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As I picked up the Hospitality series again yesterday, I urged us to consider if there are some mature Christian students we might be overlooking in our ministries.
Before moving on, I wanted to post some quick ways to make sure we’re addressing the needs of those who have been walking with Jesus for awhile.
- Use them as leaders (of course), but also attend to their own needs for growth.
- Ask them for input, not just management of your ideas (or longstanding traditions).
- Offer “201″-type studies, specifically geared for those who have a steady, growing walk with Christ and are ready to be challenged in that way.
- Find mentors / disciplers for them – even from outside of the college ministry.
- Get them to disciple other students one-on-one.
- Open them up to “self-mentorship,” by exposing them to classic books, special topics, etc.
- Provide chances to learn from fellow mature students, including mature students of the opposite sex.
- Treat them as individuals, seeking to discern (and help them discern) where they need to grow next and how they can be used best. Be creative, and allow for messiness and new opportunities. The further we walk with Christ, interestingly enough, the more and more “individual” we seem to become.
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I’ve been working on a book about my visits to churches around the country (165 of ‘em in a year), so I think a lot about Hospitality these days. Early this year, I wrote a 6-part series on Hospitality in College Ministry – and this week, I wanted to continue that series.
The posts will be short – it seems like that kind of week, for many of you and for me. But hopefully they’ll be helpful as you ponder Hospitality for this summer or Fall 2012!
the solid… but ignored
I recognize that there’s a lot of merit in college ministries (and churches) focusing on the unsaved and immature. We rightly work hard to cater to them, draw them, welcome them, share Christ with them, and disciple them in the basics of faith.
But in the midst of all that, it’s easy to ignore some of your more solid, faithful, long-present students. We don’t seek out the mature Christians within our ministries, even though God has been building them to use them. Nor do focus often enough on helping them “excel still more” in their walks with Christ; how many of your Bible studies or talks would actually stretch someone who’s been a growing Christian for 12 years?
Many of your students have been growing Christians for 12 years.
So for the sake of Hospitality – at the very least – I urge us to a better “both-and” approach here. I know it’s a little messier and a little harder and a little less exciting. But shouldn’t we seek to impact everybody God brings to us?
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My guess is you have some pretty good info on your students: Class Year, Major, Phone Number, maybe a Birthday or their Hometown.
Have you asked them their passions? (Surprisingly, these may not be the same as their majors…) Have you asked them the ways they really like to serve others, or what they’d do if they had unlimited time and opportunity? How do they hope to change the world? How do they hope to change their world, and soon?
Might God want to speak to you about the future of your ministry through the passions, strengths, talents, and other characteristics of the students He’s brought you? Or is the format and programming of your ministry far more about your passions, personality, etc., than it is about theirs?
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This is a Fridea that I know some of you already do. But others don’t, and it’s cool enough that I wanted to make sure you’ve thought about it.
The Fridea? Honor and bless the students who are graduating from your ministry.
How can you honor and bless students?
- Have them share testimonies of their time and learnings in college
- Have them give a public “charge” to the remaining students – in-person or on video
- Give them public praise (by other students or by staff members)
- Provide contact info so students can write encouragements
- Have students provide a collection of notes and memories, either “hard copies” or through video or other means
- Offer a gift that will be meaningful (even for a lifetime): a quality study Bible, for instance, or an option of a few graduation gifts
What else can you do? Are you doing anything?
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I’m not sure if today’s Fridea is useful for every student, but I know it would have impacted me (and still would!).
Oftentimes, we disciple students with a pretty rapid sequence – whether we’re teaching through a series, meeting with a small group, or discipling one-on-one. A study on the Attributes of God, for instance, might hit a new theme each week – “God is Love,” “God is Sovereign,” etc.. Maybe we talk about Relationships for a few weeks, but it’s probably still not a thorough discussion of any one topic under that broad theme.
But what if we occasionally did things differently? What if we pushed students toward fully digesting particular areas? I’m not sure if this idea would work for Large Group Meetings, but a small group, single disciplee, or even a group of student leaders might be impacted pretty well through this.
The Fridea? Have students thoroughly digest a spiritual theme, using classic works, research, writing, and any other method to ground them in that discussion.
For instance, what if a student spent an entire month studying the issue of Justice? They might read Gary Haugen’s Good News about Injustice and Keller’s Generous Justice, study some of the specific theological issues and controversies, prepare a summary of the biblical content, and write a short paper on the topic. They could also participate in a local justice-oriented activity.
But what’s more, that would student could now serve as “expert in the ministry” – someone who can plan (in this case) justice-oriented ministry events, disciple others on this theme, prepare a “value statement” on the topic, or even teach the large group meeting.
Think about the profit to your college ministry – and to your students – if you helped them grow in this way? Not only will they grow in this single area, but they’ll learn about the process of digesting a major spiritual theme.
Sure, there are lots of themes we want to impact students with during the short time we have them, and rapid-fire training isn’t a bad thing. But if we mixed in some deeper digestion with their regular diet, we might bear some exciting, different fruit.
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This idea popped up as a Fridea a couple of years ago, but it seemed fitting for the “Going for Broke” series. This series offers some rather drastic ideas – they won’t fit every campus ministry, but they’re still worth thinking about!
When the new semester comes around, what if you took a week off to let student leaders absolutely “run things” all week – whatever “things” happen to compose your ministry?
I think that idea’s self-explanatory enough, but here are some thoughts if you need ‘em:
- Leader qualifications still apply; students who wouldn’t shepherd other students when you’re present certainly shouldn’t while you’re absent.
