Relationships Unfiltered

Youth ministry, and really any type of ministry, has to go beyond simply being about influence. If you base a relationship on only influence, you have established an agenda, which changes and perhaps eliminates how authentic the relationship can be. There must be sharing in relationships, being present in whatever that other person is experiencing. Not always trying to fix it, but sharing, really sharing, the pain that can come with actual presence in the relationship. Opportunities for influence and help will present themselves. This kind of relationship building does create them. But the point is to be there, to share their place, to be available, within limits, without your own agenda.

When we have an agenda, doesn't that open the door to simply using others?
To accomplish or fulfill our own needs, desires, or "calling"?
Christ didn't do what He did to glorify Himself.
He took our place.

These are my thoughts upon finishing reading Relationships Unfiltered by Andrew Root. This came highly recommended by Steve Heyduck, who reads, thinks, writes, and goes about life & ministry in such a way that I've come to value his opinion in a very positive way. Root draws much from another book of his Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, which I look forward to reading soon and the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer which I've been wanting to explore for some time.