You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2011.
I have the happy chance to attend College Metro this week, so a few blogs will likely springboard from that annual gathering of mostly church-based college ministers. (It happens to be in Ft. Worth this year, so that’s handy for me.)
Former college minister Eric Bryant shared the large group message at College Metro last night, and he asked us the hard question: Do we (like Jonah) hate our mission fields?
Jonah clearly didn’t respond to the Ninevites like he should have – either before or after the incident with the fish. (A book that dramatically impacted my own college ministry outlook, Under the Unpredictable Plant by Eugene Peterson, uses that story as a template, too.) He was “greatly dismayed” when God dared to relent.
Bryant acknowledged that we college ministers do love the people we’re called to serve – including those very different from us and those who seem “furthest” from God. But, he asked, do our campuses know that we love them? Have we given them any reason to believe that we love them? That we want to know them?
In many cases, the problem is not that students don’t know what Christian Religious Institutions have to offer. It’s that they do often know… and they just don’t want that. Are we going to show them that we offer something different from the meaner forms of Christianity they’ve seen in the past?
One more note: Bryant is also a former church planter. Just as I really believe missionaries and missiologists offer much wisdom for our field of campus ministry, I also believe church planting is one of those areas we can learn from. (And of course one of our branches, Collegiate Churches, is directly tied.) It was in an “Intro to Church Planting” course in seminary that God first highlighted for me the missiological nature of our work.
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
A couple of weeks ago, a speaking opportunity in Las Vegas popped up out-of-the-blue. I have the awesome chance to speak to pastors about how they can think – and rethink – their churches’ particular College Student Plans. (If you know of any church people in the vicinity who might want to join us, let me know and I can send along info.)
It’s been a year since I last took an “official” Exploring College Ministry road trip. That was Road Trip 14, a nifty little trip to Boulder in which God did some pretty awesome things. I’ve had other neat opportunities since then: exploring college ministry in Brazil, speaking for various campus ministry groups, and even moving where I live. But since last April, I hadn’t been back on the road in a big way, seeing a broader swath of the college ministry landscape. And I was missing it.
Meanwhile, a friend had just recently brought up the idea of taking a vacation. The truth is, I haven’t “vacationed” on purpose (away from home, at least) since 2007, about five months before the Yearlong Road Trip. (That vacation was Road Trip 6.) The truth is, I’m a little drained these days. So a vacation of some sort seemed pretty nice.
So that, in a sense, is what Road Trip 15 will be about. It’s definitely a “working vacation”; after all, I’ll spend a day speaking in the middle of it. And I expect to do some campus- and college ministry-exploring throughout. But I’m actually invigorated and refreshed by spending time on campuses, remembering why we all are invested in this beautiful thing called college ministry.
So I wanted to let you know. And as always, I’d love your help. I want to hear about it if you know of anyone / anyplace I should connect with along the way (probably in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, or Nevada, but I’m always open to craziness!). I won’t be able to do everything I want to do, but I’m definitely open to suggestions!
I’ll leave here around the 10th of April and return around the 17th. So it’s not a very long trip. I’ll keep you posted as I pray and think and plan as much as I can before the trip… but I’m also kind of expecting to play this one by ear a little bit, too.
And that makes me even more excited. Who knows what God might want to do?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
“Topics Worth the Tussle” is a series of themes that might be useful to wrestle with. Whether it’s to teach these topics or just to consider how well your students are living them out, these often undervalued themes might be worth another look!
I appeal to you therefore… (Romans 12:1a ESV)
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. (Romans 12:17 NIV2011)
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. (Romans 13:1 ESV)
Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. (Romans 13:13 NASB)
Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. (Romans 14:13 ESV)
My community group at church has been marching through the Book of Romans, and this week we turned the corner from chapter 11 to chapter 12.
If you’ve forgotten the structure of Romans, chapters 1-11 mostly present very complex theological issues. While it’s not fair (or accurate) to describe those chapters as strictly “Theology” and the last five chapters of Romans as strictly “Application,” the book’s structure does lean that direction.
