A picture of the Modern Student Pastor? Mohawk, coffee, and on his way to his favorite social netowking site?
As student pastors, or as ministers in general, we always want to be relevant. Which is always a challenge in a constantly changing culture. There is pressure, especially, on those working with teens. Keeping our personal appearance up to date…having an “engaged” in culture persona…keeping up to date with technology, entertainment, social networks, ministry tools, culture trends… It gets a little exhausting! Visit a city during a major youth conference, and you are sure to find these 3 things - Mohawks, mochas, and macbooks. Enter a Starbucks near a conference site and you’ll see trendy t shirts and hair styles huddled over the glowing apple logo.
I am not downing any one for, or discouraging any one from keeping up with style, culture, etc… I have been known to rock the mohawk myself. Or “chicken hawk” as I call it - it’s for those of us too afraid to shave the sides and go all the way! I drink coffee like a mad man. I was raised in the North West… a love for Starbucks and other coffee shops goes with out saying. And if you are going to get the best possible computer for ministry… who wouldn’t go Mac?
My point is that as student pastors, we need to always be sure that our ministry is going deeper than the image of today’s modern minster. We have to remember the roots of what we are doing. In our quest for relevance, we can’t get so caught up in appearing relevant that we loose the soul of the student pastor. A perception of being relevant or cultured is no substitute for being completely real and genuine. The fact of the matter is, we are never more relevant in the lives of students then when we are that genuine, real, stable, Godly force in their lives. When everything falls apart, a student isn’t going to be worried about if their leader looks cool, is up to date, or whatever… they’re just going to want us to be there.
As student pastors, or as ministers in general, we always want to be relevant. Which is always a challenge in a constantly changing culture. There is pressure, especially, on those working with teens. Keeping our personal appearance up to date…having an “engaged” in culture persona…keeping up to date with technology, entertainment, social networks, ministry tools, culture trends… It gets a little exhausting! Visit a city during a major youth conference, and you are sure to find these 3 things - Mohawks, mochas, and macbooks. Enter a Starbucks near a conference site and you’ll see trendy t shirts and hair styles huddled over the glowing apple logo.
I am not downing any one for, or discouraging any one from keeping up with style, culture, etc… I have been known to rock the mohawk myself. Or “chicken hawk” as I call it - it’s for those of us too afraid to shave the sides and go all the way! I drink coffee like a mad man. I was raised in the North West… a love for Starbucks and other coffee shops goes with out saying. And if you are going to get the best possible computer for ministry… who wouldn’t go Mac?
My point is that as student pastors, we need to always be sure that our ministry is going deeper than the image of today’s modern minster. We have to remember the roots of what we are doing. In our quest for relevance, we can’t get so caught up in appearing relevant that we loose the soul of the student pastor. A perception of being relevant or cultured is no substitute for being completely real and genuine. The fact of the matter is, we are never more relevant in the lives of students then when we are that genuine, real, stable, Godly force in their lives. When everything falls apart, a student isn’t going to be worried about if their leader looks cool, is up to date, or whatever… they’re just going to want us to be there.
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