My Top 5 Most Common Mistakes in Youth Ministry

Summer for us is a time of reflection and honesty. It's a time when we abide, evaluate, and dream for the next season. Part of honest reflection is to look at areas where you as a leader can improve and work on. Tim Schmoyer recently wrote a post My top 5 most common youth ministry mistakes  Which got me thinking about what would my list look like. Here goes...

"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid."

Proverbs 12:1

1. Deadlines for leaders - I've been micro managed in the past and it's left some wounds. So my natural tendency is to paint the big picture and let leaders run with it. I've realized that the picture I paint doesn't need to be detailed (I trust my team) but I do need to identify the edges of the canvas. Deadlines aren't bad in fact they help our team prioritize better but it needs to be more then a "When you get a chance."
2. Equipping volunteer - Huge we've started to address this issue this year but had some big staff changes so we put it on a back burner. I full realize that our ministry will only be as effective as our leaders are healthy and growing. I'm excited to tackle this in the new season.
3. Not having healthy boundaries with technology Home is home and church is church. Technology has built a horrid bridge between the two. Honestly I've considered moving away form the iPhone but it would just creep up in some other manner. I read on a blog lately a statement that stuck.."How much better would you family be if you touched them more then your iTouch?"
4. Going for flash and not the listening to the spirit There's a ton of prepackaged youth min material that is super slick and promises to deliver. It's really tempting to but the box or bundle and watch it not deliver. It won't deliver because youth ministry is about relationships not flash presentations or slick intro videos. Communication is important and speaking the vernacular of the culture we are trying to reach with the gospel is key but let's not loose them on the flash and deprive them of the greatest message ever.
5. Trying to be superman, or at least holding my self to those standards Here's the biggie. If we only had a second car I could go to more sporting events, get more time with students, make it to that dance recital, or go to that football game. If I only could stay up later I could work on my teachings, I could develop small group questions that work, and I could harness the almighty power of social media. If I could get up earlier I could pray for ever kid, leader, pastor, senator, US citizen by name every day. Sound crazy. It is. But yet there's a part of me that feels guilty when that doesn't happen. Where I need to hear the gospel preached to myself is that I'm not superman and Jesus is. As hard as that is it's also OK. 

Thanks Tim for helping me think through these things.

What are your 5 ?