Balance. It’s a word we don’t think about often but are
affected by every day. When we are young it comes with a price, usually a few
bumps and bruises as we learn that critical skill needed to become a mobile
human being. When we get old it is a treasure as those we love struggle to
maintain it so they don’t become a victim to the troubles that come with a
fall. It means to keep or put something in a steady position so that it does
not fall.
I’ve been doing ministry with college students long enough
to see a few things. I kind of feel like the Farmers Insurance commercial
there. I know a few things, because I’ve seen a few things! The current trend
seems to be to focus heavily on discipleship with college students. And that’s
a great thing. We’ve seen resurgence in our discipleship at the BCM and the
effects are awesome. However, this isn’t the first time the pendulum has swung
in the discipleship direction in my lifetime. Early in my ministry and when I
became a believer in Jesus it was the rage then. We all knew the chart that if
we just did discipleship with two people every six months the world would be
won to Christ by now. Well that is true in theory, just not very doable in
practice!
Then the emphasis on large group meetings became the way to
reach more college students. Fueled by the success of Louie Giglio and Pasion
and Gregg Matte and Breakaway, the push became to make a dynamic large group
teaching and music venue the driving force in ministries. Churches even began
to have their own College Worship services. And that was good even great for a
season. The majority of resources were committed to making the weekly meeting
the best and brightest thing on campus. Campus ministers began to focus more on
their communication skills in front of large groups. And that was a good thing
until it began to produce fewer disciples and more attenders. Suddenly it was
harder to attract them and more stressful to keep producing a better show each
week. While there are still some awesome speakers who can handle the large
crowds, the spaces to host those and people to lead them are limited, so the
pendulum moved again.
The effort to reach out and share the gospel through
programs like FAITH witness training gained traction in some areas of college
life for a while. Teams were formed, contacts were generated, and lives were
transformed by the witness of others. When FAITH was too long or too
structured, college ministers turned to Share Jesus Without Fear or similar
programs. We trained students in everything from gospel tracts to E-Cubes. And
for a while there was great effort made in saturating the campus with
witnesses. Cold call evangelism was prevalent through surveys and dramas depicting
Heaven and Hell even made appearances on the college scene. And God used those
efforts to bring thousands of students to Himself. But then the movement known
as Post-Modernism began to form on the campus and the idea of apologetics and
convincing someone of the truth of Jesus was made a bit more difficult. So the
pendulum moved again.
It seems to me that the most effective long term ministries
have always had a proper balance of those things and other programs. Sure they
may not be the biggest, the brightest, or the most known. But over the years they
have continued to produce solid disciples and have continued to make an impact
on their campuses and local churches. Most of us who serve in collegiate
ministries have egos and a desire to want to reach as many students as we can
with the gospel. So we can be tempted to run after the latest hot method or
strategy. But in the end, it’s those who maintain the course that the Lord
gives them who produce lasting results. Their ministries seem to be on solid
ground all the time. They have found the sense of balance that comes from
operating from who they are and how God has gifted them. We need a solid
balanced idea of ministry that includes discipleship, evangelism, a large group
event, small group involvement, engagement in missions and a challenge to be a
great commission fulfilling worldview! The emphasis might shift from time to
time, but let’s keep a balanced approach to reaching, teaching and sending
college students to help expand the kingdom of the Lord rather than our own.
