Preparing to Lead and Engage: Strengths and Weaknesses

God calls all kinds of people to be serve in student ministry; from student pastors, adult volunteers, and student leaders. Some have a knack for building relationships. Others are able to zero in on the cultural issue affecting students at that very moment. Some thrive in big crowds and still make people feel seen, while another may excel at one-on-one discipleship conversations. God calls athletes, mathletes, number crunchers, and public speakers. God calls extroverts and introverts. Each personality type has times when they enjoy ministry more than at other times. For some, studying and preparing to teach are among the most exhilarating parts of ministry. For others, spending time with students is where they find their joy and become an example to be envied, as students love being around them. Some leaders find their stride in planning and executing, being gifted in administration, and can plan every detail of an event with ease. Others shine at building deep relationships with students, quickly finding opportunities to share the Gospel and to push students just one step closer to Jesus Christ. 

If we are honest with ourselves, we all feel the weight to be everything mentioned above. We see students come each week to Sunday morning worship or weeknight Bible studies, and we feel the pull to be a great speaker and student of the Word, while also being an outgoing relational magnet. When camp or fundraiser season comes around, we understand the expectation to be fully prepared for every question a student or parent may ask about each event. We feel this weight, and with all this swirling in the background, we tend to respond in one of two ways: we feel defeated and want to give up, or we try our best to be all things to everyone, all the time, and burn ourselves out. I think a different approach can be helpful.

Pulled by Strengths, Pushed by Weaknesses

If you are anything like me, you have seen the limits of your abilities far too often. I am an introvert with extroverted tendencies. I enjoy spending time in my office reading and preparing to teach students. I am “in my element” when preparing a lesson or teaching, whether in a small or large group. For almost everything I enjoy, there is a part of ministry that feels difficult or like a “weird fit.” When we experience this mismatch, we tend to lean into our strengths and pull away from our weaknesses. 

For one person, failing to develop strong discipleship relationships with students can lead to pouring more time into study and teaching, hoping that an emphasis on this strength will make up for what is lacking. For another person, a failure to feel that students are responding to our teaching can lead us to focus on things students connect with, like games and hanging out. Though these examples may not be your own strengths or weaknesses, it is important to know what yours are in ministry. We will always feel the pull toward our strengths and away from our weaknesses. If we are not careful, we may even begin to vilify our weaknesses when we see a lack of success in areas of our ministry we believe should be thriving.

The Fringes of Our Strengths

The beauty of it all is that God knows your strengths and weaknesses, yet He still called you to serve Him in your given ministry. I often think about people like Moses and Joshua in the Old Testament when I consider serving in ministry. Though Moses tends to get a bad rap for his response to God’s call, I think we are all, like Moses, called to operate at the fringes of our strengths. When Moses was called by God in Exodus 3, he was tasked with a big job. Moses was told not only to lead the people out of Egypt but also to go to Pharaoh and speak the Word of God to him concerning the Israelites. 

When God told Moses he was being sent to Pharaoh to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses responded: “I am nobody…” God continued to detail His call on Moses’ life, and Moses pushed back. God showed Moses a miracle to reassure him of his calling, yet Moses still pushed back. Finally, Moses said, “I cannot speak well; I have never been a good speaker…” God reminded Moses that He gives man his mouth. Moses’ final push against God was to bring up one of his weaknesses, his speech. However, God did not allow this to stand in the way. God sent someone along with him, his brother Aaron, to be his mouth. Moses was not off the hook, though. He would still have to lead the people of Israel. Moses would have to lead on the fringes of his own strengths.

When God called Moses, He knew who Moses was and knew not only Moses’ strengths but also his weaknesses, and yet He still called him. Likewise, God has called you to be a part of His Kingdom work among a generation of students who desperately need leaders who are real and who embrace both their strengths and weaknesses. You probably have great strengths that make you perfect for the role you serve, but do not be misled by the belief you have to be strong in every area. Your natural strengths have their limits, and that is okay. Maybe you need to hear just that sentence, that it is okay to meet your limits. You may not be the greatest communicator; you may not be the outgoing leader who gets every student to love them quickly; you may not be the person who can administer and plan every event to the degree you would like. Yet if God called you to ministry, He called you knowing your weaknesses.

