During my 15 years of working with high school students as a youth pastor, I know that I was often guilty of making a statement like this: “Be careful not to lose your faith on the big bad campus of ___________.” Beware of Babylon!

And unfortunately, many of our Christian/churched kids enter their college years with an unhealthy temptation to disengage from the campus and culture.

Jeremiah 29 contains a letter written to the exiles who found themselves in a situation somewhat similar to that of a college student. Diversity, pluralism, humanism, a hedonistic culture…there are plenty of forces which seem to work against the fragile faith and worldview of many young Christians. But the surprising word to those exiles via the prophet Jeremiah included these verses:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

God intended for the exiles to have an impact on the culture around them…to engage it. Instead of fearing the new environment and assuming an isolated and antagonistic posture towards it, the mission of God included prayerfully investing their lives (building houses, families, relationship, influence, etc) in the place where God had positioned them for this season.

I believe God has equal concern for the habitat of college students…universities, dorms, fraternity houses, classrooms, etc.

“We can’t look at college as a rest stop on the way to the rest of our lives. God wants us to engage our mission field.” (Lutz, 57 of College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture)

Especially when I observe many Christian students at college, I see that they tend towards a couple of mistakes:

• Seeing the campus environment as something to avoid and by which not to be spiritually tainted
• Missing God’s mission for their time on campus because they see college simply as the means to their own personal success in life

There’s another way to live and invest the resources of Christ (Gospel, faith, your life) in such a way that our sent-ness results in the welfare of the city/campus.

For those engaged in the field of campus ministry who want to press in a little more on this missional approach, I highly recommend Steve Lutz’ book on the subject. Check this out for a more comprehensive review of Steve’s book from fellow campus minister Guy Chmieleski.

One of the chapters discussed maturity from the context of Colossians 1:28 and I was reminded of the significance of my own calling to disciple college students. Some scholars believe that Paul was addressing an early form of Gnostic heresy in his letter to the believers in Colossae. The problem was manifesting itself in a false dichotomy between average and elite Christians. (Get a quick overview of Gnosticism here).

I find that this particular heresy continues to be quite rampant in Christianity today. Many believe that there are varying degrees of Christian commitment which are acceptable to God and He doesn’t actually require holiness or “perfection” from everyone. But Paul sends a kill shot right into the heart of this heresy when he reminds the Colossian Christians what he is all about:

“Him we proclaim, warning EVERYONE and teaching EVERYONE with ALL wisdom, that we may present EVERYONE mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”   Colossians 1:28-29 (ESV)

The Greek word for maturity or perfection is teleios and shows up 19 times in the New Testament. Whenever it is used, there’s a comparative not an absolute sense of the word which is in play. A mature/perfect disciple is NOT absolutely mature/perfect without any further room for growth but mature/perfect in comparison to a newborn…or a spiritual infant. So the implication is that Christian maturity is an expectation of a disciple (“radical” as Stott points out in the root sense of the word).

In the context of campus ministry, this goal or calling can be quite challenging because of the complexities, transitions, competitive demands which characterize the average college student or young adult. However, that could be said of high school students and senior citizens just depending on the day. The deeper challenge is helping a student have a grander vision for their own spiritual journey than occasional church attendance or participating in a weekly fellowship/bible study. Following Christ demands a singular focus and commitment which leaves many Christians occasionally saying “Lord, Lord…” but mostly living for “Me, Me…” (Matthew 25:44)

And I often skip over my #1 challenge because I think people are looking more for answers like:

• the pluralistic environment of campus ministry
• the transient nature of young adults
• the high degree of authenticity which college students require
• etc, etc

But my #1 challenge is certainly financial sustainability. Obviously, not all campus ministers have to deal with this particular issue. Those in church-based college ministry often receive a consistent paycheck and have a budget for programming etc. That is not to say that all of my campus ministry peers who receive a salary from the organization are totally exempt from this pressure. Some may not be raising support for their individual salary, but they are expected to find new streams of fiscal resources to sustain ministry to the college and university campuses they engage.

Although I have posted previously about the benefits of this model of campus ministry (especially the partnering model which the CCO uses), I would be lying if I said the constant stress of being under-funded isn’t my #1 challenge. And after two years of working pretty hard towards becoming fully-funded…we have yet to close the gap. The financial anxiety of raising support is the ONLY thing that could keep me from enjoying this calling for the next 20 years!

However, in the midst of this challenge…we celebrate God’s faithfulness! The fact that God has provided for us during the last two years in such a way that we were able to buy a home this past summer is bordering miraculous. We continue to trust, that in God’s timing, we will reach our goal of being 100% funded. Often, when we least expect it…God brings someone across our path who wants to give $100, $50, or $30/month towards our ministry of transforming college students in Cincinnati. When that happens, God’s ability to provide never ceases to blow us away.

