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After all my travels and explorations and conversations, one of the clearest conclusions is that we don’t have nearly enough college ministries that have been built – from the ground up – with their particular campus in mind.
Many, many of us are good at slapping some coats of Contextualization on our already-built ministries, ministries composed of bricks from various sources. If we spend time loving one campus long enough, we might occasionally do some minor renovations that involve Contextualization more heavily, adding a wing or modifying a previously incongruous room to match better the campus we love.
But there’s not a lot of evidence of campus ministries designed with their own campus in mind more than any other influence. This sort of ministry would be composed of local bricks, nearly every decision affected by the campus tribe in which it finds itself. These college ministries are inherently contextual rather than simply growing to fit (somewhat) the field they’re in over time.
Of course, a large number of college ministries are still doing amazing work on their campuses. The lack of ground-up contextualization hasn’t kept them from bearing exciting, enormous fruit. But what more might we accomplish?
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Sometimes it’s just helpful to have a pile of ideas or resources to think about in regards to college ministry – especially as we enter the summer and start thinking (or continue thinking) about next school year. (Meanwhile, some of us – including many church-based college ministers – are jumping right into their “second college ministry” with summertime students.)
This small pile of ideas, links, and thoughts comes directly from my amazing time with the BASIC College Ministries leaders at their Propel conference this week. I wanted to give everybody those same things, as well as provide an outline of my talk – which obviously provides a whole “pile of ideas” itself!
So here you go. Hope it’s helpful.
- Simple Church. I brought up this great book several times to help college ministers think through the “path of progress” they’re providing for / expecting of their students. Though it’s written about churches, it’s easily “translatable” – and profoundly helpful for us.
- The Books of Daniel and I Peter (and probably Esther, too). These all came up in the context of how campus ministries live “under captivity” (or something like that). How do we work, serve, witness, and thrive within a campus tribe that may be not only indifferent to our message but even concerned about our methods? These books of the Bible answer this question differently than popular Christianity and even some college ministries do.
- The Dip. This came up a couple of times, especially in the context of newly forming college ministries. Are you prepared to do what it takes to establish a long-lasting and long-effective campus mission? And have you considered all the options for the scope of your ministry – including not aiming for a traditional, full-fledged college ministry? This secular (and very short) business book will help you answer those questions.
- CruPress and NavPress both came up multiple times as great places to look for tips on leading small groups (especially the former) and curriculum for small groups (especially the latter).
- Veritas Forum came up multiple times as a great example of an outside group that can be awesome for multiple ministries on a campus to rally around (and thereby unify around). I also discussed Veritas as really helpful for providing Christian forums that can still appeal to a fully secular campus.
- I actually failed (I think) to give most of the group the address for my (free!) ebook. You can find that at www.reachingthecampustribes.com.
Here’s the outline of my two seminars from the weekend. Remember, I was speaking to leaders from multiple church-based college ministries, so these seminars tilt that way. But there’s lots in there that would apply to most of us.
SEMINAR ONE: WHO WE ARE
We Are College Ministers
- we have an awesome and noble calling
- we must be learners (whether our personality tilts that way or not)
- we are missionaries to a specific tribe
We Are Missionaries
- this is difficult
- long-term and short-term strategy is vital
- we should be building toward longevity
- contextualization is fundamental
We Are Part of the Campus Tribe
- we should respect the land we’re called to
- we should love the land we’re called to
- we should connect with life there
- we should connect with and join in with what God’s already been doing there
We Are Sent By a Church
- there are some advantages to being church-based; use them!
- we should share our story and our specific role with our church; help them understand and support us!
- we should help our church own the vision and work toward a long-lasting, fruitful campus mission
- we should consider how we’re shepherding home-grown students – perhaps even first
SEMINAR TWO: (NEW?) IDEAS WORTH PONDERING
- Purpose-based Methods (every time)
- Preparing students for an excellent Transition Out (to the “real world”)
- Don’t be afraid to love your campus
- Don’t be afraid to take a step back and make sure you’re building the best possible College Student Plan
- Don’t be afraid to invent
- Be excited about what you can do
- Learn more about the Millennials (since they’re our mission field right now)
- Don’t be too student-centered (they need adult direction and wisdom)
- Prioritize teaching students to be “great in the basics”
- Get great in the basic skills of college ministry
- What you’re doing – campus ministry – is so very worth it
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Early in the week, I jumped off of Jeff Goldblum’s quote from Jurassic Park:
“[Y]our scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
If you didn’t get to read that post, I encourage you to – or if you didn’t see the comments, there were some really thoughtful ones. It’s important that College Ministry (as a field) and college ministries (as individual entities) be known for proceeding with wisdom.