Theology is, of course, extremely important. The problem is, these days plenty of our students think they’re solid Christians because they’re “Romans 1-11 Christians.” They know what to believe, they know theological terms, they know “deep thoughts” from the likes of John Piper or C.S. Lewis or Matt Chandler or A.W. Tozer or Don Miller or Relevant Magazine or the more “complex” parts of Scripture. Wherever they are on the theological spectrum, these students place a lot of stock in what they know.
But we and/or our students need to wrestle with the Therefore of Romans 12:1. Urging us to become living sacrifices, Paul appeals to us to “by the mercies of God” – the same mercies he’s just spent 11 chapters describing. If these eleven chapters are true, then this is how you’ll actually live, he says. So if we’re not up to the task of Romans 12-16, then we apparently don’t grasp “theology” at all. Or, as Peter puts it, “whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins” (II Peter 1:9).
Romans 12-16 isn’t really the “shallow” part of Romans, though our students sometimes think that way about “little things” like hospitality and harmony and humility and honoring others… just four of the twenty-seven-or-so commands in the second half of Romans alone.
The “topic worth the tussle” here isn’t just Romans 12-16 (though that could be a phenomenal text for a message series!). What’s worth tussling over is whether our college students realize that “deep Christians” are the Christians who live out our theology, not the ones who can only debate it skillfully.
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
My general approach for this “Topics Worth the Tussle” series has generally been presenting a few key verses to present a biblical topic that might be worth “tussling over” with college students. Please don’t think me unspiritual to take a slightly different approach today; I planned to present the topic and then realized that this, too, is a very collegiate topic that might be worth bringing up… even if that’s plenty awkward, too.
The topic?
How we – as Jesus followers – connect to sports.
I have made it very clear that I get really excited about the NCAA Tournament. And I also believe it’s a great chance to see the unique wonders of our particular mission field, the college campus (including in my “Sixty-Eight: A Vision Trip” essay, which apparently some people are even using with supporters and others! Hooray!).
At the same time, there have been some Christians who have (rightly) tried to examine whether our current “sports culture” in America might be at odds with what we profess as Christ followers. So I think that’s great for us – as college ministers – to wrestle with, and it might be great to bring up with your students, too.
Collegiate church planter Russell Atherton sent me the link to a CNN article highlighting some college ministry activity at Duke this week. While I personally have no idea if this thing was a valuable ministry event (but it certainly could have been), it’s definitely an interesting event. AND it was fun to see college ministry discussed at CNN and connected to March Madness. (The line at the end about the “tribal” nature of campuses was pretty interesting, too!)
Here’s the article: Amid March Madness, some Christians decry sports worship
There are several links in that article to people who have written about sports-and-Christianity. It’s definitely worth checking out.
The dangers of Christian obsession with Sports was also a Christianity Today cover story last year, so I’ll close out with some links to a few of their articles.
- Sports Fanatics: How Christians have succumbed to the sports culture—and what might be done about it.
- A Response to “Sport Fanatics” (above): Sport Is More Than Play
- The Joy of Sports: There are a lot of Christian athletes who care about the Cross, the gospel, humility, joy, and sanctification.
- My Top 5 Books on Sports: Picks from Andrew Parker, professor of sport and Christian outreach at the University of Gloucestershire
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
I thought I’d post a few videos you might enjoy. They’re related to our field in various ways.
The first is ESPN’s Kenny Mayne’s visit to Richmond, VA, a city which shockingly had two schools in the Sweet 16 – both major underdogs to win even their first game in the tournament, let alone a few games to get to the Sweet 16. The committee that picks teams for this tournament was even highly criticized for letting in Virginia Commonwealth University – something that’s mentioned in the video. (If you didn’t know, last night VCU won yet again – another (slight) upset – but Richmond finally got beat.)
I bet it’s been fun around both those campuses this week – a whole campus can certainly get excited about basketball success!
If you’re unfamiliar with Rebecca Black’s music video, I bet your students aren’t. Her song has definitely gone “viral” in the last couple of weeks (the video below has about 50 million views so far). This video is just so terrible and so popular (both, I promise) that you really should know about it.
