Student Ministry 101: Expect Nothing, Get Nothing

People rise to the level of expectation.

• If you treat them like animals, they'll act like animals


• If you don't ask them to serve, they won't


• If all you ask is that they show up to be entertained, don't be surprised when that's all you get

We naturally drift towards whatever is most comfortable, but we're also often motivated by a challenge.

I serve at a church plant which meets in a school. A few months back we completely removed our Sunday more high school class, and we told our students we expect them to serve. At the same time, we started a new worship service on Monday nights. It is heavy on setup and tear down. The first couple of weeks it required a lot of me, but literally within a few weeks, a group of guys started to show up to help setup and tear down. We created a culture where we were very clearly that we expect high school students to serve, and they did.

• If you expect them to serve, some will serve


• If you expect them to help setup and tear down, they will setup and tear down


• If you expect them to lead, some will lead