Right now, I don’t know how well that characterizes us (as a whole).
As an addendum, here’s the more complete offering from Dr. Ian Malcolm at that scene in Jurassic Park. It doesn’t all fit the metaphor exactly… and he’s being a bit heavy-handed… but I found it edifying still. While he stands in awe of the “force of nature,” we might argue that college ministry is likewise a force – which is the argument we all make to supporters and outsiders, right? If it’s a force, then there’s a lot of responsibility here, because what’s positive can also turn negative. Wielding our opportunity unwisely can actually be damaging to the “ecosystems” of campuses and the students that inhabit them.
Here’s the quote:
Gee, the lack of humility before nature that’s being displayed here staggers me. … Don’t you see the danger, John, inherent in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet’s ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that’s found his dad’s gun. …
If I may, I’ll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you’re using here: It didn’t require any discipline to attain it. You know, you read what others had done, and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you’re selling it. You want to sell it. Well…
John Hammond, the Park Director, breaks in at this point: “I don’t think you’re giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody has ever done before.”
Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.
Later, Malcolm adds,
What’s so great about discovery? It’s a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you call ‘discovery,’ I call the rape of the natural world.
May we all be slow and wise as we approach the campus tribes. What we do is powerful, for good or for bad. Let us aim to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us (and those who are wise in the present world of college ministry, too).
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As I chat with college ministers and others who are trying to connect with college campuses, the omnipresent assumption seems to be that starting new college ministries is always beneficial.
National ministries want to be on more campuses, local churches want to be on that campus nearby, and present college ministries want to reach additional segments of campus, too, all while various individuals who feel called to college ministries determine – through some means or another – a campus on which to start a brand-new college ministry. Meanwhile, even outside ministries from time to time decide to establish a new collegiate program, develop some sort of collegiate material, or otherwise join the party on campus.
Is there a new college ministry of some sort on your campus this year? Chances are pretty strong that there is – whether you’ve noticed it or not, whether it’s “staffed” or student-directed.
i’m not grumpy
The tone of the paragraphs above may sound a bit more negative than my usual notes, even if they don’t outright suggest that starting new college ministries is a bad thing. I would never suggest that, in fact; I’m hopeful that many more individual college ministries (and other efforts to impact collegians) will start in the next decade. But as I’ve had the chance to view our field of ministry quite broadly, I’ve come to recognize…
...starting new college ministries should be done thoughtfully, methodically… even hesitantly.
If college campuses are truly like tribes of people (and I obviously believe they are), then there is such a thing as oversaturating the campus with ministry efforts, just like we can oversaturate a mission field far, far away.
Not only that, but it’s also very possible to reach a campus badly. And because a campus system is rather “closed” and oh so “local,” the effects may be far worse than if we start a bad church plant.
jurassic park
Do you remember the little speech in Jurassic Park that Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) gave, questioning the basic assumptions behind the park’s creation? It all came down to this dialogue:
John Hammond, Park Director: “Our scientists have done things which nobody has ever done before.”
Dr. Malcolm: “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
[For more from Dr. Malcolm that applies to college ministry, click here.]
I believe individual ministries – including national college ministries, outside organizations, local churches, and present local college ministries – will have more and more ability to and desire to reach campuses. So right now, right here, I want to remind us to always ask if we should. (And once we decide that, asking how is also vital.)
All of us in college ministry recognize the immense power of what we’re doing here, the dramatic nature of this “hinge moment” in people’s lives… all in the context of a cultural and educational hinge for our nation and the world. But I’m afraid that we’re not awed by this opportunity enough, that we assume that “just doing something” is always better than doing nothing.
