Some would say low pay which forces some out of college ministry is the number one killer of College Ministers. Others would say it is the long sometimes crazy hours. Or, an argument can be made for growing older and no longer being able to relate to college students effectively. A good case can be made for for all of these and most of us know someone that left for one of these reasons, But, I don't believe any of these is "the main killer".
The TWO TOP KILLERS are COMPARISON and FEELING ALONE.
COMPARISON - Most of us who do or have done college ministry know the feeling of working yourself silly and not seeing the response we hoped to see and seeing another ministry with bigger crowds, etc. Or, we are wrestling with tough issues and other ministries just seem to glide along each year. Comparison is evil! Comparison is wrong! Comparison is UN-CHRISTIAN! I do it all the time!! Maybe, I'm the only out of control sinner in college ministry.....maybe.
HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU COMPARE:
1. You never know all that is going on in another ministry.
2. Numbers represent people, but a big crowd is not all there is to it. One of my students suggested we name our worship band, "Free Beer". He said then we could advertise, "Free Beer at the BCM Thursday Night". I think we would have had a great crowd that one night. A crowd is not the only measure of success.
3. Long haul faithfulness beats short term flashes. Sometimes, we compare ourselves to the "latest hot thing". Your ministry was there doing well long before the flash and will likely be there going strong after the flash has faded or moved on. There is always some ministry you can compare yours to and feel a miserable failure.
4. Comparison tempts you to do things that don't fit with your skills or even cause you to be continually changing your ministry instead of building on proven methods.
FEELING ALONE or NO ONE CARES BUT ME - As much of a killer as comparison is, I believe feeling alone and no one else cares is ten times worse! I think it is the number one killer of College Ministers. People leaving college ministry because of low salaries and needing to provide for growing families, etc is just a symptom of feeling no one cares. "If people cared, they would provide us with decent salaries and insurance." "If people cared, I would have a decent budget for this campus."
THINGS TO DO AND REMEMBER WHEN YOU FEEL NO ONE CARES:
1. Have one or two friends in college ministry you can talk to every week and fuss to....be totally honest.
2. Don't isolate yourself just with college students and your ministry. Our crazy hours and schedule tend to take us out of "the normal adult world". Several years ago my wife said to me, "You don't know how to to talk to anyone but college students". I was working on campus all week and teaching college student Sunday School. I started teaching an adult class and suddenly had more friends. I found out others cared and they learned some things to care about.
3. Go to regional and national conferences that rejuvenate you, remind you of your calling, and connect with with old and new friends....who GET what you do.
4. Take a day or two off occasionally. The Bible seems to say it is a sin to work 7 days a week....except if you are in the ministry? I have a friend who works like crazy....then, he takes a couple days off and goes hunting. For a period of years, I took Tuesday afternoon off and scheduled no campus events on Tuesday nigh (We had Monday and Thursday night events and I went to church on Wednesday nights.) I would pick my girls up at at school AND we even ate supper at a NORMAL time. My girls are grown now and I am really glad I did that! I worked hard and lots....just not on Tuesday afternoons and night.
My observations and that of others, that know far more than I do, indicates that the strongest, largest or most successful and impacting college ministries are those led by College Ministers who have been doing it long term. To have lots of strong college ministries, we need to have more College Ministers who are not killed out of college ministry by COMPARISON and FEELING NO ONE CARES!
Arliss Dickerson is a part time college ministry consultant for Lifeway Christian Resources and the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format at amazon.com. FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY is available in paperback.
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