From Sampler to Sower

It’s wintertime in Indiana, and that means at least two things at my house.

We’re literally burning through the firewood I stockpiled like a responsible ant while all you grasshoppers were out playing last winter.

And in anticipation of the likely advent of another winter roughly 12 months from now, I’m spending my Wednesdays (my day off) making sure I have another pile well stocked for next winter.  And so it was that I spent about six hours of quality time with my chain saw Wednesday afternoon.

And that got me thinking.

Every time I go woodcutting, there are a handful of things that I take with me.  Some of them are necessary for the task at hand.  Some of them are just to make the job more pleasant.  And today, I realized some of them could be valuable in youth ministry.

Below are five items from my woodcutting toolbox that would be an asset to any youth pastor.  And I’ve even made each image a link to Amazon.com so you can buy some for yourself, should you so choose.

A Pair of Yellow Safety Glasses

Safety glasses are indispensable to a woodcutter because even the best loved  chainsaw has a tendency to throw sawdust back in your face.  I suppose an author with a certain philosophical bent would point out how even the best loved teens can, from time to time, through things in our faces that are disappointing or uncomfortable.  But that’s not what I’m going for here.

Because when it comes to merely dealing with blowback, any safety glasses will do.  But as J-Dubs will tell you, when I’m woodcutting, I won’t settle for just any safety glasses.  I insist on yellow tinted safety glasses.

It’s hard to really explain why.  It’s tough to do justice to the difference yellow tinted safety glasses can make.  So I urge you to try them out for yourself.  Get up early one winter morning.  Pack up your wood cutting gear and head out to the fields before the sun peeks over the horizon.  Once you get there, bundle up against the cold and head out into the wind.  And then, in that dreary, gray morning, put on a pair of yellow tinted safety glasses.  See how your outlook on everything changes.  Somehow by blocking out all those blue shades, yellow safety glasses can make the world seem a brighter, cheerier place.

The fact is there are plenty of “blues” in youth ministry.  You know what I mean because you notice them all the time.  And if by some chance you fail to notice one of the negatives, I can guarantee someone in your congregation will point it out to you (or your Senior Pastor).

However, it’s helpful from time to time to block out the blues and focus in on the positives in ministry, especially since developing spiritual maturity in teenagers takes time.  Any parent can tell you it’s easy to become blind to the slow and steady growth of a child.  In the same way, hanging out with the same teens all the time, it’s easy not to notice the gradual changes taking place in them.  But from time to time, just for the sake of sanity, it’s important to stand back and notice those things that are going right in the lives of your teens.  Stop focusing on the negatives and notice the positive.

Of course, I’m sure someone will ask what the difference between my much loved yellow tinted glasses and the much maligned rose-colored variety.  I’d argue it’s the difference between intentionally noticing the things that are going right from time to time and an intentional blindness to the things that are going wrong.

That and you either have to be a girl or really cool to get away with wearing pink.  And I’m neither.

A Pair of Noise Canceling Safety Earmuffs

Woodcutting, like youth ministry, can be hard on the ears if you don’t take precautions.  And when I’m cutting wood, I prefer a good pair of safety earmuffs.  They help drown out some of the constant noise that comes with the job.

Of course, there are other, cheaper options.  My father-in-law, who also heats with wood, prefers a good pair of ear plugs.  But not me.  I’m not a huge fan of sticking things into my ears.  And I find that ear plugs tend to make one deaf to everything.  Good earmuffs cut out only certain frequencies.  Ear plugs tend to shut out it all.

And that can be an important distinction.  Because when you’re cutting wood there are some things you really need to hear.  Like the sound of J-Dubs yelling “Timber!”

Okay, you can stop laughing at me now.

Yes, we really yell “Timber” when we’re cutting wood.

It’s an important warning to hear, especially when there’s a 100-foot tall walnut tree making for your head.  That’s why I don’t wear ear plugs.  I need to drown out the noise and still hear the voices that matter.

That’s true in youth ministry, too.  Any youth pastor can tell you that there are a lot of voices clamoring for your attention.  Whether it’s Ron Luce (or one of his interns) on the phone wanting to know if you’re coming to the next Acquire the Fire event, or Interlinc in your e-mail box asking if you’re ready to  renew your subscription, or one of your teens who just got finished watching the Cardboard Testimonies texting you to ask “Do you think I’ll ever have anything to write on my cardboard?”

Sometimes those voices are vital.  Sometimes they are just distractions.  And you have to be able to distinguish between the two.  It’s no good just to put in the ear plugs and turn a deaf ear to everything.

