Value vs. Reward

I saw this survey a few months back and it made me do some major thinking in "why am I putting limited time, resources and energy in certain things verses others....and what's the value verses the reward". 

10,000 Christian teenagers were asked this question: "If you were choosing a church, how important would the following 10 things be?"
1) A welcoming atmosphere where you can be yourself. - 73%
2) Quality relationships with teenagers. - 70%
3) A senior pastor who understands and loves teenagers. - 59%
4) Interesting preaching that tackles key questions. - 53%
5) Spiritual growth experiences that actively involve you. - 51%
6) Fun activities. - 51%
7) Engaging music and worship. - 50%
8) Quality relationships with adults. - 36%
9) Multiple opportunities to lead, teach and serve. - 35%
10) A fast-paced, high-tech, entertaining ministry approach. - 21%

What got my attention was how the top two results were relationships and feeling welcomed while the least important is the "wow" factors. When I took over as the student pastor at my church, they had nothing (including a budget). I came in with these big ideas and plans to make our student room as cool and fun as possible. After we got lights, the stage lined with the pallet walls and the Playstation and Wii hooked up...I noticed the students loved what we did but it didn't make their experience any better spiritually speaking. It's about the relationships and the welcoming factor...not the wow factor. 

Now honestly ask yourself, just as I did, are you allocating your time, resources and attention respectively to what the students actually want or care about? You don't have to have 50 LED lights on a light rack busting out a sweet light show during worship, you don't need a wall full of game consoles connected to 50" flat screens, you don't do things at a fast-pace and you don't have to worry about entertaining your students. If they come for the sole purpose of the game consoles on flat screens, the entertainment and light show...you will not keep them. They are not there for the main thing and that's Jesus. I know the other side of the conversation and YES, I agree, we need to be relevant and offer things that draw students in that normally wouldn't darken the door, BUT the good news is, the students barely care about that stuff. 

Challenge: Decide the value vs. reward when it comes to how and why you do what you do in your student ministry. If your time, resources and energy (and budget) is limited, is more important to focus on the wow factor vs. relationship and spiritual growth factor? Is it wrong to spend time, resources and energy on the wow factor? Absolutely not...as long as you're putting more time, resources and energy in what the students actually want and NEED...and that's relationship and spiritual growth.