So in case you missed it, DC Comics came out last week and declared the Green Lantern gay. That’s right, a character created in 1940 has come out of the closet and is the 1st openly gay person in the DC Comics universe.
So how does this apply to ministry?
Standards, standards, standards. Back when Green Lantern was created, having an openly gay superhero would never been a good idea because America would never have accepted that. Standards were different back in the ’40s. But as America has “evolved” and become more open and accepting of behaviors, DC Comics relaxed their standards and probably for the sake of promotion and sales, they made the Green Lantern gay.
Similarly, as youth ministers, we have standards that we live by. Both personal and ministry standards. These standards need to remain consistent and to our core in part because Christ never changed and His standards remain the same today as they were decades and centuries ago.
It is easy today to relax our standards and let “small things” fly in our personal and ministry lives. But we cannot allow these small things in because although they may start small, it ultimately allows us to accept bigger changes. That is why we cannot allow culture to dictate our standards. If what is happening in the culture lines up with scripture, then that is ok, but when it doesn’t (and oftentimes it doesn’t), we cannot allow something that is culturally accepted influence what we choose to do in ministry where we relax our guidelines and our core.
Be who you are. But be who Christ called you to be. If students aren’t coming to your program the way you’d hope, seek the Lord and His guidance. Don’t think of some gimmick like DC Comics just did to draw attention to yourself. Point your attention to the Lord and see what He does for His glory.
Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Experiences? Post a comment and let the discussion begin so that we can all benefit from it.]]>