You’ve got to be able to tune out those voices that don’t really matter if you’re going to hear the ones that do.  Especially that gentle whisper that comes after the firestorm.

A 160GB iPod Classic

You’d better order this one quickly.  Apple’s not making the big ones any more.  Apparently they’ve decided that 120GB should be enough for anyone.  Poppycock!

Of course, an iPod is probably a surprising addition to a woodcutter’s toolbox.  But woodcutting is more than just cutting wood.  There’s a lot of wood carrying, wood stacking, and brush burning involved as well.  And when you’re doing those mindless tasks it’s good to have something to keep the mind busy.

But despite the good amount of quality music on my iPod (and the heaping piles of perfectly average music thanks to Interlinc), I don’t usually listen to music when I’m woodcutting.  I’m more of an audiobook and podcast kind of guy.  Like I said, I like to keep the mind busy.  And I’m convinced that you haven’t heard Rob Bell the way he was meant to be heard until you’ve listened to him preach with the sound of a chainsaw in the background.  (Just make sure you’re not the one operating said chainsaw.  There’s something less than safe about hooking your earlobes to dangling wires while leaning over a saw’s whirling chain.)

And it’s not just woodcutting that has it’s goodly share of mindless tasks.  There are plenty of mindless tasks in youth ministry.  Cleaning up after Sunday School.  Cleaning up after small group Bible Study.  Cleaning up after the midweek worship service. Cleaning up after . . . well, you get the drift.  Why not occupy the mind while you’re serving the Body?  Is there a podcast that could challenge or inspire your faith?  An audiobook that could provide you with valuable information?  Even listening to some well-read, mindless fiction can help you develop your skills as a storyteller.

Grab an iPod or other mp3 player and start multi-tasking when you’re doing those mindless tasks.  Just make sure it’s Audible ready.

Steel Toed Red Wings with Metatarsal Shields

No, Gman, I’m not talking about hockey players.

I’m talking about work boots.  And the pair I wear look neither as comfortable nor as pristine as the one pictured here.  Mine are old and well worn, left over from college summers spent in the machine shop at Flint and Walling and in the Newnam Foundry.

You can’t always wear a pair of work boots while woodcutting.  Sometimes the snow is deep enough that you need a good pair of winter muck boots.  But trust me, if it’s possible to get away with work boots instead of muck boots, you’ll find me in my Red Wings.  With all those heavy logs falling down and rolling around, it’s reassuring to know that my lower digits are safely encased in protective metal.

Of course, woodcutting isn’t the only place you are prone to get your toes hurt.  When you’re a youth pastor, people tend to step on them all the time.  You’ve got a lot of people out there who are pretty sure they know better than you what your youth ministry really needs.  And while only some of them are willing to tell you about it, most of them are more than willing to tell everyone else.

If youth ministry (or any ministry for that matter) is God’s calling on your life, you’ve got to develop steel toes.  Either that or a flint forehead.  Because if you run from criticism you’re in for a marathon.  You can’t allow criticism to devastate you.

Better yet, you need to develop the ability to take criticism for what it’s worth.  Sometimes it’s not worth much.  But sometimes it can be an answer to prayer.  You’ve been asking God to make your ministry stronger.  You’ve been asking him to show you the places you need to grow.  It could be that some of those critics out there are the answers to those prayers.  Granted, most of them probably aren’t.  But some of them might be.  And if you are so busy being devastated or defensive you can’t hear the helpful criticism, you’ve lost a valuable opportunity for growth.

So don’t hide from your critics.  Put on your steel toes and learn from them.

Your Very Own J-Dubs

This is perhaps the most important “thing” in my tool box.  I rarely go woodcutting without my best friend in Indiana.  He’s got the connections to the trees that need to come down.  He’s got the truck and the trailer.  Most importantly, he’s got my back.

It’s a dangerous thing to go wood cutting alone.  You’ve heard the stories of the woodcutter who found his arm pinned under a tree and had to saw through his elbow to go find help. (Or maybe that was a farmer.) Either way, I personally refuse to drop a tree without someone there to watch my back.  And I won’t let Josh do it either.  It’s just too big of a risk to take.

Now, the bad news is, at least to my knowledge, there are no more J-Dubs available.  He’s one of a kind.  And you can’t have mine.

But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a dangerous thing to try to do ministry alone.  You need someone to watch your back.  Someone to keep an eye on the trees and let you know when they when they’re falling your way. And perhaps most important of all, someone to offer some help when you find yourself trapped.  Besides, having the company along the way makes the journey far more pleasant.  Many hands make work light.

So, who’s got your back?

Have you thanked them lately?

(Thanks, Josh!)