- Your “absence” is a relative idea. Some of you might give students the reins but keep a present, watchful eye. Others may choose to step out completely – to “go for broke” – and simply be “on call” all week.
- Of course, it doesn’t have to be a full week OR you don’t have to be absent from everything. It’s your call.
- Of course, this could also be longer than a week. It’s your call.
- Be sure to prepare your students.
- Be sure to debrief your students when it’s all done.
- Prepare yourself: for a weird ministry week… and for a few great new methods that you’d never thought of.
Oh, and one more:
- Don’t smile too much at your students’ challenges, and repeat after me: this isn’t revenge, it’s discipleship!
As always, we start with purposes, not with a “cool idea” that we then make up “purposes” for. If this method doesn’t match what God desires to accomplish now in your students and in your ministry, shelve it; it might come in handy later on. If you do give this sort of thing a try, don’t forget that it won’t only disciple your students, but it will give you the chance to assess how well you’re raising them up. (Scary, huh?)
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Before Thanksgiving Break, I wrote plenty about the need to prepare our students for the Break. And, whether we had the chance to do that or not, I encouraged us to work strategically to ready collegians for the long Christmas Break.
But there’s another important step a friend helped me realize last night: Debriefing.
What if this week’s small groups or Large Group Meeting was dedicated to talking through the good, the bad, and the ugly of your students’ Thanksgiving Breaks? Or what if you offered the opportunity at a special lunch or online forum? If you can’t take those steps, what if you at least encouraged students to talk to you, other adults, or student leaders about what they faced at home?
Some of your students feel like a semester’s worth of spiritual growth was unraveled in just a few days, and they’re wondering what that means or how in the world they’re going to handle Christmas. Some feel a tinge of homesickness now that they’ve returned – maybe for the first time this semester. Others were reminded – deeply – of all the reasons they were so glad to leave home for college. Some feel like they missed some opportunities to impact their friends or family.
Others had really neat times at home – and their stories would be great for other students to hear. (And some made mistakes that they can help others not repeat.)
There are all sorts of reasons why a post-break Debrief makes enormous sense. Yes, if you can’t get that together this week, then I’d definitely encourage starting that tradition in January. But as my friend pointed out, debriefing Thanksgiving is one more GREAT way to prepare students for the Christmas Break that’s coming soon.
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The last couple of posts have dealt with the idea of college students stepping up as (even) more than normal Student Leaders – seeing themselves as your fellow College Ministers, indigenous missionaries to their own campuses.
If you can get your students to that point, then spending time brainstorming with them only makes sense. Yes, they’ll need direction. Yes, they’ll probably have to hear some “Nos” to their Big Ideas – although couching that response in “we’ll have to see if it works out” terms may be good. (Better, help your newly-fellow college ministers see why lots of ideas, though “good,” aren’t best.)
What if this sort of brainstorming became the focus of a special night – or even a college student (or leadership team) retreat?
“Brainstorming Brouhaha?” “Conspire Camp?” “Rack-our-brains Retreat?” Whatever you call it, if it’s done well, letting students brainstorm about specific areas and possibilities could unleash all sorts of great new ideas. They are, after all, the indigenous leaders – there’s a reason foreign missionaries try to raise them up to impact their own tribes.
Like I noted yesterday, that’s what we saw at the retreat I spoke at last weekend: several Stanford and/or Santa Clara students considering new outreach they might engage in on a local community college campus. It was exciting, and it was new.
One tip for making this great
Before I close out this Fridea, I want to point back to a principle that will make-or-break this experience for your ministry: learning to build forms around purposes, not vice versa. (I call it Backwards College Ministry, and you can read about it here.) Teach your students that stuff first, and this activity really could generate some fantastic next steps for your campus ministry.
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I shared the other day about having the chance to teach some students last weekend about seeing themselves as true “missionaries to their own campuses.” But how we got there in the context of this particular retreat is kind of interesting.
The focus of the weekend wasn’t simply encouraging these guys and gals to impact others. Instead, I started with a focus on students’ own walks with Jesus (in the first couple of messages). Then, I turned the corner in the final message, looking at how they might minister on their campuses. We called the overall theme, “Satisfied and Sent.”
The interesting thing? I used the same entire passage for each side of that theme! We camped out the whole weekend in Isaiah 55 – working through the entire chapter in the first two messages, then walking back through the entire passage once more in the final session.
If you check out that passage, you might notice how it could fit both the “finding satisfaction in the Lord” and “helping others find satisfaction in the Lord” topics. All I really did was have students – who (hopefully) had been impacted by Isaiah 55 in the first 24 hours – put on their “ministry glasses” when we viewed it again.
Suddenly, the great invitation of verses 1 and 2 became an invitation they can offer others.
The revelation of a God who can raise up David as a “witness,” “leader,” and “commander” became personally encouraging for those hoping He’d lift them up to impact, too.
The vital idea that God has heavens-higher ways and thoughts became instructive not simply for personal walks – but through the lens of a ministry calling, it helped them realize God may call us to places and methods that don’t “fit” our personalities or our plans.
And with ministry glasses on, the revelation of a God whose word (in Isaiah 55, it means his promises, commands, etc.) won’t return void reminded them that obedience to God’s sending command is guaranteed to bear the fruit He intends.
By exploring Isaiah 55′s specific applications for impacting others – after first examining the applications for personal spiritual journeys – students had the chance to do what we college ministers do all the time. If you want to raise up your students to serve as a true type of college minister now, then helping them read the Bible through the lens of that calling can be a great start!
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