Volunteering to work with youth may be one of the bravest things a person can do. You will spend many hours at awkward times of day trying to connect with teenagers, often not sure if you are succeeding or not. You will fade into the background at so many functions, and miss many adult gatherings. You will become intimately aware of the pain and hurt in student's lives, and be heartbroken at your inability to make it better.
As a youth minister, please hear me say, I couldn't do this job without volunteers. They make so much happen, and offer more strength and support than I can describe. Their sacrifices of time, money, and ideas are the building blocks of this community. I may be the one that gets paid, but they are the ones who drive this whole thing anywhere.
My heart is breaking knowing that one of our strong volunteers, and my dear dear friend Trish will not be here to do any of that. No one will replace her wit, her strength, her encouragement, and her expectations for all of us.

You have served well, you have blessed many, and you are loved more that words can say, Trish.

In the midst of so much disagreement in so many places, I find myself wondering if we forgot who we're looking at.
Please understand, I'm all for a good argument. I subscribe to the belief you cannot have a healthy relationship of any kind without a fairly brutal fight occasionally. I wish it wasn't that way, but it happens. Part of loving people is not only seeking peace, but honestly and openly disagreeing and finding someway to continue on when the disagreeing part doesn't turn into agreeing.
My concern over the past few months, especially in the church, is that we get so caught up in being right, we forget why we cared to fight in the first place.  I think the main reason we get so heated and determined comes from a sincere desire to honor this Jesus person we are trying to follow. And that's not a bad thing. We should be committed to that. We have to strive to honor and respect that.
Here's the catch. Check James 3.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

Too often our defense of whatever turns into an attack on someone else. And that someone else bears the image of God. How can we possibly praise God and curse Him? Simply put, we can't. So we have to choose, and that hopefully means no attacks on any image bearer.
This is a great lesson we've heard before, but I think we need to take it step further. We need to learn to recognize the Holy Spirit in each other. Not only should we never attack someone else, but if we recognize the same Spirit in them that we ourselves love enough to defend, how can we dismiss them? How can we write them off?
No, we may never agree. And that is OK. But when we see the Spirit we love, we should love it, no matter who we recognize it in.