If you’re anything like me, one thing you could use more of in life and ministry is time.

• More time to hang out with students.
• More time to plan the next big event.
• More time to connect with volunteers.
• More time to study for whatever topic/passage you’re teaching on
• …and the list goes on.

Unfortunately, as we all know, you can’t really “buy more time” or “make time” (even though we will often use those phrases to convince ourselves we can).

At the end of the day, we’re all still stuck with the same 24 hours.

So, every day we have to ask ourselves questions like…

• How am I going to make the most of my time today?
• How am I going to determine who (or what) gets my time and who doesn’t?
• How am I going to possibly get everything done?

(Am I the only one who ever feels this way in youth ministry?  It seems like there are always more things to do and more people to see.  And, at times, it can feel so overwhelming that I end up wasting time thinking about how to best use my time…sound familiar?)

A while back in youth ministry, I learned a little something about how we choose to use our time…

I learned that what we value determines our priorities, and our priorities then determine our commitments…or how we choose to use those 24 hours we’ve been given.

Think about it…

We live in a world where time is a commodity easily wasted, and we never have enough of it.  So, instead of filling our days with what we think are time-killers, we tend to plan our lives around the things that we value the most (good or bad).

Let me just give you one example of how this plays out in the context of youth ministry…

When I started in full-time youth ministry 16 years ago, I thought being a part of a network of local youth leaders was a time-killer.

I thought that I needed to spend that time working on youth ministry stuff.

You know, stuff like…

• Writing the perfect “come-to-Jesus” talk
• Planning the funnest, craziest, messiest game
• Making sure the youth space had the right vibe for the night
• Planning & promoting the next cool event…

It took me a year to realize that what I really valued was my own success and what I had to offer the students in my ministry. 

So, I had made it a priority to do everything I could do to be a “successful” youth pastor.

I was committed to the job.

But in many ways, I started out alone in ministry…and I missed out on the value of networking with the youth leaders around me.

Fast-forward to the present, and I can tell you that if you want to be a “successful” youth pastor, then you need a network of youth pastors and leaders around you.

If you didn’t catch that, let me put it this way…

If you value your own health…

If you value longevity in ministry…

If you value the pursuit of God’s Kingdom on this earth…

If you value learning…

If you value encouragement…

If you value prayer…

If you value accountability…

If you value teamwork…

If you value community (and the community you serve)…

If you value any or all of these things, then you need to make it a priority to join a youth network and go regularly.

It will be the best commitment that you will ever make as a youth pastor or leader.

Jason Matthews is a youth pastor in Washington state, where he’s been serving students for over 20 years.  When he doesn’t have to be in the office, he loves to be outside with his family, hiking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.  He also loves to network with other youth workers.  You can connect with Jason on Twitter @pjmatthews77 where he’ll often post on life and youth ministry.