Some years ago a person issued a blistering criticism of me and the ministry that I led saying that many of those who came were "lukewarm Christians". I celebrated that criticism!
Since all of my years of on campus ministry have been in the deep south/Bible Belt, a concern and calling of mine has always been connecting to and challenging those students who made a profession of faith at camp or in their home church when they were younger and then over time either drifted away from it or never quite knew what to do about it. They had never either been helped or willing to take the next step to discipleship. We were fortunate to see many of these type students begin to respond to God's Spirit in their lives and take that next step and begin to serve and lead.
As our society more and more divides into two camps that yell at each other, we sometimes see that happening with Christian students. There are the super committed and the "not quite there" group. Rather than drawing them closer to a deeper walk with the Lord, I fear we often push them away. That's why I am all about our Christian gatherings for college students being both fun and serious. There is a little bit of something that everyone can relate to in our gatherings. But, it seems that sometimes we make our worship gatherings endurance contests to prove how serious we are about the Lord.
I might argue that we now have three different groups of students that have different concerns, questions and issues related to faith. There are the non-Christians, the committed Christians and the "lukewarn Christians". In our justified concern for reaching out to the lost students on our campus, are we forgetting the students that are not in the "Holy huddle"? Perhaps they are not lukewarm, they just do not fit in a "Holy Huddle"?
I have shared in the past about the student who asked me if our church collegiate gathering was two or three hours long. I thought she might be joking but indicated she had been to another Christian campus event where that had happened on the night before she had a serious test that needed more study time. As the trend grows for speakers to go longer, are we giving more content and encouragement for growth or are we developing a "Holy Huddle Appeal"? You show how committed you are, if you can attend one of our events and last all the way through it. A college student not having three hours for a worship event does not indicate they are not serious about their faith. It may just indicate they are a Christian AND an engineering student or an architectural student, etc.
A friend who is on a well known Ivy League campus says many of his students will not go on a two night retreat. They simply cannot or won't be away from their studies that long. Are they less committed?
As you think about your ministry, what group does your ministry best connect to....the huddle, the non-Believer, or the lukewarm? Is there a reason for that? And, remember the lukewarm may not even be lukewarm, they just may have less time to give.
Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook and print at amazon.com. He also serves as a part time consultant in college ministry for Lifeway Christian Resources.
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