5 Ways Frisbee Golf is Actually Like Real Life(in youth ministry)

It's better together

I’ll be honest, I have never tried to play a game of Frisbee Golf by myself. Through all the trips I’ve made to different courses I think I’ve only ever seen a few people wandering the course by themselves and I think there is a reason. The game is just more fun when we have community. Life in ministry is and will always be better in community. Find people that want to work and live alongside you and go with them!

Mistakes are guaranteed

I don't know how many Frisbees I've lost but I hope I can still count them on one hand (it turns out some of these discs are expensive). When you head out for a game of disc golf, unless you are professional (of which I am not) you can count on throwing some bad throws. You mean to throw it straight, it curves instead. You try to curve it around the tree in front of you, it becomes the straightest throw you have ever made and the disc comes straight back at your face (refer to reason below for more information on things trying to take your head off). Seeing mistakes as opportunities is another key element of life in ministry. Anyone who has ever run a youth summer trip of any kind knows that things are guaranteed to NOT GO YOUR WAY. Mistakes are promised in ministry. We don't need to look forward to them, but we must know that mistakes are just opportunities for God to show up in a big, big way.

Don't take yourself too seriously

I know sometimes extra letters behind our names makes us feel fancier or smarter and we desire to be treated a certain way. But please don't take yourself too seriously. We have all been out to the frisbee course, seen that group of three guys, just praying that they are professional players. If they are not professional it means they have dropped a lot of money on three special backpacks a piece for their discs, special chairs to sit in at each hole, special water bottles that mount to their disc bag, you name it, they have it. They sit behind you while you make three to four terrible throws mumbling about how long you are taking. When in front of you and you begin to walk up to your first throw and you see them finishing the hole and they begin to yell and scream at you to not throw yet. They clearly take themselves very seriously. Who knows, maybe they have been hurt on the course before, maybe they are just very passionate. I can tell you from my ministry experience, the men that I have and continent to respect the most are some very highly educated folks, but are completely humble. I can think of my boss and senior pastor, a very educated guy, but one that doesn't tout around his knowledge, instead he seeks to love people and be a useful vessel of God. Sometimes youth workers feel like no one takes themselves seriously, and instead of seeing the opportunity to just be a loving stable person in people's lives, they (me at many times) strive to be respected, to be seen as knowledgeable, to be seen as serious. But people often don't need "serious" as much as they need intentional, loving, humble and holy.

You need to watch your head

I don't know if you have ever been hit in the head by a disc, but let me tell you, it doesn't feel great. It's similar to falling head first into wood flooring, if that wood flooring was shaped into a point. Really its like falling headfirst into wood steps. That's about right. You need to be aware that some people that are out disc golfing are about as good as you are and they are going to end up throwing some discs your way. In ministry, you have to know that sometimes, people are going to unintentionally throw things your way. There is going to be the extra day you weren't planning on working, the post you didn't know you need to post, the extra...anything and everything. If you aren't ready for these things, they are going to blindside you, you are gonna get hurt and you are going to end up getting frustrated that you are even playing in this game at all. Instead you need to be aware, there are a lot of people out here, even in your church and you need to be ready to dodge a few discs, pick them up and pass them back (nicely of course). As youth ministers and pastors in general, we end up doing a lot of different things for our congregations, some that are seen, most that are not. To remain faithful and loving, we have to be aware of what is going on around us, even those things that are outside of "our" ministry (as if any ministry is really ours anyway).

You don't always have the best Frisbees in your bag

Finally, we won't always have the nicest toys, but we need to work with what we've got. I've been out playing disc golf and have been so envious of a collection of discs someone else has had. I think, man if I just had a couple more, I would be SO MUCH BETTER! I ask if I can borrow one of his nice discs, I pick it up, feel the perfect weight of it. I wind up and throw a powerful tomahawk...straight into the highway across the street. Just having the best toys doesn't mean we will play any better. Right now in ministry I have the opportunity of working with some great programs, having access to some great tools. Everything from editing tools, presenting programs, and a Logos library. But I don't always have the best tools on hand, sometimes I have to make up slides on the go for the retreat. Sometimes I still pull out my old ESV study bible to get a little extra material for my lesson. Sometimes I just find a great link to an image instead of creating something from scratch. We don't always have the best of the best in every situation. But that doesn't mean we don't always give it all we have. I've seen some of the best ministry and conversations and conversions from some of the worst developed materials I've done. I've had times where I felt there was no response from materials I took months developing. This isn't to say we should try to make everything the best, we should, "do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people" Colossians 3:23 (CSB). But we need to know, God isn't limited by our tool box, He has the storehouses of heaven and we are just here to keep being available.

Ministry isn't exactly like Frisbee golf, but it sure reminds me of it when I think about it. I love the ministry that God has me in, I know that wherever I am, whenever, I will never stop playing. Even on those days when it's rainy and I don't feel like getting out there, I know once I do I can start to see the amazing things God is waiting to do. He desires to use each one of us, He isn't limited by us, but we can glorify Him through our living sacrifice in ministry and in Frisbee golf. In the words of the Frisbee's creator Fred Morrison, "The world has changed a lot in the past 50 years, but the original purpose of Frisbee has remained constant." It was to bring smiles onto people's faces and to be bring joy to people across the globe. Well, the world has changed a lot in the 2000 years, but the original purpose of the Gospel has remained constant. Love God, love people.