A pastor said to me that he wanted his church college ministry to be one of "substance not glitz" and I agree with him.....some, a little, maybe 50%. And, I don't think it is just because I am shallow.
To me, substance in college ministry is all about communicating the truth of the Gospel to a specific audience. It is about facing and talking about the tough issues of the day and those students are encountering. It is about helping them see how the Gospel connects to and speaks to those issues. Ryan Burge, the Christian Pollster, recently shared that in a survey of 2400 "Non-religious" asked when they walked away from faith, the most mentioned age was 18.
I am all about substance, but doing it to an empty room is not too helpful!! Some ministries are proud of the fact they do not have big crowds.....that must mean they are doing nitty gritty substance....or it just may mean they are plain dull or do not know how to speak to their audience.
Beware of being PROUD of your small crowd!
I shared recently that I had read someone who said, "A ministry should be like a swimming pool with a shallow end and a deep end. Some are not ready to swim in the deep end." I could not love that statement and truth more.
Let's call Glitz the Shallow End. Freshmen come to college looking for two things: Friends and Fun. I am all about college ministries offering some glitz that has some substance tied to it. My last year or so at Arkansas State, our Tech Team loved wiring up new things and adding dimensions. Somewhere they came up with a rotating glitter ball and they immediately installed it in the middle of the ceiling of our chapel area. They loved to turn it on in the middle of one of the upbeat songs before I spoke. I hated it! The students loved it! Also, a very serious event can have some fun and glitz either before or after the serious event.
Some years ago, there were two college churches in our town that were working hard to reach students. One opened the fall with a month long series on world hunger. The other opened the fall with a month long series on love, sex, and dating. Guess where all the freshmen went. And, the College Minister there is one of the most serious Bible teachers I know. He knew most freshmen start in the shallow end.
Some of the most "substance driven" college ministries I know have some of the "glitziest events" at the start of school. I flinch at some of them. I believe choosing between glitz and substance is a false choice. I am not arguing anything is ok to draw a crowd. Years ago, I spoke for a weekend event held at their campus center. On Friday night there was a Beer Bust next door. They had a bigger crowd than we did. I am not arguing that anything that draws a crowd is okay. But, fun and appealing is not necessarily of the devil!
I believe that Jesus laughed and had fun. Notice that tax collectors and other sinners wanted to be around him. I don't think that meant Jesus had no substance.
I walked across the campus one day and there was a man standing on a ladder screaming the Gospel. Students were walking all around and no one was stopping to listen. I stayed for a while and agreed with everything he was saying. But, no students were stopping to listen. He had substance. He sure was not glitzy.
I believe more than ever we MUST be reaching out to and speaking to 18 year olds about the Gospel and how to apply it to life. But, we also much remember that they will think and act like.....wait for it......18 year olds.
I hope and pray this is your best fall semester ever!
You can check out Reaching MORE College Students at Amazon.com/dp/B0BMW8NPMN and A College Ministry Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0FFTHL6HP.
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