"If I end up being a youth pastor, it's all his fault." (Luke 6)

Can you honestly say you would like those who learn from you to be just like you?

When I was a youth pastor in Denver, I had a great group of guys I would hang out with. These students where a lot of fun. We would plan all kinds of large elaborate strategy games after school, tackle football in the snow, and go down town to engage in faith conversations with people on the lite rail. They were cool guys and apparently they didn't think I was too bad either. I remember walking across the church parking lot one time and one of them said, "Man, if every youth pastor is like you and Matt, I wanna be one." I looked at him with an inquisitive expression. "If I can be as buff as you guys and have wives who look like your wives do...I definitely want to be a youth pastor."

My two years in Denver were wrapping up. I was headed to seminary. We were meeting together with this group of students who has joined out street ministry team for one of our final prayer times together. Each student was placed in the center of the circle and everyone would lay hands on them and then pray for them all the way around. We got to the end of they group of students and the kids insisted the youth pastors get in the center. When it was my turn I remember the love of those kids flowing out through their prayers. (blink, blink) One of the guys prayed, "I know its selfish God, but if it works out for me to run into Pastor Cory again in my life, I pray you would make that happen." And if that wasn't enough a little while later another kid prayed, "God, if I end up being a youth pastor its all Cory's fault."

In Luke chap 6 Jesus is teaching the people in his famous sermon on the mount, Luke's version. He shares a parable, If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into a pit. A student is not above his teacher and when he is fully trained he will be like his teacher. This is a scary prospect as a teacher/pastor. Do I really want my students to turn out like me? Will it be a good thing for my student in Denver to be a youth pastor like me? Will we both end up in a pit?

The flip side to this teaching of Jesus is if he is our teacher we will turn out like him. When we are fully trained, fully formed, when he has finished the work he has started in us we will be like him. This is really good news for us and for the people who follow us.

Some of us may not be teachers in title, but we all have disciples, we all have people who follow what we do and learn patterns of behavior and faith from what they see in our lives. As one of my good friends who is a teacher said this morning, "Probably the times outside of the class room are even more important then what I say in class."

Here's the thing, if we are learning from Jesus, if he is our teacher, if we are his disciples and the people around us see this to be true, then to follow us they will need to follow Jesus. This is my hope and my redemption as a Pastor. If I am following Christ, when as student prays, "If I end up being a youth pastor, it's all his fault." I don't have to worry or fear, because they will follow Jesus not me. They will only do so however if I am following Jesus and being formed in his image as he intends for all of us.

May we follow Jesus today, so those who follow us will be following him as well.