by Grace Wu

Note: This week, the Youth affinity group brings us an interview with one of their staff members: John Yang. John has attended LBC since his freshman year of college, and has stayed at LBC even after graduating from UCSD. He is currently engaged to LBC member Melody Yu. In addition to preparing for marriage, he is also involved in an ongoing effort to get into medical school.

How long have you been on youth staff? What drew you to joining youth ministry?

Since March 2009 (~2 years). The simple answer as to why I joined youth ministry was because I became convicted that I needed to be willing to serve the church body and thought the youth ministry was a good place to cultivate this love for the church. I joined youth because I trusted JR, who was the youth pastor at the time, and knew he would encourage and help nurture this love for the body, and because I have always had an interest in investing in young men.

Now the long story: I came to LBC with a lot of jadedness and misinformation about Christianity. I hated church and I hated church ministry. I distrusted church leaders, and believed that leadership was rotten with corruption. With solid teaching and time (and grace and divine intervention), in 2007, I came to realize that Christianity and Christ are true. Not all Christians were phony, and certain members are even genuinely loving and trustworthy. Nevertheless, I refused to trust church as a whole, and was exceedingly distrustful and judgmental of the church. Throughout 2008, JR challenged me to love the church, not as a perfect entity, but as the object of Christ’s love and by His mandate, the proper recipient of my love as well. With much patience on his part, I was eventually convinced of the errors of my unbiblical and emotional way of thinking, and thus began to consider a more official ministry to serve the body in 2009. It was at this point that I decided to join the youth. I joined the youth because I struggled with loving church leadership, and saw serving the church in some leadership capacity as the most appropriate way to combat this sin. I joined youth because I trusted JR as a suitable overseer who would be mindful and understanding of my weakness in this area. It was a blessing that I loved the youth anyway, but I would be lying if I said it was because of them exclusively that I joined the ministry.

How has being on the youth staff helped you grow?

My love for the church has grown immensely since I joined 2 years ago. Certainly it was not exclusively the result of serving on staff, but where I previously would quite vocally express my distrust and hatred towards the church and its leadership, I now actively strive to love both the church and its leaders, endeavoring to kill the sin in me that judges them based on merit rather than grace. A lot of it involves learning humility. It is much harder to condemn the leaders when I realize how difficult it is to lead even in the simple responsibilities that I have been entrusted to. In summation, serving on staff has helped me to grow in humility and love especially towards our leaders.

What are some of your responsibilities in youth ministry?

Currently, my regular responsibilities are hosting and sharing a short devotional at the youth study hall on Wednesday nights. As for Friday nights, I am currently Zach’s small group leader and I try to be mindful of ways that I can continue to pray for and exhort him to godly living and worship.

Since you’re on youth staff, you have to be with them during Bible studies on Friday nights, which takes away time from being part of the Singles Ministry. How do you manage your time between youth ministry and Singles?

Certainly it is more difficult not having that default face time with the Singles by being there on Friday nights, but we manage. I live with 4 other LBC singles, I am part of a small group, and I try to mingle with them after youth Bible study and over lunch on Sundays. I also make it a priority to attend Singles events. Additionally, the Singles are diligent in reaching out, which makes it a lot easier for us. In terms of how I manage, I try to be purposeful in the scheduled times we do have with the youth, and I try to be intentional about being available for the unscheduled hangout opportunities with the Singles.

What is your encouragement to someone who is thinking about joining youth staff?

Pray. So long as your heart is set upon glorifying God and you believe joining the Youth ministry will serve that purpose, go for it. (Of course, this is assuming you love kids and are willing to serve the youth).