If you’d like to be one of those who partner with us to put that piece of the ministry in place, click on the $upport link above.  

What’s the plan?

Should I do this event?

How can I engage more students?

What new strategy do I develop this year?

What night should that new bible study be on?

How do I get students plugged in to a local church?

Where are all the resources going to come from financially?

And the more I think about it…the more I could let my mind frantically wander along similar distracting trails.

But thankfully I’m revisited with a moment of clarity…what often seems like spiritual affirmation regarding my calling. I talk about it briefly in this video.

After a long season of discernment, prayer, and planning (3-4 months’ worth), we launched out in a new ministry to students at the University of Cincinnati. This venture is a partnership between the CCO (a campus ministry org based in Pittsburgh) and the Southwestern Ohio Nazarene Churches.

Perhaps the most troubling challenge before us was raising a significant amount of our own financial support to cover salary and ministry expenses.

In the last few posts, I was discussing the Top 5 Things I Love About Raising Support. Although each of these points are very true, the task of reaching out and inviting people to share in the cost/investment for our calling has been no less daunting.

After two years of trusting, asking, praying, inviting, confessing, calling, blogging, sharing, stretching…we have reached a milestone which encourages us to continue in this calling and mission of seeing college students transformed.

For those who have been a part of this journey in any way (praying, giving, serving, etc) we are deeply grateful.

And for those who have YET to partner with us in one of these ways…there’s no time like the present!  

Our goal is to be fully funded by the end of the summer. We have absolutely no doubt that God is able to provide all that is needed between now and then.

We are quite certain that many others share our passion for seeing college students transformed by Jesus so that they will live out their faith in every area of life. When a college student develops a biblical worldview and partners with God in His mission, there is no limit to the Kingdom impact which is being actualized. If that mission is something you feel led to support, we invite you to become one of our ministry partners with a monthly, quarterly, or annual donation. Click on the image below to find out more.

And that is certainly what God is doing. Over the past two weeks I’ve been able to disciple a UC student who I recently lead to Christ (Many people have been pointing her to Christ…I just had the privilege of praying with her in that final moment of decision). Though she is in the midst of some difficult circumstances, it really is amazing to see what God is able to do with a young trusting heart. With only a few weeks of the Spring quarter remaining, I am trusting God not just for financial provision but for the opportunity to pray with one or two more students to trust Christ as Lord.

I have to say, after I recently prayed with this college student to enter a new life in Christ I could NOT wait to share the news with our team of financial supporters. Never before in my 18+ years of ministry have I felt such a sense of partnership with a group of people. Those who regularly invest their financial resources in our ministry through the CCO to students in Cincinnati are literally partners with us in ministry. Were it not for their support, I would be forced to provide for my family another way and would NOT be able to live out my calling to be on campus with students.

#1            The sense of partnership we get as we collaborate with God and visionary supporters to impact the lives of college students.

So that would be the absolute best thing about raising support and partnering with Kingdom-minded donors who recognize their role as stewards of God’s resources.

With about 2 1/2 weeks left in this “Fund” Drive, we continue trusting God to provide a few more of these great partners who get to celebrate with us each time God transforms the life of a college student. If you would like to become one of our ministry partners, click here for more information and simple instructions for how to give.

Each time I engage in the support-raising tasks which make for a successfully funded campus minister, I bump into an interesting form of resistance. Often, it’s from a campus ministry peer who laments that we have to overcome this hurdle (fund raising) in order to “do” ministry. Other times, it comes in the form of someone we have invited to support us who wonders why we don’t just find a church or organization who is willing to fully fund us. Those kinds of encounters tend to remind me of the things I love about raising support for campus ministry (no, I’m not joking). And that brings me to reason #3 in this little series of five posts.

#3 Raising financial support puts God in control of our finances.

From a theological understanding of God’s sovereignty, this seems like a moot point to some. But at least in the realm of self-perception, this biblical understanding of stewardship transforms the way that we live, give, and generally interact with money. The resources that God chooses to provide for us through the generosity of others seem more like God’s property than other paychecks we’ve received in the past. Obviously, whether someone gets a steady paycheck from a church, the government, or a private employer…the source is ultimately the same: God. However, since we pray daily for God’s provision through financial support, it seems that we are more intensely aware that God is in control.

From a different perspective, raising support also frees God up to provide as much or as little as He sees fit for us. Since we are not fully funded just yet, what we are living on now is less than I’ve earned in the past as a staff member at a church. Fortunately though, if God chooses and provides our full support, we’d actually receive a wage that is better than any church board has seen fit to “provide” in the past. That’s another way in which we feel like God is in control of our provision. So we feel a bit more like the Apostle Paul who could say,

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

So there you go…a third great reason that we love raising support in order to live out our mission of transforming college students to transform the world.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges that today’s college students face?

