Possibilities

I was listenning to a podcast sermon by Erwin McManus earlier today, where he quoted Benjamin Zander, conductor of Boston Philharmonic. This is what he (Zander) said:

"My job is to awaken possibilities in others."

What more succinct and appropriate description of youth ministry is there? I was reading this morning as Jesus was taking the Pharisees to task for their 'lordly' outlook: "Because we know God's law so well, we have authority to tell you what to do." Jesus pointed out how they really did know the letter of God's law very well, but were utterly failing at living out the heart of it. They couldn't obey, but grabbed for power by trying to make everyone else obey, then pointing it out when those people failed.

Youth ministry can be like that. We who lead in ministries that are geared for youth can easily spot the shortcomings of those we lead. It's not hard to find their failings and point them out so sharply that our students let themselves be defined by those failings. But what if our view of our "job" really was "to awaken possibilities" in our students? To uncover and draw out what God has placed within our students? Then what would become?