A Bad Night at Youth Group.

I step up to the stage and grab the microphone to the applause of a roomful of adoring teenagers. As I look out into the crowd I see many familiar faces waiting desperately with their Bibles open and pens ready to hear the message that I have been preparing for all week. Next to all of these familiar faces are first time guests who are staring at me with curious anticipation waiting for the chance to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.

In the back of the room are more adults than we could ever find a job for. Professionals, moms, deacons... everyone wants to volunteer in my youth ministry, but I only pick the best of the best. As I begin to make my points, each adult nods their heads with spiritual enthusiasm at the nuggets of Biblical wisdom that are coming their way. The respect that they have for me is enormous.

Every time I tell a joke to lighten the mood or to illustrate a point, everyone laughs like the audience at Showtime at the Apollo. When I get to the end of my message and try to end with a patented Louie Giglio left hook, I see everyone crying. The familiar faces have their arms wrapped around the shoulders of the visitor they brought, adults have made their way to voluntarily start ministering to multitude of students that are anxiously waiting to commit or recommit their lives to Jesus.

It is such a good night that not only do 15 first time visitors get saved, but so do 5 familiar faces and the deacon in the back.

This turned out to be a really good night in our youth group.... or at least that is how it went in my head.

Here is how it really turned out:

5 minutes before youth group was to begin, I had one adult to help me.

I had middle school boys wrestling down the hallway. One had on a Mexican wrestling mask. (No joke)

There was a tension in the building like all of the students were upset they had to be at church instead of watching "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

Once youth group finally began, there were noticeable empty chairs all over the room. And yet none of our adults sat in them.

Three boys got up in the middle of worship because they to do a skit for AWANA. Apparently these 3 boys  are such thespians that only they were qualified to handle such a Shakespear-ian task.

When I got up to deliver the message I had been preparing all week, it felt like I was interrupting something else that was going on.

Every joke I told hit the ground like a lead balloon.

Every truth that I spoke floated over their heads like a hot-air balloon.

And for some reason, it was National Tell Your Kid to Walk Out of Youth Group Early Night. Because I literally had six kids get up at different times and leave because their parents wanted them so desperately to get home fifteen minutes earlier that to interrupt a 3/4 full room of already distracted teenagers was necessary collateral damage.

So where do I go from here?

1. Like the inaudible man in Waterboy slurred to Adam Sandler "Live to fight another day."
2. Remember all of the good nights of youth group to balance out this not so good one.
3. Isaiah 55 says that His Word will not return void.
4. Get it out of my system and start cheerfully working on next week's youth group experience.
5. Do something different. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Change is a comin'.

Have you ever had a bad youth group night?

Please share.