That’s true with constructing a jigsaw puzzle. It’s less true with constructing a bomb, doing surgery… or planting a college ministry.
so, development matters
So that’s one reason – it’s only one reason, but it’s a big one – that I care about developing our field as a whole. From my bird’s eye view of our field, I run into groups and people all the time that are starting new collegiate ministry efforts. And while many of them are probably strategic and helpful, some might not be. We need a field where everybody feels the weight of what we’re doing – and the necessity of hesitance.
As we start our ministries, publish our ideas, spread our impact, and otherwise reach the campus tribes, no one should have to look back in 10 years and realize they “were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
[Read the follow-up post, with more from Dr. Malcolm, right here.]
I do recognize that the Drexel Dragon is not a dinosaur, but it’s the closest I’ve got. Also: Did you realize that Jurassic Park came out when some of our students were one year old?!
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As you may remember, I’m speaking this morning at the Evangelical Free Church leadership conference. (Please pray for me!) The talk will address
- the importance of college ministry
- the difficult state of affairs at present (particularly within churches)
- and how to turn that tide by developing a strong College Student Plan.
And as I’ll planning to tell the people in my seminar today, you can find much more on those topics (including more pictures!) in one of two places:
- my free book, Reaching the Campus Tribes. In this case, it’s particularly from chapters 3 and 5 and the “Road Map Forward” final chapter – but honestly, reading the whole thing will give a more complete picture.
- the resource I wrote for the Building Church Leaders resource, “Ministry to College Students.” Building Church Leaders is a part of the Christianity Today family, so I was especially excited they chose to address our field!
According to the publication agreement, I’m allowed to publish the article on my own site. And seeing as how this is my own site… I’m including that below, even though it’s lengthy.
(Please note: I don’t hold the copyright on this article – they do. So feel free to read it and point others to it here, but no electronic or paper copying, please. And anyway, you should check out the whole resource! It’s solid.)
The College Student Plan for Your Church
by Benson Hines for BuildingChurchLeaders.com
If your church decided to begin a missions endeavor among a people group overseas, the first step would probably involve spending time developing the church’s mission plan. The church would get to know the people involved, pray through every possibility for ministry, examine the available resources, look for possible partnerships, consult other churches with similar efforts, and so on. While those with a heart for missions might hope to “jump right in,” wisdom would dictate a more deliberate approach.
Sadly, many churches fail to apply this same wisdom to their work with college students. While their intentions are good, many North American churches—big and small, contemporary and traditional—have Read the rest of this entry »
I mentioned yesterday that I have the chance to speak at the national EV Free church leaders’ convention this week. Today, why my topic matters to everyone in college ministry, not just churches.
I care – deeply – about college ministry in all its branches, including certainly campus-based ministry, collegiate churches, and institutional college ministry. But I personally spent lots of years in church-based college ministry. I’ve also had the chance to examine the college ministries (or lack thereof) in most of the country’s best-known churches, along with plenty of churches that aren’t as well known.
And it’s a tough scene.
The toughest (or at least most under-developed) of all the branches.
And the difficulties don’t just affect those churches. They affect all of us who hope to minister to students.
I believe one BIG solution to the difficulties – and one with BIG ramifications for other kinds of college ministry, too – is an approach that emphasizes forming the College Student Plan over the building a “classic” church college ministry.
I first mentioned College Student Plans in my book (pp. 98-103), including:
Perhaps some churches feel they must either have a full college ministry program or nothing at all. But this is simply not the case. In fact, if I began my trip with the faint illusion that every church should build a full-fledged college ministry program, my research quickly cured me of that notion. Not every church needs a standard, holistic college ministry, and obviously not every church will be able to support that level of investment. In fact, our Christian cause among campus tribes would actually be damaged if every local church began competing for the students on the campus.But every church that encounters college students must plan for that encounter.
The College Student Plan Approach to church-based college ministry begins with the assumption that every campus climate is an individual ecosystem, a culture, a “tribe.” It also recognizes that every church is different, too, including (of course) the nature of the collegians actually under its care or in its vicinity.
For a church to begin with any sort of pre-packaged “checklist” for starting its ministry is, at best, foolish. And this includes assuming that the church needs to aim for a stand-alone, full-discipling, classic “college ministry.” Nor should any church assume that its ministry to students needs to look a certain way (like the church down the street or across the state), needs to draw a certain size to be viable, or even needs to look the same season-to-season.
