I wish I’d known… about the pain

What is youth and children’s work like? A painful privilege…

From Andy:
"I think one thing (maybe not the top thing) I wish someone had made clear to me when I started youthwork was that you will experience pain as the young people that I had invested time/love/energy in choose not to come to youth group/church."

Andy’s comment made me stop and think. You often come across parents who complain about the group because their son/daughter doesn’t want to come any more. Or church leadership who express concern about dwindling numbers. But it’s easy to forget that, when a young person drifts away, it hurts the leader too.

Andy is right when he talks about investing time, love and energy - and lots of other things too. This isn’t just a job; it’s very personal; and sometimes it hurts a lot. I’ve known the loss of seeing someone who seemed so committed, so excited, so certain about following Jesus, who then turned their back and walked away.

Paul knew the pain of people turning away, eg: Demas in 2 Timothy 4 v 10. But also the joy of seeing many gladly accept the Word of God and become believers, such as Lydia for whom “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message” (Acts 16 v 14).

And that’s the opposite side to the pain: youthwork is also a privilege…

From Rory:
"It is an extraordinary privilege. Getting to declare the glories of the living God to people who haven't been conditioned into acting in a: "Hmmm that is interesting" type way. Children laugh at the funny bits, they cry when Jesus is betrayed, they run around the garden shouting "Wow" when you tell them about creation.

You get to tell them that, contrary to everything the world has told them up to this point, God loves naughty children and welcomes then to His party – not because they like Jesus but because He likes them."

There’s not much to add to that - Rory has said it so well - except to encourage you that sometimes the pain turns back to privilege. I remember one girl who came to a school Bible club for several years. She never missed a week; loved everything we did; asked great questions; thought seriously about following Jesus in her own life; and seemed set on life as a Christian.

But then she fell away. Stopped going to Christian Union, dropped out of church, got in with a bad crowd, ended up as a single mum while still only in her teens. Painful for me; even more so for her parents.

Several years later, I went to a baptism service at a local church, and there she was. Back with the Lord; proclaiming her faith publicly by being baptised; and telling us all how God hadn’t let go of her, even though she’d turned her back on Him. I had no idea she’d be there, and it felt like a precious gift to me too. Yes, there is pain, but sometimes God allows us to see how He has turned it around to bring glory to His name. And that’s a great privilege.