And it’s already been the video that’s launched a thousand parodies… I was wondering if any campus ministries had “adapted” it for their purposes yet, but I couldn’t find any. Let me know if you know of one!
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
It’s easy to let things wind down after Spring Break. For those of you not on the Quarter System, the next six weeks or so can be the least “memorable” of the year. And even if we truly finish strongly, we’re probably still generally in finish mode.
But what if… we weren’t?
Spending our efforts on finishing well could be your best focus. But have you at least considered doing something different? That’s this week’s Fridea… to work these last weeks, as I’ve written before, like our hair’s on fire.
(This idea was originally connected to a great Seth Godin post that’s definitely worth a read!)
What if instead of winding down over the next six weeks, you went for broke? What if you worked extra hard and did something BIG during these excellent, beautiful spring weeks, when everybody else – all those campus organizations, all those other ministries, all those students – are somewhat coasting or distracted? What if you worked like your hair was on fire, until at last, bleeding and breathless, you collapsed into the glorious Summer Break? What if?
Want students to be especially prepared to follow Jesus in the summer months? Create some especially intentional preparation that won’t dissolve with the last Final Exam. Want students in your ministry to get excited about next school year? Create something memorable when nobody else will. Want outsiders to consider your ministry in the Fall? Create something remarkable when nobody else will. (Remember, Glee started like that – with one episode that got word-of-mouth going through the summer…)
Maybe this idea doesn’t fit your school or your ministry. But maybe it does. What’s stopping you from doing something rather creative, rather impactful between now and Graduation?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
So… the other day I bought some BreathSavers breath mints, since they were kinda staring at me in the checkout line at Wal-Mart. They say they’re “3 Hour Mint,” which according to the small print (still on the front of the box!) means they’re “clinically proven to reduce intrinsic bad breath for up to three hours.”
I started wondering: “Wouldn’t that be true for lots of breath mints?” I figure plenty of strong-ish breath mints would still have some scientifically-measurable effect three hours later… right?
So here’s where I went with that in my college ministry-lovin’ mind:
Stating the obvious, the basic, or the forgotten-but-fundamental reasons students benefit from our college ministry can keep them excited, keep them coming, or get them coming in the first place.
Even if a three-hour-effect is normal for lots of breath mints, hooray for BreathSavers for putting it front-and-center. It got me to spend my money.
For us, we should remind students on occasion that they benefit from being in our ministry. They have fun here. They get a weekly break to connect with Christ and each other. They’re learning things that will impact them and their future in dramatic ways.
We can remind them that our ministry gives them cool opportunities to serve others – and maybe even points them to opportunities they wouldn’t see without us. It’s providing them with relationships that will last a lifetime. It’s training them to be great spouses and great parents. It’s turning them into ministers – whether “vocationally” or otherwise.
And on and on.
These things are basic, but we forget – and if we forget, you can bet our students do. And if our students have forgotten the many “basic benefits” of our college ministry, you can bet our school’s other students (and the new freshmen each year) aren’t thinking about these things at all.
We might want to put them on the front of the box sometimes.
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
About a month ago, I had the opportunity to sit in on a local gathering of Young Adult Ministers. It’s been interesting to compare and contrast their work with the work of College Ministry, and this is the third (and probably last?) post looking at thoughts following that lunch. (The first post is here and the second is here. You can also see similar observations after a Youth Ministers’ lunch right here.)
Today, three more thoughts.
the spectrum is larger than ours
In the first post, I noted that what “Young Adult Ministry” means varies pretty widely place-to-place. It might mean Singles aged 23 to 29 at one church, and somewhere else it might include anybody “post-college, pre-family, married or single.”
But within individual young adult ministries, I think there might be a broader audience spectrum (in some senses) than we have in our college ministries. Right now, for instance, many young adult ministries serve Millennials, members of Gen X, and those in-betweeners (like me) who don’t completely identify with either. On the other hand, we campus ministers are almost always able to focus on serving one generation at a time.
