Leading by Example?

In recent years we have seen our economy go down the proverbial sewer.  Many collegiates find themselves working two jobs in an attempt to make ends meets.  It can be hard for them to see how God is providing for them when they feel as if they are the ones “providing” money through their jobs.  How can we as college ministers encourage them to live by faith in God for provision of their needs???

Chuck Bomar recently wrote an article, here, that challenges leaders to be a Christian role model to their students through the spiritual discipline of tithing.  He suggests that this will show your students that you are living by faith and are trusting God with everything, including your finances.  It’s a novel idea, but I wonder how many of our college students actually tithe when faced with financial woes. 

J.D. Greear also wrote an article, titled The Generosity Paradox, where he emphasizes the importance of not being tied to your money and says that if we fully understand the gospel that we will be generous givers of our money.  Let us know how you have encouraged your students to tithe regularly and to rely on God more with their finances

School has finally started, now what do we do next?

Well, the time has finally come so that all of our summer planning can now be implemented and put into play.  One thing that I have learned throughout my life is that no matter how much planning you do for something, you always forget something (although in my case I would normally forget a couple of somethings).  So now that the school year has started back up, I wanted to give you some ideas that may help strengthen your college ministry this year.  (As much as I’d love to take credit for these suggestions, I actually found these on Guy Chmielski’s blog at http://faithoncampus.com/ideas-for-september/ .) 

The ideas are as follows:

1.                Invest in Relationships

2.                Invest in Student Leaders

3.                Establish a Good rhythm

4.                Back-to-school events

5.                Student Leader Retreat

6.                Finalize the Fall Calendar

7.                Begin to prepare for the Spring

8.                Pray 40

For more details regarding each idea, see Guy’s article above.  Remember that college students are looking for something to plug into that involves people who genuinely care about them.  I pray that God does some pretty amazing things through your ministry and throughout colleges around the world this year!! 

Separation of Church and…Ministry?

For college ministers it is easy to get wrapped up in growing your ministry and begin to tailor your ministry specifically for collegiates.  While this is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, it can lead to your ministry separating itself from the church which is bad. 

Chuck Bomar recently wrote an article regarding this problem he struggled with early on in his ministry titled Para-confused in the Church.   In his article, Chuck reminds ministers that our goal should be plugging our college students into the local church body that is seeking out a common mission.

Our number one priority for our ministries should relate to the church body as a whole and be careful not to single out the college ministry as a para-church-like organization.  Chuck’s article provides two questions that serves as a check against this mentality:

1.    Do I view the church as a means to grow my ministry, or do I view my ministry as a means for growth in my church?

2.    Am I just as concerned with making sure people are connected in our church once they leave my ministry as I am with getting high school graduates connected to our ministry as freshmen?  Another way of asking this questions might be: Do I view my ministry as an end, or a means to an end?

I encourage all ministers to ask these questions personally and make sure that you do everything with the purpose of growing your church body this year in your ministry.

What's Next for Francis Chan? A Conversation with Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

Here is part III of the series on Personal Testimony, continued from last Thursday and Friday.   This is the final installment of the series.

How can a testimony be used incorrectly?

1.       Testimonies void of the gospel can give a false impression of what life is like as a Christian.

No two Christians have the exact same story or walk with God. So giving a testimony about your life as a Christian without a clear unpacking of the gospel is likely to give the hearer a false impression about what they should expect if they become a Christian. This can lead to a false conversion centered on idolatry (discussed in point 3 below) or leave the hearer with lots of baggage in the form of faulty theology and inaccurate expectations, such as Christianity leading to an easy life or a life free from pain and frustration.

2.       Testimonies void of the gospel can distort what Jesus died to save us from.

Jesus did not die to save us from some particular hardship or addiction or so that we could have some particular standard of living. He did not die so that we could be comfortable or wealthy or married to the woman of our dreams. Jesus died because we chose to rebel against God. He died as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who would put their faith in him, so that they might be reconciled to God. He died to save us from death and eternity in Hell away from God. We must always strive to avoid distorting the real message of the gospel – forgiveness of our sin against a holy and just God through faith in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

3.       Testimonies void of the gospel can reinforce a man-centered worldview rather than a God-centered worldview.

God becomes a genie-in-a-lamp who grants your wishes as long as you “believe” in him and have enough “faith.” We see this as people come to God based on what they perceive he can provide them (happiness, money, health, wife/husband, job, etc.), rather than from a realization that they are wicked sinners in need of a Savior and a right relationship with God. The Bible calls this idolatry. The focus becomes how God can materially improve your life (or make you a “better you”) rather than the beauty of a gracious, loving God who gave his life so that we could be ransomed from the punishment we deserve for our sins.

In the words of Adam Bond, Director of XEE (Gen X Evangelism Explosion)-North America,

“Your [personal testimonies] provide all the evidence and proof necessary to reveal the reality of the gospel in this generation. Most importantly, they will inspire a genuine curiosity about God through which you’ll be able to simply and clearly explain the gospel.”

I think he’s hit the nail on the head. Our personal testimonies should leave people desiring to know more about God and help provide us an opportunity to dialogue about the gospel. Testimonies are a means to an end, not an end themselves.

“I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ” (Philemon 1:6).

The intent of the team blog website and format is to aid collegiate/young adult leaders in their ministry to college age students in Texas.  The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention does not necessarily agree with or condone all of the thoughts in every blog written by ministers, they simply are providing a platform for resources and thoughts to be shared through this blogging opportunity.  If you have any questions contact our offices.