The pain of leadership

“Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matthew 25:24-29)

This past week, Ron Luce, founder of the youth ministry organization Teen Mania, announced that they would be shutting down their global youth ministry after 30 years. Teen Mania is best known for their youth conferences Acquire the Fire, but also sent thousands of teens out onto the mission field through their Global Expeditions missions trips, and trained up young men and women at their Honor Academy for a life of service to God.

As impressive a resume as that is, Teen Mania came under fire (no pun intended) and media scrutiny in recent years for the methods they used to train young men and women at their Honor Academy, methods that were seen by many “recovering alumni” as abusive in nature. In addition, there were accusations of financial mismanagement that eventually led to the ministry going bankrupt. A 2011 MSNBC special designed to paint the ministry as an abusive cult certainly did not help.

As a former youth pastor who brought many youth groups to Acquire the Fire events, I have mixed feelings about this news. On the one hand, the teens I pastored had many great experiences with Acquire the Fire and Teen Mania, and many were strengthened in their faith by gathering together with so many other Christian teenagers, and were challenged to live lives on fire for Jesus. On the other hand, the testimonies of those who felt abused by the ministry, and the stories of financial mismanagement, raise questions about the methods used by this ministry.

My main reaction, however, is that despite the failings of Ron Luce and the other leaders of Teen Mania, I applaud them for stepping out and giving their lives to preaching the gospel, discipling teenagers, and encouraging youth pastors. If there is one thing I have learned from the past 20 years in ministry, it is that I am so far from a perfect leader. For every person that I have encouraged in their faith, there is probably another person who was hurt or let down by my leadership. I have simultaneously preached the gospel and neglected to show the love of Christ to many hurting brothers or sisters who needed to be loved. My sin has led to pain in my marriage, wounding in the lives of others, and difficulties in the church. This has not been intentional, but rather the result of being a sinful man put in leadership over other people. I guarantee that if you gathered a group of “recovering alumni” from this church, you might hear stories that would make you question my character and leadership, just as Ron Luce was questioned.

I would suspect that most people who have stepped up to a position of leadership can relate, including husbands and parents. We can not hide the fact that we are sinners, and that as a result, our sin will negatively impact others. So what are we to do with this reality? Shrink back, sit in the back row, bury our talent in the ground, and wait for Jesus to return? Or stand up, give, and serve despite our sin, praying that somehow God would take our meager offering and bring something good out of it? Despite my weakness, I have chosen, and intend to choose, the latter option.

Let me close with this classic Theodore Roosevelt quote:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Keep on serving the Lord, trusting that He is more than able to bring some good out of your meager offering.