just being christian

If I could be like one person, I’d be like..

Well, I don’t know.  I mean, there are a lot of good candidates out there, but probably not any PERFECT candidates.  I’d probably be much better off picking traits from different people and combining them.  You know, like Captain Planet does.  Only different.

Right now I’m pulling in inspiration primarily from two sources. Each have forced me into deep introspection and evaluation regarding my character and calling. Or to put it another way, causing me to look at who I am (and wanting to be) and what I do (and am wanting to do).

On the one hand, Dallas Willard has been pounding me with what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus.  I’ve always wanted to read through “The Diving Conspiracy”, and I’ve recently had the chance to do so.  I bite a chunk off every couple of weeks and then talk it over with one of the guys I work with.  I treasure those conversations because the guy I meet with packs some wisdom, and the content of the book is straight boss.

Conspiracy is one of those books that’s always been intimidating to me. Not only is it thick (400 pages), but it’s incredibly dense.  Willard has put so much insight into those pages.  I’ve used the book as a reference work, but have never had the stamina to work all the way through it.  It looks like I’ll make it this time, and I’m glad.

Not only is Conspiracy helping me explore what it means for me to be a disciple of Jesus, but it’s also giving me a lot to consider regarding what it looks like to create and environment on campus that is conducive to discipleship.

While Willard is pushing me to consider who God is calling me to be, Cornel West is pushing me to consider what God is calling me to do.

I recently read Dr. West’s memoir, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. I couldn’t put it down.  I had read some of his writings my first year in college, but hadn’t been back in a while.  Now I’m soaking up his wisdom and passion like a sponge. He is such a deep thinker, but he is also a passionate doer.  He’s a rarity in academics.  He’s someone I can learn a lot from as I imagine what my calling is in an academic setting.

What Dr. West has been reminding me of, in concert with the Urban Entry class I’m teaching this semester, is that I am passionate about issues of race and justice.  Not that I ever forgot that.  But with the move last summer there has been a reordering of life.

Now I’m getting itchy to “do” again, and am going through the process of exploring how I can best be about those passions God has instilled in me. There are plenty of opportunities to do that where I am, though they look very different from the opportunities that I had in Kansas City.

And quite frankly, the “doing” must come from the flow of the “being”.  But the “being” isn’t really “being” if it’s just a trough of wisdom that I accumulate without an outlet to Live Out Loud, so to speak.

So we’ll see where all this takes me.  I don’t know where that is, but it’s I have a feeling it will be somewhere good.

Renew and Restore

What does it look like to effectively foster a campus community where students are growing in their intimacy with God?

That’s a long question.  I’m developing a multifaceted answer, but it’s going to take a while.  My personal time line is to continue evaluating my philosophy on the issue over the next few months while I get to know the campus well.  Then, come the Spring, we’ll start building up our student leadership team so that they will be up and running for a full roll-out next fall.

Things That I Have Going For Me Right Now:

• a task that interests me
• a talented team that I enjoy working with
• supervisors who have embraced my time line for developing a campus-wide discipleship program
• a chapel program on campus that is well run and has the interest of the student body

Challenges To Answering This Question:

• a growing campus.  it’s not huge. but there are around 625 students on campus.  by nature, intimacy is not something that can be achieved when working with a group of 625.  it’s achieved when you make a big group a bunch of smaller groups.  but you want those smaller groups to have unity.
• even though it’s a Christ-centered school, a lot of students come onto campus who either (a) didn’t grow up in the church, or (b) have a litany of things they are interested in accomplishing ahead of their spiritual development.  we’re not Wheaton or Taylor. that’s exciting in that there is a lot of room for transformation. but there is certainly greater challenges in there as well.
• intimacy is not the easiest thing to measure. we can count how many students go to chapel. but assessment of intimacy is a whole different animal.
• college students are doers.  they really do want to change the world.  but they aren’t the best at managing their time. one of the keys to intimacy with God is spending time with God.
• the relationships college students have with each other will inform how they are in relationship with God. that can be a struggle as relationships go more and more online, and networking is valued over depth.

Questions For You:

• does your church foster intimacy well?  if so, what size is it?
• think back to when you were in college.  what do you wish adults would have communicated to you about being intimate with God?
• have you come across any successful methods for fostering discernment in a large-group setting?
• how do you evaluate how deep your intimacy with God is? what kind of questions can help us accurately evaluate the depth of a student’s relationship with God?
• do you know of any schools that are doing campus ministry well. not just in vibrancy, but in depth.

There you go.  Simple.
Renew and Restore