7. When he got us back.My friend, Clint, and I were morons in high school. We were the jokers, the class clowns of our group. Two (maybe three) years in a row, we decided that we would roll Danny’s house the night before camp kicked off. I should share that we left for camp around 4 am every year. Clint and I were at Danny’s house around 11:30 pm. This usually involved the police, and it almost involved jail one year (I wish I were kidding). This would be a great story if it ended there, but it doesn’t. One night before service at camp, Clint and I were called up separately to be used as “illustrations.” We both knew that something was up but we had no idea what was to come. We were duct taped to chairs (on our bare skin). We were blind-folded by diapers. Peanut butter was spread all over us, and shoved in our ears and noses. Then came the honey. I think there was more, but my brain won’t let me remember it all. Post-traumatic Syndrome I think.
Later, he had one of the camp counselors (who was apparently a freaking black belt) come up and demonstrate his awesomeness on us. But nooo, we’d learned our lesson. However, with the whole room wanting to see more “embarrass Clint and Cox” time, we were pushed to the front. This time, there wasn’t any duct tape involved. Only carrots. So what were we to do with these carrots? Well, friends, we were supposed to put them in our mouths, while Mr. Blackbelt took his nunchucks out and started swinging. Our only advice: stand very still. As the crowd watched, and I waited for a trip to the ER to reattach my nose, he stood to the side of me, doing his nunchuck show. Then, out of nowhere, he swings the nunchucks my way, and knocks the carrot out of my mouth. This is possibly one of the scariest moments of my life. Again, pictures speak louder than words.
8. When he led a youth service by spontaneously praying for God to forgive us. One night, when we were in high school, we ended up spending the last half of a service in spontaneous prayer. Danny invited us all to go to the altar to pray if we felt led. We prayed that night as a group for 30-45 minutes. I’ll never forget the sound of Danny fighting through tears to cry out to God. As students, we had no idea what might be happening in his life to warrant those tears. All I knew was that this guy was serious about calling out to God. And it made me want to be serious, too.
9. When he went on his first trip with us. When I was a junior in high school, I’d just got plugged into our youth ministry for the first time. I wasn’t sure what to expect. All I knew is that we’d had two youth pastors up until that point, and the third was on his way. We’d been told about Danny, but I didn’t have a clue who he was or why I should care. The church leadership thought it would be a good idea for him to go on a ski trip with us to get to know us. I don’t know if he officially had the job or not; all I know is that he spent that entire weekend loving on us. The moment that I’ll never forget is the memory of Danny talking with all the students in the back of the bus about his perspective on life and how God uses different trials to grow us. The quickly conversation turned into an “ask anything” question, as the students hearts were being sparked by the passion of this 22-year old guy we’d spent the weekend with. It was at that moment that I knew God was going to use him in a big way in all of our lives. I went up to our former youth pastor, who was sitting at the front of the bus talking with the bus driver. I’d never really had a very open relationship with my old youth pastor, but at that moment, I wanted to tell him that I really believed in Danny, and that I thought he was great. He smiled and said, “I agree.”
10. When he told me that I was wrong. As an intern, I had a lot of responsibilities. One of those was to mingle with as many students as possible in our Wednesday night service. On one particular day, Danny asked me to invite a certain student to sit next to me. He had routinely sat in the same seat, by himself, for the last few weeks. Danny was aiming to introduce him to some of the other students. I told him I would do so, and we went on with our day. About 5 minutes before the service started, I chose a seat next to some students that I felt comfortable around (on purpose). I was so uncomfortable going up to this student, so I just didn’t. What happened next marked me. Danny came up to me to ask me point-blank, “Why didn’t you do what I asked you to do?” This is the same Danny who took me out for coffee and called me his friend. But when it came time for me to know when I was wrong, he wasn’t afraid. Friendship is good. But friendship without confrontation (when necessary) isn’t true friendship. He taught me something about leadership that day, and I’ll never forget it.
11. When he brought my fellow graduates up in front of our group to talk about what we meant to him. There’s something you need to know about me. When I was a freshman in high school, I found my identity in other peoples’ idea of me. I accepted Christ as a sophomore, but was still dealing with a bunch of junk in my life. I got hooked into our youth ministry as a late sophomore, and began to plug in more and more. From that point on, my identity was not found in sports, people groups, classes, or anything like that. It was Jesus and those who loved Jesus – namely, our student ministry. So by the time I graduated, it was a pretty big deal. We were the first class who’d been able to spend a full year with Danny, and we’d created some very meaningful relationships. The last youth night of our senior year, I, along with my fellow graduates, was invited to the front of the room. We were greeted with a big hug and applause from the other students. I remember a very close friend of mine in the crowd locking eyes with me, because she knew that I was about to leave something (and someone) that I dearly loved. She knew what that moment meant to me. That moment is burned in my memory as a transition out of high school and into the “real world.” I think sometimes we might forget the heaviness associated with graduating high school. That was such a huge moment.
Maybe the best youth ministry decision you could make this week is to be OK with putting all the important things in your office on hold, so you can go love on students – because ultimately, that’s what carries the most impact anyways. If you want to be an influencer of the next generation, it takes time.