If its one area in the church where mediocrity is accepted more than not, it is childrens ministry. Unfortunately, many childrens leaders become leaders because a lead pastor is desperate, and they throw someone in there to help out, which soon becomes a part-time or full-time job.

There are still many lead pastors out there who view adult ministry as real ministry and childrens ministry as childrens childcare or childrens babysitting. Some pastors will think give them a nice story, play some games, color a pagewhats so difficult? Well, that model isnt difficult, and that model will breed a mediocrity in ministry and in your childrens leaders.

I believe there are many childrens leaders and pastors out there who want the best for their ministry, but because mediocrity is acceptedmediocrity is given. Its important as childrens leaders that even though your lead or senior pastor isnt expecting much, you still give it your all. Whether you have a budget of hundreds of thousands or absolutely nothing, we still need to give 110%. Because at the end of the day, were raising up the next generation of leaders. If nothing else, they expect us to give our all.

Go above the expectations of your lead pastor and give your all. Dont forget you get back what you give. So if you become a mediocre leader, dont expect your team to go above and beyond. In short, mediocrity breeds mediocrity!!

Only the mediocre are always at their best. Jean Giraudoux

THE DANGER OF MEDIOCRITY

Mediocrity is dangerous. It goes beyond fooling yourself. When I hear stories of a kids’ pastor not giving it their all, I do not necessarily think of the mediocre kids’ pastor. Instead, I think about the children who are being affected. I think about the poor experience they are having, the lack of passion, and lack of commitment to raising up the next generation.

Mediocre people think theyre always at their best. They often cannot find much room for improvement or do not push themselves forward. If I ever find myself thinking that theres nothing else I can do, I question my motivation and do a quick mediocrity check. I think theres always room to do even better, if not for my sake, for the kids and volunteers I lead.

Help fight mediocrity by:

1. Dont settle.
2. Always pay attention to the details.
3. Experiment.

THE EASY WAY

Mediocrity is doing things the easy way. Its not taking the time to give it your all. Mediocrity looks at childrens ministry and says, Lets just plug in the video curriculumits easier that way. Mediocrity is sacrificing whats best for our kids for our convenience.

This past week has been a great test of what kind of leader I am and what kind of leaders my team are. We literally had three major projects due this week. Its been one of those testing weeks. We couldve easily looked at our situation, due dates, all the extra things that were placed in front of us that were not planned, etc, and tried to find the easiest way to do them. We couldve cut corners, not completed projects, etc. Instead, we got together and decided that the long hours (70+ for some of us), completion of the details, the tough phone calls to make it happen was all worth it.

In our ministry, we do not settle for mediocrity. We dont do things the easy way because its convenient. In fact, if youre in ministry for the convenience, you may want to reconsider what youre doing. Ministry is anything but convenient, and its not always easy. Im all about work smarter and not harder, but not work convenient JUST because its easy. Mediocre kidmin leaders look at their schedule first before they look at the impact on the kids. Please hear me out, Im not knocking on those who work full or part-time and are leading kids’ ministry on the side. I did that for over two years, and I know its not easy. Im talking about the heart. You may be doing something that other people view as easy, but because youre working 50+ hours a week at your job, thats the best you can do at this moment. Thats not mediocre unless you know you can do better but you choose not to because its inconvenient.

Dont be mediocre. Stand out above the crowd and set the standard of excellence in your church!!

Justyn Smith is married to an amazing wife and is a father to five children. He is the children’s pastor at South Hills Church in Corona, CA and has a passion to help other childrens pastors become great leaders in their local church and ministry. He consults, writes, and is a frequent conference speaker. Justyn is the host of Celera Kidmin (click http://www.celeragroup.org/network-coaching/kidmin.aspx for more info) and has recently been named one of “Children’s Ministry Magazine’s” Top 20 to Watch. Twitter: pastorjustyn Facebook: facebook.com/pastorjustynvisit Justyn at justynsmith.com