Likewise, many young adult ministries nowadays do have married couples as well as singles. They have a wide variety of occupations represented, along with some full-time grad students or nontraditional students. Young Adults have widely divergent levels of education, too (whereas we’re generally reaching the “completed some college” crowd, of course). Young adults also likely live in a wide variety of local areas (at least in larger cities); many college ministries’ audiences probably live within a three-mile radius!
If I was a young adult minister, I could probably point out other ways that audience varies. But in any case, I’d say their audiences probably vary on certain axes a lot more than ours do.
they get to tell us what to do
Maybe Young Adult ministers don’t exactly get to tell us college ministers what to do, but I do believe – strongly – that we should be getting some cues from them about how we disciple students. Just as I wish Youth Ministers would ask us how to best prepare future collegians, we need to listen more and more to Young Adult ministers.
What are our Christian students lacking when they leave our ministries? And… what do they need in order to succeed when they step into the “real world”? Young Adult ministers may be better prepared to answer these questions for us than anybody.
it’s a newer field
One fascinating realization is that “modern Young Adult Ministry” is really quite new. With the marriage-age dramatically shifting over the last decade, there are suddenly high numbers of 20- and 30-somethings who aren’t married but will be someday. And even many of the married young adults are finding companionship with other young adults (married or single); the real life-stage marker now seems to be having kids, not saying your vows.
In other words, this certainly doesn’t seem to be the same field as good ‘ol “Singles Ministry” of the 1990s.
So while we college ministers (rightly) groan about the lack of development in our field of ministry, we have decades of experiences to learn from. For today’s Young Adult Ministers, it’s kind of a brave new world, isn’t it?
—————————————————————————————
[Click to ask questions, comment, or see any comments on this post!]
Each year in March, one big basketball tournament becomes a highly publicized window into the magnificent mission field of college campuses. As Americans fill out their March Madness brackets and root for underdogs and watch the games, they’re paying more attention to the colleges of our nation than they usually do. This annual attention can also provide a chance to take a unique “vision trip,” observing this particular people-group and picturing what mission work among them can accomplish.
Enjoy the 2011 edition of this essay, and pass it on to anybody who might enjoy this trip!
—————
Imagine you’re considering helping missionaries reach a new country, and you take a Vision Trip to see for yourself the potential and the people in this locale.
The month you visit just happens to be the same month nearly seventy different tribes from across the nation meet in their great annual contest (known to the natives as “the Túrnee”). Warriors from across the land meet to compete, and thousands of other countrymen will watch these games.
So of course, you choose to observe the event, too. It’s an excellent chance to start exploring the culture and qualities of this largely unreached people-group, and it will help you decide if this mission is worth supporting.
As the games begin, you first notice that each tribe promotes its own identity fervently – and the unique tribal names make it clear this is no normal mission field! Many tribes are named after animals known for their ferocity – “Gators” and “Tigers,” “Golden Grizzlies” and “Nittany Lions” – while others have chosen somewhat less menacing nicknames (like “Terriers” and “Spiders”). Some of the tribes have chosen to honor heroic ancestors – calling themselves Aztecs, Musketeers, Spartans, Commodores. Another has simply taken the name of a locally grown nut believed to bring good luck, while one tribe uses the name of footwear once appreciated in the region!
The "Research Triangle" is home to several campus tribes - including Duke (above), University of North Carolina, and NC State. Every tribe is different, and each one requires different missionary approaches.
At these great annual contests, dancers are prevalent – as are costumes, musical instruments, food, drink, wagers, merchants, and religious invocations. The chiefs of the tribes are here, and they can be found cheering next to some of the youngest from their villages. Healers stand by, though actual bloodshed is minimal. Impartial judges are assigned to regulate the games (but will face much taunting throughout the Túrnee). The entire event is noisy, to be sure – but occasionally, above the din, rise various tribal chants: sometimes jubilant; often rhythmic, even solemn.
As you watch the competitions, you begin to notice traits beyond the festivity, pageantry, and revelry. You are unable to deny the deep passion here, among warriors and watchers alike. Some fighters win, and the crowd’s elation is profound. Some lose, and the contestants and their tribes weep together – with an unbridled bitterness that would be shocking if not for the fervent zeal you have seen displayed all month. You view transcendent, singular “shining moments” when Davids take down Goliaths, when boys become men for a few crucial minutes, when weakness is turned to strength so opposing armies might be put to flight.
