Square Peg in a Round Hole?

Unusual title I know, but I also know that everyone has felt that way at least once...right? Man, if not, I really am a square peg! Anyway, being a youth pastor and a father, I feel that way sometimes. As a father, my calling is to play the lead role in the discipline, discipleship, and evangelism of my children. And I do that with joy and fear, knowing that one day I will stand the Lord and give an account of my inheritance. Here's the thing though...why as a youth pastor do I have to do that for everyone else's kids as well? The short answer is...I don't, I am only a support and a reinforcement of what SHOULD be happening in the home - That has ALWAYS been my philosophy of ministry. The trouble with sinful, fallen, and depraved human beings however - myself included - is we always try to pass the buck so-to-speak. Nothing new of course..."the woman YOU gave me" made me do it..."the serpent deceived me"...right from the beginning it happened. The buck in this case - discipline, discipleship, and evangelism of church kids - is often passed to the youth pastor. Don't get me wrong; we have a role to play, but it is not the lead.

That said, I came across a nice little quote on another churches website. It says this: "We have a strong youth ministry...It's called Fathers."
Now, I believe that with all my heart, and I try with all that I am to implement that philosophy in my ministry. BUT...why do I get the feeling sometimes that if I really tried to force the issue, I would have a line up of angry parents wanting to kill me, and at the end would be a church board that would dig up my dead body just so they could fire me? Just a thought.

Love in the Truth