our words.

Make an effort to connect with that student in the back. God wants them to know He loves them.