His palms were sweaty, his voice shaky, as he testified to the youth ministry God was doing through him. As he spoke to the congregation, he simultaneously prayed for a miracle. He hoped when it was all over his message would be heard, his calling affirmed.

By far, one of the greatest call stories I have ever heard or read is Paul’s. After he had this amazing experience on the road to Damascus, he quickly discovered his calling was challenged by those whom he persecuted. It was only after Barnabas accepted him and brought him to the apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 1:27) that his calling partially was affirmed. Partially because, as Acts 15 records, Paul had to come back to Jerusalem and testify to the work God had been doing through him with the Gentiles. Even after the Damascus Road experience and Paul’s time with the apostles, the church in Jerusalem still was not sure whether Paul’s calling to the Gentiles was a genuine call from God or the hallucination of a blind man.

Sound familiar?

You know what I’m talking about. You’re attending a conference because the church leadership thought it would be good for you, but when you get there you realize the sole focus of the conference is adult ministry. When you talk with other attendees, they ask you, “When are you planning to look for a pastoral position?” Or they suggest you try to get your church to change your title from “youth pastor” to “associate pastor” so it looks more professional and possibly open the door for a pastorate more quickly. So, by the time you leave the conference, you begin to wonder whether or not you actually had an authentic call from God to youth ministry in the first place.

Has this been your experience? It has been mine. As I moved into college I began to feel a call to full-time youth ministry. However, as I expressed this call to one of my mentors and mentioned I was looking at M.Div. programs with an emphasis in youth ministry, she quickly frowned. She thought it would be better for me to get a regular M.Div. so that when I was tired or did not feel called to work with youth anymore, I had the option of seeking a full-time pastorate.

When I finished a message on Sunday mornings, I often received cordial comments: “That was a great message,” but a few people consistently say, “You’re going to be a wonderful pastor for a church someday!” Even some of my fellow students at seminary echoed the same sentiments of my mentor. I started to give up and believe maybe they were right. Youth ministry was only a season in life, a stepping stone, until the greater ministry of being a pastor.

This all changed for me recently when I received the opportunity to attend my first national youth pastor’s conference in Chicago. After attending the conference all day, I sat in my hotel room alone one night on the verge of tears. Not because I experienced God in some new and amazing fashion, not because I got all my questions answered, not even because the speakers were magnificent, although they were. I was on the verge of tears because for the first time in a long time I felt like I was home! It was the first time I went out to lunch with complete strangers and talked about issues that were important to youth ministry. No longer did people care if I had my name badge on my chest, and the speakers actually treated me with respect because they saw youth ministry as a legitimate ministry of the church. I was surrounded by fellow sisters and brothers who had experienced the same call I had experienced, and I felt affirmed.

You see, in a way, Paul’s story is our story. His struggle to get the church to grasp his vision from God and affirm his calling to the Gentiles is the same struggle we deal with in youth ministry in the church today. Youth ministry often is seen as something we do until we’re older and ready to become a pastor. After a while, the doubts begin to wear on us until we begin to question the validity of our calling, thinking perhaps they are right.

So, if you’re wondering whether or not your call to youth ministry is genuine, I implore you to attend a national youth pastors’ conference, or any conference focused on youth ministry, when you get the chance. It is time for you to come home! There are so many issues in youth ministry, from working with youth who have special needs and understanding the adolescent findings of psychology and sociology to the deep pains and suffering of youth going through family divorces, that God needs people who are willing to serve and commit their lives to aiding youth as they journey through life. We cannot afford not to be in dialogue with each other, sharing our stories, and building each other up, because the risks, trials and sufferings our youth go through on a daily basis are too enormous for us to see youth ministry as anything other than it truly is: a genuine call to serve in God’s kingdom just like Paul’s call to the Gentiles.