Like Moses, many of us need Aarons in our lives who pick up the slack, people God can use to walk alongside us in ministry and be strong where we are weak. Aaron’s presence did not negate Moses’ call. Part of seeing the fringes of your strengths is to look for people you can work with who complement your ministry and help meet the needs that your weaknesses leave unmet. This exemplifies to our ministry the statements made by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12. We are all members of the same body. Not all of us are feet, nor all hands, but we are all essential for the work of the body. As you see the fringes of your own strengths, look for fellow believers who can serve with you, showing students the necessity of the body and how the Church is best served when it is not a one-man show.

Embracing Limitations

We all have limitations. They can be physical, mental, time-based, knowledge-based, or relationally based. Some we can control, while others we cannot, such as a personal boundary you set for yourself. Limitations are not a bad thing. They remind us we are human. I am a full-time student pastor who also serves as a church administrator. I also have a wife and 4 sons under 6. I have self-imposed limitations to make sure I spend enough time with my family. There are also limitations at work that guide what I should and should not do with my time. There are also limitations on my own abilities. 

All of us have limitations. Instead of seeing them as a bad thing, we need to begin to see our limitations as brackets that God uses to keep us focused on the right things. If you are co-vocational and can only dedicate a certain amount of time per week to ministry, that will limit the options available to you for ministry. However, it does not limit your impact. A co-vocational leader can have as much impact as someone with a full-time ministry job. Alongside our strengths and weaknesses, our limitations should filter how we choose to use our time, focusing on the most important things first, regardless of whether we are excited to do them or not. We will talk more about this in a later article, but how we organize our time speaks to our understanding of our calling. We will also look at how our strengths and weaknesses can positively and negatively affect our time management.

Being Desperate Before God in Prayer

Prayer can be, at times, one of the last resorts for leaders. Leaders may tend to rely on their own abilities and try to do everything in their own strength. The longer I spend in ministry, the more I realize I need to be desperate for God to work in my life, my family, and my church. My strengths are tools in God’s hand, not excuses to rely on my own ability. If we get to the point in our planning where we say to ourselves, “I can do this,” without falling to our knees in prayer, whose strength are we relying on? Paul tells the church of Corinth this very truth when he says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Co. 12:9) God wants to use us as instruments in His hands for Kingdom work, and God is not afraid of our weaknesses. In fact, as Paul points out, it is in our weakness that His power is made perfect. What is your habit of planning and executing in ministry? Does it begin and end in desperate prayer before God? Do you go to God with only the things you feel weak in, or do you also bring to Him the areas you are strong in? As leaders, we want to be living examples of humility and submission to God, following the lead of Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, and even still, when we read the New Testament Gospels, we see Him consistently coming to God in prayer, humble and submissive.

Takeaways:

• Find encouragement in your strengths, but do not make your strengths become your identity.

• Understand your weaknesses and look for people, like Aaron, who can come alongside you and stand in the gap.

• Embrace limitations, seeing them as blinders that God may be using to keep you focused on the most important parts of ministry.

• Pray with desperation.

Questions to Consider:

• When and where am I most tempted to hide behind my strengths instead of honestly addressing my weaknesses?

• Who are the “Aarons” God may have placed around me, and am I humble enough to let them strengthen the areas where I am weak?

• What limitations in my life or ministry have I been resenting that God may actually be using to keep me focused on what matters most?

• Do I pray as desperately over the areas where I feel strong as I do over the areas where I feel weak?

Shaping Student Ministry has some great resources to help you discover your ministry's strengths and weaknesses, like our North Star Youth Ministry Assessment Tool, from our partnership with Christian Endeavor. Check out all our plans available here!