Instead, the College Student Plan Approach begins with “exegeting” or “decoding” the entire context. The point is exegeting before building. Sadly, most churches seem to either jump forward with lots of gusto in an “if we build it, they will come” mentality… OR they take the organic approach and just “see if we can get something going.”
As I’ve seen in churches throughout the country, these two approaches seem to have terrible overall track records.
The College Student Plan Approach urges churches to put all possibilities on the table, and carefully evaluate what’s needed where they are. Their eventual result could include one or more of the following ingredients:
- particularly focusing on their “home-grown” students, both locally and away at school, including helping them plug into college ministries that will impact them well
- pointing attending students to campus-based ministries to receive their specialized collegiate impact
- offering a really solid intergenerational experience for students who attend
- offering ministry to students that complements the work being done by other college ministries
- cooperating with like-minded churches to establish a single ministry for college students
- cooperating in direct partnership with campus-based ministries (or institutional ministries, in the case of Christian colleges)
- and yes, perhaps creating a full-fledged college ministry to impact the local campus(es)
Should some churches start “classic” college ministries? Absolutely! But one reason we should ALL care about the College Student Plan Approach is that it only implements that option when it’s best. In that way, it encourages health throughout our local campus tribes.
[Later, I reprinted an article I wrote outlining a possible process to discern a church's College Student Plan. You can find that here.]
But there’s another way the College Student Plan approach encourages health. Because it slows down the church’s process, emphasizing exegeting before proceeding, the resulting college ministry – even if it does ultimately involve a “full-fledged” college ministry – will be far healthier, a better fit within the campus community, and longer-lasting. The entire tribe is weakened when a local church’s college ministry undulates in strength over a decade, restarts constantly, or turns out to be unhealthy.
So we should all rally here, encouraging churches to weigh their attempts wisely, exegete fully, and (as needed) build strongly!
Any thoughts on this – from the church-based among us, or from ministers in the other branches?
For more info on my opportunity this week – and how you can pray, check it out here!
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As you know, I’m fascinated by the many differences between “campus tribes.” One of those differentation points comes whenever our country’s educational system and our country’s military intersect.
I had the neat chance recently to meet a college minister at the Air Force Academy (fittingly, today’s Campus Tribe of the Day), and I met another guy on the Brazil trip who used to serve at the Naval Academy. I’ve got a Campus Crusade friend at the Citadel. And I spent a lot of time around the prestigious Corps of Cadets while attending Texas A&M.
On this Memorial Day, I want to point out a special niche that can be found on plenty of campuses. And on plenty of those campuses, the citizens of this niche might – because of schedule, identity, and/or openness to certain outreach – be worth considering for special ministry. Or even if you simply make a special effort to draw them into your present ministry, I bet you find many of the men and women in this niche to be particularly committed, particularly service-minded, particularly noble.
That niche, of course, is the “military-minded” – whether this is working with ROTC members, those on the GI bill, or even reaching onto campuses that have a large (or fully) military presence.
Anybody serving in the sorts of capacities I mentioned at the top would probably be able to provide tips a’plenty – so if you’re interested in that niche, no need to recreate the wheel: Ask someone who already IS invested.
(I also know Valor is the niche of Campus Crusade that reaches cadets and midshipmen, and The Navigators has a long history of impacting those in the military and those on campuses. Any other suggestions?)
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My visits to CU and OU notwithstanding, this short road trip has afforded more great opportunities to visit some cool campuses that aren’t of that “household name” variety.
One of the things I’ve been pondering recently* is college ministry’s attention toward the millions of collegians** who aren’t attending Duke, Texas A&M, or UCLA.
This is one area in which I (and you) can’t judge any individual calling for a particular ministry or a particular person to reach a “name-brand campus.” Certainly, God does and will call some of us to the better-known mission fields – even fields with a dozen or more present campus ministries.
But as I (and we) observe the sum total of campus missions efforts, I don’t think it’s presumptuous simply to question whether every national ministry is predestined to establish a beachhead at Wake Forest… whether every local church is called to reach the University of Texas rather than Austin Community College… or whether every brand-new college minister is meant to serve a school with a real possibility of producing either a future U.S. President or a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.***
Perhaps we in the field of College Ministry can pray for Macdeonian calls, that some blessed adventurers might be called to reach Front Range Community College, Oklahoma City University, University of Northern Iowa, or the countless other schools that are highly unlikely to beat Kansas in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. If I had dream-invasion skills****, I might just have to use them.
