When people ask me what my major is and when I respond with "youth ministry," I get one of two responses: "oh" or "wow." However, both responses usually lead to the same statement: "You must have the easiest major." I can tell you from firsthand experience that this is completely false. I would even argue that Christian ministries and theology majors are the hardest majors. It's easier to see why I would say theology would be a hard major -- I mean they do a lot of work and they are constantly reading and thinking. But there's more to it, just like Christian ministries. You see, Christian ministries is more than just learning how to conduct Sunday School or plan a retreat. Christian ministries majors know what is coming for them and, honestly, it's terrifying.
It's the fact that a lot of people depend on us, they have unrealistic expectations for us, and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Our classwork may seem easier but we have a lot of internal and external pressure surrounding us constantly. We are seen as responsible for the eternal lives of humanity. We are seen to be perfect all the time. We are seen to have the best spiritual walk out of anyone, but none of this is true. Yes, we are responsible for guiding people to Christ, but ultimately the determining factor for a person to accept Christ is between that person and God. Our job is to present the Gospel in a relatable way, in a way that is understandable. But if you ask me, that's the job of all Christians, not just someone in Christian ministry as a profession.
Another hard thing that a Christian ministries major goes through is the pressure to be perfect. There's a pressure from others and ourselves that we have to have our lives all together all the time just because we're a ministry major. But if you ask me, I'm not in the "business" of ministry because I'm perfect and I have my life all together; I'm in it because I know that I'm not perfect and I know I'm in need of a Savior. I'm in the "business" of ministry because I want to journey with people through that imperfect together and fall in love with our Creator allowing Him to transform us as individuals together to become more of His image.
The hardest thing that I think any Christian ministries or theology major faces is the challenge of our own spiritual walk. You see, we spend all of our time reading the Bible, learning the original language, interpreting, putting into context, and so many other things that sometimes it's hard to just sit and be filled by the Spirit. We can fall into the trap of substituting our personal time with our Redeemer with our Systematic Theology class because we literally study God and the Bible all day long, but that's not how it's supposed to be. Nothing should replace our time with our Heavenly Father. It takes a lot of work and prayer to move past that way of thinking and doing life. It's the biggest struggle to fight against the urges to pull out a word study on a passage because that's what we are trained to do. Sometimes we just need to sit and reflect on the goodness of God. Sometimes we let our textbooks speak to us more than the Holy Spirit and, most of all, sometimes we just burn out. In the end, we have a constant fight that no one understands.
That's why I can argue that Christian ministries or theology major is the hardest major.
