It’s Not About Us

Teaching teens to worship…

It seems like this is something that several youth workers struggle with. How do I get my teenagers to get past that “all eyes are on me” culture/attitude that they are swimming in to the “all eyes on Jesus” mindset that we so long for them to grasp?

I think it comes in time with frequent reminders from that worship is NOT ABOUT US. It is about Him.

If we can stop getting students thinking about themselves and/or the person standing next to them during our Wednesday night rally services, that is a BIG first step.

Time after time I’ve seen students enter in to no-holds-barred worship when the “atmosphere is right”: when the place is filled with teenagers lost in passionate worship… when the music is loud and the band is tight… when the lights are set… and when the smoke machine is on. The camp atmosphere… where it’s hard NOT to enter in. You know what I mean.

But I want to challenge our students to remember that God is worthy of ALL of our praise even when the group is small, when the music isn’t on, when they are not in the church building, and even when they don’t FEEL like it.

Let’s encourage our students to get to a place in their lives where they so comfortable in worshiping God that when they encounter a situation where it is hard, that worship is already a part of who they are and it comes naturally.

One more thing: let’s step outside of ourselves as leaders and lead the way. Some practical thoughts on student worship next week…

This post was originally posted at YouthSpecialties.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.