After a quick Twitter & Facebook poll, here are some responses I received:

• complacency, lack of sense of outward mission/purpose attached to Christianity (particularly related to evangelism), and biblical illiteracy
• sense of community/connection, rooting their self-esteem and identity in the right stuff, confusion as to what direction to go in life (what am I supposed to do?)
• balance. Most have a full load of classes and are forced to work (at least) one part-time job. Add in dating, friends, family, student groups, and civic responsibilities, and it’s often overwhelming, especially being away from home for the first time.
• complete and total exhaustion (submitted by a college student)
• the crazy economic environment and short-term uncertainty about future jobs are major challenges, especially in the minds of juniors and seniors.
• There is a ton of stress in students’ lives, (self-inflicted in many cases) by lack of sleep, crappy diet, and relationship flux.

I’m sure we could add to this list. Feel free to do so in the comment section.

The response I synthesized from this feedback and my own experience follows. I suppose I would sort these challenges into 3 categories:
1. Personal–Cultivating a sense of balance seems to be one of the major challenges for students. This is impacted by sleeping habits, diet/nutrition, relationships, and a sense of community/identity just to name a few causes.
2. Academic–Again, balance is difficult with the academic demands and many students struggle with the discipline needed to be academically successful and faithful to their calling as students.
3. Spiritual/Faith–A significant challenge for many students also has to do with their spiritual development. For those college students who are pursuing a biblically nourished journey with Christ…fully integrating their faith with the calling of being a college student provides many challenges which make it critical to plug into Christian community and seek out a spiritual director/mentor such as a campus minister.

To me, one of the encouraging places I landed while thinking through these challenges involved some affirmation of my own calling to work with college students for the next season of my life/ministry. Recently, I was asked to outline my 3 favorite things about working for the CCO as a campus minister. Here’s what I came up with.

College students are the coolest cats in town and I love them! Having a job that gives me the opportunity to be with these potential world changers is absolutely energizing.

Finally, most people like the thought of making a difference and changing the world. I have the opportunity to pour my life into college students for a few years and then watch them take their love for God and others all around the world to transform it?! That is super gratifying.

For those of you who work on campus with college students and from the context of a local church, what are the things you love about working with college students?

Here are a few quotes which stand out:

“It’s about talented people committed to perfecting their art as far as possible.”

CCM is about “an excellence that communicates, spreads out and contributes to its community.”

“In a culture awash in mediocrity, CCM is a place where people can strive for nothing less than their best – and remind the rest of us how high the bar should be.”

As a novice musician myself, I have a particular interest and passion for connecting with CCM students and seeing them integrate their calling as musicians & performers with their faith. Recently, I met a grad student in the jazz studies program who is a fellow saxophonist. His life was transformed by God through an Inter Varsity campus ministry during his undergrad years in New Hampshire (one of his classmates is pictured w/ the tenor saxophone to the right). Jon is not only passionate about being an excellent saxophonist, he has a tremendous calling to share Christ with those around him. So several weeks ago, I came alongside of Jon in a supportive/mentoring role as he launched a new bible study to CCM students at UC.

Although the CCM culture is mostly antagonistic towards the Christian faith, Jon is being faithful to this calling and drawing students to God’s word through a study of the life/ministry of Jesus each Monday night on campus.

I’m pretty excited that I get to be a part of Jon’s faith journey for a couple of years here in Cincinnati. There’s no doubt that he will leave Cincinnati with some serious musical credentials. But I also pray that he’ll leave a legacy of transformed lives as he pours his heart into this unlikely kind of “music ministry.”

Over the past few years as I’ve been carving out a new calling and path I often sense this compulsion to “do ministry” in that old systematic and programmatic way. But in a rare moment of clarity, I shake my head…disperse the mental fog and look for that little trail less traveled by…intentional, relational, organic discipleship.

Just yesterday I was able to sit down with a couple of students on campus and have some meaningful conversations. There was no real agenda, it wasn’t a bible study, and I wasn’t trying to recruit them for anything or get them to sign up for an event. My only agenda was to be present in that moment with them and listen.

In one particular conversation I was able to share my heart and hopes in a way that seemed genuine and helpful. He’s a terrifically talented, intelligent, and passionate young man who is wrestling (as many students are) with the idea of calling as it relates to his future, career, ministry, etc. The beautiful thing about our conversation was the authenticity. Neither of us were trying to say the right things to each other. I wasn’t attempting to solve his problems or lay out some grand theological truth to change his life. He wasn’t just b/s’ing me with superficial comments or safe stories about nothing. It was a pure opportunity for presence and I think it was life giving for both of us.

I have a feeling that I’ll be sharing stories about this student for the rest of my life. What a privilege to spend a few years investing one conversation after another in the life of a college student who is being transformed by Christ and shaped in ways that will impact the world for many years.