Jon Foreman of Switchfoot in an interview was asked, "How does it make you feel to consider that aspiring artists are looking to you and your band mates as mentors of sorts?" His answer was, "Mentors...hmmm...I always go back to 6th grade when I think about my heroes. I grew up with surf posters hanging on my walls: Curren, Slater, Occy. I watched them on TV, read about them in surfer mags, and breathed them in--every turn, every logo, every smile. Have they impacted the way I live my life today? A little, but they're mostly just a piece of the past. But there is another type of mentor--one that stays with you. I'd like to be this type. You see, I've never had a picture of C.S. Lewis or my ninth grade history teacher or my dad hung up on my wall, but these men have had a significant impact on the way I live today." (CCMMagazine.com)

Our parents live with youth who have posters on the walls of not great influencers. Parents live with the attitude that we may never see. Parents live with their "baby" who they may not recognize day to day. No wonder they feel inadequate.

You are in a position to help parents not misread the signals and do what so many teens want, which is to be closer to their parents.

Many of you probably feel inadequate to be that Robin and to help parents, that Batman, in the raising of their own children. (There are enough feelings of inadequacy to go around for all.) Maybe you are not a parent yet. Maybe you feel too young to have a say in something when you are still living with your own parents. Remember this. You have influence as that significant other adult in a teen's life. The teens already appreciate you for that. And many parents also appreciate you for that. From that foundation you can speak to both sides and help them in this communication gap. You can tell the parents over and over again that just because their pictures aren't on the wall, it doesn't mean their influence is less.

However, parents can see with their own eyes that their child is drawn to you. This could heap on the inadequacy even more. Remember this: the parents' role in youth ministry is not to help you to become the cool influence. Parents do want that out of you, but not at their expense. Take a quick inventory of your youth ministry. Have you been using the parents to help you with your relationships with the teens? What have you done to help the parents be a better influence on their child? Have you purposely brought up conversation with your teens about their relationships with their parents when you have your pizza-times or IM conversations? Do you support the parents with your words and actions?

Here is another however to consider. Do you think so much of your own abilities to impact a teen's life beyond the youth group that parents are not important? You would never say that question nor even think it or pray it when you are praying through your vision. But look at your actions and how you have set the youth ministry up. Have you done this without knowing it?

Now that our superhero egos have had time to be properly squashed, what can you do better as Robin?

Ted Haggard of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, a pastor to many pastors as well as his own congregation, wrote this for ParentMinistry.org, "The youth pastor has to understand that there may be times when he or she becomes very influential in a young person's life. Their influence is not to be the parent or to be the police officer or people like that, but to teach young people how to respond to parents and how to respond to police officers and how to respond to the school system and education. It is the youth pastor's job to make young people successful. It is not the youth pastor's job to just personally connect with the young person, but to personally connect with them in order to coach them towards a successful life in the future.

"There's one other thing that's very important in this area for the youth pastor. The youth pastor must model life well. This means that they can not be a slob, they can not be lazy, they can not be disrespectful toward the pastor, toward the church, toward the elders, or toward parents. Instead, the youth pastor must understand the big principles of life well and model them well so that the parents within the community will look at that youth pastor and say, 'I want my son/daughter to be like that guy/girl.'" (June 16, 2004)

You may or may not agree with the strong opinion Haggard wrote but at least let it soak in some.

Some other things you can do to be that Robin are (Wild Frontier themes you have read before):

1. Become a Level 5 Leader. Level 5 Leadership is briefly defined as an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will. A Level 5 Leader does not keep him/herself in the center of everything as he/she is building for the success of the next generation when he/she is gone, not the present setting only.
2. Base the youth ministry program around the youth and their parents. Both sides need the benefit of your wisdom.
3. Have parent meetings which don't promote the youth program but help the parents.
4. Bring the entire church into the youth ministry so church members can also be poster-less heroes to the youth. This doesn't need to be done on a scheduled basis necessarily. Invite guest Sunday School teachers for a week or two. Arrange for non-parents to be drivers to the next event. Arrange for congregation members to write morning devotions for your next retreat. With your creativity, you can find many ways to bring every age and member of the church into the youth ministry program.

You are very capable of being a great Robin and can still be a superhero. Know that every Batman needs a Robin.