The Comparison Game

You’re scrolling through your social media account and you see a youth Pastor friend posting a pic from their youth service and instead of celebrating you start comparing yourself and your ministry to what others are doing. It happens all too often! We see snapshots into other ministries which may or may not be accurate representation of what is actually happening. If it is, we should celebrate what’s happening. If it’s not, we shouldn’t try to replicate it. And this is the problem with comparing ourselves with others.

A social media post isn’t the true indicator of a healthy student ministry! 

A large number of students attending a service is great! But a concert, a blockbuster, or a number of other events can have a large crowd show up, and it doesn’t mean that any life change is happening. If you haven’t done this, I want to encourage you to define what health looks like in your student ministry. Is it a large number of attendees? Decisions for Christ? Fostering of relationships/community? If you haven’t defined the Win you’ll never know if you’re winning! 

The greatest way to undermine what God wants to do in and through you is to compare it to someone or something else. Be the best you, you can be! Do what God has called you to do! Should you learn from others Churches, ministries, and leaders? Absolutely!! Just don’t get caught up in the comparison game because there are no winners! 

Matt Moore

Pastor & Author of Intentional Youth Ministry