There are millions of students at campuses you’ve never heard of (and that’s just in our country). What are the chances that at least some of us are called to labor for Christ on the less-reached fields, to build works in places where few or no works exist (of any kind)? (Such an ambition would be oh so Pauline, sayeth Romans 15:20!)
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*All this traveling (and my brain) tune me to pondering new ideas all the time. Feel free to ask.
**Collegian = noun. Collegiate = adjective. Always.
***There are four that have produced both.
****Not an implied tie-in to the new Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Rather, an implied tie-in to Acts 16.
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 14 (see all explorations here)
new campuses: Southwestern College (#18), Oklahoma Christian University (#19), University of Central Oklahoma (#20), University of Oklahoma (#21)
new states: Oklahoma (#5)
yesterday: finished up in KS, then made my way to the OKC area
today: continued exploring in the Oklahoma City and Norman areas
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O
One year ago today, I e-published Reaching the Campus Tribes: An Opening Inquiry. The response – then and continuing – has been utterly encouraging.
So I want to THANK YOU. Thanks to the many of you who helped spread the book: electronically, of course, but also via CD, via email… even via paper! Thanks to everyone who has said the book encouraged them, taught them, or catalyzed some part of their work.
If you haven’t read the book yet (c’mon, what are you waiting for?), I’ll tell you what I tell everybody:
You can easily read this book in a day… and it’s even got lots of great pictures!
But I’ll also add this: I really believe this book reflects much of the collective wisdom that can be found throughout the country, because it was borne from interviews with hundreds of college ministers. We know that what we do isn’t like most other ministries in Christendom; this book simply gives us a framework to make sense of this incredible thing we get to be a part of.
And hopefully – and this is one area that depends on you guys – those outside of college ministry will read Reaching the Campus Tribes, too.
Because they need to understand this. They need to value this work. They need to support this work.
So, again, THANK YOU for helping Reaching to thrive over the past year. I hope it continues to inspire, encourage, and teach. I’m blessed to have any hand in it at all.
thanks to the many who helped spread Reaching online
(if I’ve left someone out, let me know!)
Center for Parent / Youth Understanding · Chi Alpha Campus Ministries (National) · Emerging Scholars Network of InterVarsity · Impact Campus Ministries (part of the NACCM) · Internet Evangelism Day · The Ivy Jungle Network · Jesus Creed blog at BeliefNet · School Christian Fellowships, Canada · Matt Adair, Pastor, Christ Church Presbyterian, Watkinsville, GA · Brian Barela, Campus Crusade, Cal State Chico · Joe and Heidi Barrale, Freedom Life Christian Center, Christiana, PA · Chris Blair, Kats for Christ, Sam Houston State · Chuck Bomar, Founder, CollegeLeader · Chris Bridgeway, Great Commission Ministries national staff · Alice Connor, Lutheran Campus Ministry, University of Cincinnati · Nathan Creitz, ChurchETHOS · Glen Davis, Chi Alpha, Stanford · Jeff Dyer, Calvary Assembly of God, Dover, DE · Tom Grosh, InterVarsity Graduate & Faculty Ministry / Emerging Scholars Network, Central PA · Michelle Geesaman, Pastor, LSU Chi Alpha · Joel Hughes, professor, Kent State University · Kairos College Ministry, Colorado Springs, CO · Brian Kiley, former and future college minister, Pasadena, CA · Larkin Avenue Baptist Church, Elgin, IL · Steve Lutz, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Penn State University · Nick Melazzo, Baptist Student Ministries, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada · Ben Moore, Nazarene Student Ministry, Boise State University · Morschmellow blog, Xenos network · Kirby Oaks, Youth Minister, First Reformed Church, Mitchell, SD · Peace & Power Christian Fellowship, Drexel University · Nick Stromwall, Campus Outreach Minneapolis · University Fellowship of Christians, University of Tasmania, Tasmania, Australia · Bill Victor, statewide Baptist Collegiate Ministry, Missouri · Bill Westfall, Impact Ministries, Boise State University · Wes Woodell, Campus Ministry United · Kevin Wright, Sheridan Hills Baptist Church, Hollywood, FL · Xenos Christian Fellowship, Stow, OH · Youth Ministry Institute, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Written from Longmont, CO
Road Trip 14 recap, Day 5
i finally updated the Itinerary page: click here to see all explorations so far!
new campuses: University of Colorado (#6), Colorado School of Mines (#7), & Colorado Christian University (#8)
yesterday: a breakfast with college ministers and visits to THREE campuses! I also took Mark to the airport, so I am a solo traveler once again.
today: several explorations, mostly in Boulder, including an… adventure.
