The Biggest Dangers to Your Children's Ministry - Danger #4

Yesterday I wrote about what I consider to be the fifth biggest danger in your Children's Ministry: selfishness. I said, "Selfishness will stop your  Children's Ministry from being effective . . . it is a big danger; so be on guard, call it out and pray, because there is no room in any Children's Ministry for selfishness."

Today I'm writing about Danger #4 . . . . . having too big a view of ourselves, what we know, and what we can do. It is awful easy to fall into the trap of thinking it is all about us when it comes to our Children's Ministry and when we do, we are putting our Children's Ministry in danger. 

So, how do we know if we have too big a view of ourselves, what we know and what we can do? Consider the following . . .

• Do we seek the opinions of others when it comes to the Children's Ministry, what we are doing and when we are thinking of starting something new, or do we just do whatever we think we should do? Do we carefully and prayerfully consider when someone questions our plans or do we just dismiss them out of hand, or worse, just say you prayed about it and are doing what you are doing? You do need to do what God wants, but it is far too easy to use "prayer" as a justification for doing what you want. I know a very young leader of 5th and 6th graders who insisted he was teaching them about Judges 19 (the Levite and his concubine.) Yes, this is an account in the Bible, but it is extremely violent - way to violent for nine and ten year olds. in my opinion. I shared my concerns, but he insisted on teaching what he was teaching. While we can not make decisions based on "popular vote", we do need the counsel, advice, and input from people who God has placed in our ministries who have solid information and insight to offer.
• Do we "hog" all the things which need to be done in our Children's Ministry? I LOVE serving in Children's Ministry and am willing to do whatever needs to be done, but while I love serving, there could also be others who would like to be involved. If I do it all, what is there for others to do? Don't rob others of the joy of serving!
• Do I have the attitude others are just not as good as I am at Children's Ministry? I once had a pastor tell me he was not going to, "let some young guy just out of college decide what to do with the Children's Ministry". When he told me this, I couldn't help but think, "It has not been all that many years since you were 'the young guy'. It is a good thing for you the church didn't feel the same way about you."
• Do you take the "credit" for the good things happening in your Children's Ministry?

These are just a few of the ways having too big a view of ourselves, what we know, and what we can do might show up in your Children's Ministry and when it does, it is a big danger to your Children's Ministry.

So, what do we do about the Danger of having too big a view of ourselves, what we know and what we can do? I believe there are only three things we can do . . . 

• Pray! Pray and ask God to protect your ministry from having too big a view of ourselves, what we know, and what we can do. Pray and ask God to show you  whenever and wherever it shows up. Pray!
• Call it out! Identify it and call out those who have too big a view of ourselves, what we know, and what we can do - call out yourself whenever you show these attitudes, too.
• Be on guard for it! Watch and watch and watch for it and act quickly whenever it shows up!

Having too big a view of ourselves, what we know and what we can do will stop your Children's Ministry from being effective . . . it is a big danger; so be on guard, call it out, and pray because there is no room in any Children's Ministry for having too big a view of ourselves, what we know, and what we can do.