Be a Leader Before Being a Friend

One of our goals as a leader in youth ministry is to have strong and healthy relationships with students. However, it's important to maintain the difference between being a leader and being a friend. Problems can appear when those roles are reversed. The challenge is to be a leader first and a friend second. Let's look at a few qualities of each.

A Friend-First Leader will:
1. Obsess over their "cool status" with students
2. Be overly passionate and involved with teenage issues like drama, gossip, stuff at school, etc...
3. Hesitate to challenge students to go deeper in their faith

A leader-first leader doesn't care as much about being liked but is respected and trusted, asks the tough questions, and looks out for the students' best interest. While friends may emulate some of these qualities, leaders have all of these qualities.  Don't get me wrong: a leader will resemble a friend in certain ways, but knows where to draw that line.

For instance...

A Leader-First Leader will give:

1. Practical direction. While students' reactions may be hurtful at times, they do respect an adult who provides difficult guidance in a loving way. Whether students are going through positive or difficult situations, they're looking for adults who will give helpful direction- telling them what need to hear, not what they want to hear.

2. Biblical guidance. Friend-first leaders do not often get beyond the surface of a situation before quickly turning to something else- something that's not as threatening as God's truth. Help bring God's perspective into view by giving guidance that is rooted in God's word. Leaders need to be willing to challenge students to seek God in their daily lives.

3. Ongoing care. Our students will find plenty of surface or even fake relationships, however, they're thirsty for loving, authentic relationships. I want to challenge you you to be something different than what students are used to. Seek to love students in an authentic, healthy way. Affirm them in deeper ways than their friends do.

Being an adult leader who truly loves students doesn't mean you won't be likeable and fun to be around. But consider being cool in their eyes as a bonus, rather than your primary goal.

6 Weekly Tasks of a LifeGroup Leader

This is a guide for the leaders of all of Beachpoint's LifeGroups to know what is expected of them. It will help you be more effective in leading your LifeGroup and caring for students.

      1.    Pray for your LifeGroup members.

Pray for your people every week! You do the possible and ask God to do the impossible in their lives! Create a list of prayer requests during the group to help you remember what to pray for and what to follow up on! It’s also an excellent way to start off your discussion the following week to see together how God is answering prayer!

2.    Prepare to facilitate your LifeGroup.

A good LifeGroup leader doesn’t arrive unprepared to facilitate the discussion having spent less than 15 minutes looking at the questions. Be sure to carve out time to prepare. If you have a co-leader in the group, at least call to get on the same page, if not to talk about how you’ll work together that week. The earlier you prepare, the less you’ll be caught off guard by a difficult-to-grasp passage, issue or oddly written question. Good preparation will always lead to better discussion!

3.    Let God’s Spirit lead you during the discussion.

Be prepared to lead the discussion questions, but if you sense God doing something, move with Him. Don’t hide behind the Spirit and be unprepared, but don’t fight the Holy Spirit stirring either!

4.    Seek out the one.

      Be on the lookout for someone in your group who may need special attention. The signs can be subtle; they are more quiet than usual, more high strung, or they use language that hints at something that’s going on the inside that they’re afraid to talk about in the group. Chances are good that someone will need you more than the rest that week. When you get the feeling that someone needs some extra attention – you’re probably right and should seek them out for some one-on-one discussion.

5.    Direct people towards transformation.

Remember, the LifeGroup is an open door to discipleship. Challenge your group as a group and as individuals to take steps of transformation. It could be getting baptized, or serving, or beginning to read the Bible for themselves; whatever it may be, don’t shy away from leading them in this way!

6.    Follow up with people who weren’t there.

      A short text or phone call goes a LONG way. Make quick connections with the people who missed. Maybe the door will be open for significant conversation, and at the very least they’ll feel cared for and missed! If you’re calling students, try and use their home phone in the hopes that the parents will answer. This parental opportunity can create a great chance for you as the leader to brag on their kid, and in doing so, minister to them!

      How have you seen these tasks benefit your group? Share in the comments.

Youth Ministry Success Pyramid

The goal of youth ministry is for Christ to transform students' hearts and lives. This pyramid is a quick guide illustrating what we value and how we do youth ministry at Beachpoint. 

Thank you for being an invaluable part of our ministry! Your relationship with Christ and caring for our students and their families help make all of this possible.

We love celebrating success. Feel free to share how you have seen God work in these areas in the comments.