Of course, these are just games. But with missionary eyes even this simple event begins to reveal truth. You notice the clear opportunity available if you’ll help reach these passionate people for Christ right now:
- The enthusiasm in these tribes has yet to be tamed. There is a grit here, a rowdiness, a messiness, a wild youthfulness in everyone: the warriors, the dancers, the musicians, and the crowds.
- The bonds brought about by tribal identities are not frivolous. The natural connections and surprising community within these tribes will help God’s work to spread between their members.
- Creativity abounds here. Channeled for the Kingdom of God, this same ingenuity could serve to impact the entire nation and the world.
- This people-group is not short on energy, either. If God allows you to touch even a segment of these vibrant people, their impact on others could be quick and profound.
While large state schools may get more attention sometimes, there are thousands of smaller campus tribes worth serving too - like the Bulldogs of Gonzaga University.
So as this year’s contests come to a close, you find yourself awed that God would allow you to be involved in reaching this unique group. Of course, this will not be an easy mission (as though any missionary activity is ever easy!); these are distracted people, and the natural blessings they possess make it harder for them to realize their need. Surely other difficulties will arise, and patience and resources will be required to build a strong and lasting work.
But your Vision Trip reminds you: This mission field is a unique adventure and a blessing indeed. And if these people are reached, they in turn might just change the whole world.
All the “madness,” the virtue, the passion, and the valor found here reflect the tribes from which these crowds have come. This is the beautiful mission field we reach through college ministry – and there are far more than sixty-eight tribes to reach.
I’ve had the amazing opportunity to visit 46 of the schools in this year’s Tournament, along with a few hundred more campuses in the last few years. And God is doing some amazing things throughout the campus tribes! For more on what’s taking place and how we can impact better, see my free ebook, Reaching the Campus Tribes.
It was clear from the number of blog visits last week that a few of you were on Spring Break! I hope it was awesome.
What I wanted to do today, then, was to highlight last week’s celebrations of the work we do – and to encourage all of us to use this very specific moment well.
Because, for one thing, this is Spring Break month. And lots of people who don’t know a lot about college ministry know that college students do some pretty crazy stuff during Spring Break. What they might know less about is the awesome ministry that takes place during Spring Break, too – locally, nationally, and internationally.
Not only that, but we’re also right in the middle of the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament. Next weekend, we’re treated to the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight; after that comes the Final Four and the final game (both great opportunities for collegiate parties, by the way). And while you may not be a huge basketball fan (or maybe you are!), this is the month of the year when collegiate athletics probably gets the MOST attention nationwide.
Because of both of these factors, I think it’s a good month to remind people about our work. As college ministers, we should “know the times” and take advantage of the opportunities we have to share what we do.
That’s what the last week was about here at Exploring College Ministry – celebrating what we do, but also posting some tools that might help you share the glories of college ministry with others! Maybe it’s your supporters who need to hear this stuff. Maybe it’s your overseers, or members of your church. Maybe it’s just your extended family, or other buddies who’ve never quite understood why you’d pursue this path. Maybe it’s even some of your students, who might need to consider taking this path – the path of missions among the campus tribes.
Tomorrow, I plan to post my annually updated “essay” connecting the NCAA Tournament directly to our awesome mission fields. So I encourage you to consider using any of these things – from last week or this week – to share our story.
Last week’s celebrations:
- Celebrate College Ministry Week – an intro and ways we can celebrate (and help others celebrate)
- Orientation (A Vision Trip) – seeing a campus through missionary eyes
- The Beautiful Tapestry – a quick reflection on the beauty of the diversity of our various arenas of service, the campuses. With a link to my photo albums from the “Campus Tribes of the Day”… all 309 of them.
- It’s Kinda Neat to Be the R and the D. – understanding just how helpful what we do is (or could be) to Christendom as a whole
Recent Comments