DELEGATION, DISTRACTIONS, & DEMANDS: Prioritizing Student Ministry in Light of Acts 6

As a youth pastor, you have faced numerous seasons of conflicting priorities at least a few times in your ministry: That message that needs to be prepared is looming. Not to mention, your prayer life feels like it is nonexistent. The busyness of ministry and life begin to crowd out those priorities which you said you would never let slide. Be that as it may, there is that complaining parent you had to deal with this week. Not to mention, the basketball game, the leaders' meeting and the camp registration deadline. The next thing you know, it's Wednesday afternoon and you have a message to give tonight.

Uh oh.

Conflicting ministry priorities are not a new 21st century, post-modern phenomenon.

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. 

They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. 

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6:1-7 NIV)

Even the Apostles of the early church had to deal with demands on their time, meeting others' expectations and complaints. What did they do? They delegated responsibilities to godly and wise believers who were equipped to do the work of the ministry. Now they could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.

Sound familiar?

If you feel like you have been neglecting prayer and the ministry of the Word, it may be time to re-examine your priorities.

1. Examine how you are currently spending your time each week.

Each of us are stewards of the same 168 hours every week. If you haven't done so in a while, or ever, keep a time log of where your hours are going.

2.  Remove obvious distractions.

Spending too much time on Facebook or watching Duck Dynasty (to stay up with youth culture of course)? Reconsider how you are investing your time each week and scale back on those things that are black holes of your time.

3.  Face complaining people head on.

Complaints are stressful. Complaining people are frustrating. However, try to be intentional to deal with complainers head on. You will find yourself saving your emotional energy for matters that need it. Can the complainer be utilized as a part of the solution? Now it's a win-win.

4. Delegate everything you can.

Spend some time looking at all of the ministry and administrative tasks you do each week. Is it a task that you absolutely have to do on your own? Can someone do the task with you and become equipped to do it on their own? Awesome. Delegate it. Never do ministry alone.

5. Intentionally schedule your prayer and message prep time.

Now that you have freed up some extra hours in your weekly schedule, be diligent to block out those hours as "appointments" for prayer and message preparation time.

May it be said of us:

The word of God spread in (name of your city). The number of disciples in (your church) increased rapidly, and a large number of (students) became obedient to the faith.