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On Monday, I started looking at a principle I’ve found fundamental to my own college ministry practice. Today, I want to share how I first learned this stuff; since I can’t say this any better than the guy who taught me, I won’t really try.
A couple of years after college, I got a hold of a sermon discussing how an entire church best produces disciples. The pastor was Denton Bible Church’s Tommy Nelson, who’s pretty well-known here in Texas. (You might have encountered his widely dispersed Song of Solomon series.)
In the first 12 minutes of that message, Nelson shared a principle that has affected most of my college ministry work since then. Yes, he was applying it to the local church – but it’s a very basic methodology applicable to any ministry form.
In the message, Nelson describes learning this himself as a 26-year-old, from renowned Bible teacher (and teacher-of-teachers) Howard Hendricks.
And after 30 years of pastoring, Nelson said this is still the one thing he offers young pastors looking for guidance. “If you get this,” he tells them, “you’re going to be successful. If you don’t, I don’t care how many people [are in your church], you’re going to get frustrated.” He even describes this principle as the “Power Sweep of the church,” comparing it to the unstoppable offensive play run by Vince Lombardi’s teams of old.
Remember, this is coming from a guy with one of the most long-term impactful pastorates in Texas.
So here’s the principle. Any quotes are Nelson’s, as he described what he learned from Hendricks. While I’ll leave things basically in the form he presented it (discussing local churches), I personally apply it very directly to campus ministry.
the principle of backwards ministry
“Normally, when you talk about how to do a church, we do it backwards.”
He described watching Hendricks draw, from left to right, something like this:
A ministry usually begins with its pastor and leadership in place. Then, those people decide structure and activities – when the ministry meets, regular activities, organization, message topics, guest speakers, etc.
Of course, the structures and activities determine what kind of people, at the end of the day, are produced within this ministry. (Nelson calls them the ministry’s “gun barrel,” because that’s the part of the gun that most determines how the bullets fly and what targets are hit.)
In this form of ministry, deciding the structures comes first; the “product” comes about simply as a natural result of all that.
“That’s generally how churches are done, and that is exactly backward.”
Instead – and this time, Nelson said, Hendricks started drawing on the right side of the board – the setup should look like this:
We begin our work by establishing, “Just what do we call ‘success’?”
“When that guy has been through your church five or six years, what do you want him [the stick figure] to look like? … Because whatever you determine is successful, that’s how you’re going to organize…” Further, if that definition of success isn’t correct from the start, “then you’re going to succeed at the wrong areas.”
Only after the “Product” is established do the leaders decide the “How” of the ministry (the structures, processes, and activities), and they base those decisions entirely on the “What” they’re trying to produce! Following that, the leadership is chosen or placed based on the needs of those structures and activities.
[As I've learned since, others have called this "starting with the end in mind." I often call it "purpose-based" or even "outcome-based" ministry.]
Nelson continued, “What’s the most important part of an oxcart? The ox. The cart. The wheel. No – the most important part of an oxcart is the blueprint. Because that’s the mind of the guy who makes the oxcart. And as long as you have a blueprint, you know what an oxcart is supposed to be and how it’s supposed to function.”
You can always acquire oxen and materials to put together a solid oxcart. But “you lose that blueprint, and now you’re going to make – successfully – something that doesn’t correspond to ‘oxcart-ness.’”
“If you’re right here” – Nelson continued, pointing at the right side of the diagram – “this follows and this follows. If you’re wrong here, this’ll be wrong, and this’ll be wrong.”
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All the posts discussing “Backwards College Ministry” can now be found here. And in case you didn’t read it, I fleshed this out from a different angle on Monday.
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