No Small Thing

This reflection is about campus ministry. But it is also about so much more. 

As I have written before, right now is the busiest season in campus ministry. After burning the candle at both ends during week of welcome, campus ministry teams are now settling into a rhythm - connecting with students, motivating leaders and developing weekly activities. This is the work of ministry to college-aged young adults. In a normal week, text messages will be sent with most receiving no response in return. Coffee meetings will be scheduled and then canceled at the last minute. Flyers will be posted all over campus and then will somehow disappear. Yard signs will be planted and then stolen. Room reservations, made weeks in advance, will somehow get lost in the system. This is a normal week in campus ministry. For campus ministers, the normal week can be frustrating, exhausting, and at times, lonely. And yet, we are often reminded of the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:1 (CEB):

This is why we don’t get discouraged, given that we received this ministry in the same way that we received God’s mercy.

I often tell my ministry leaders that all of the stuff we do on campus is actually a response to what God is already doing. Campus ministry doesn’t start with us, it starts with God who loves every student on our campuses. It doesn’t matter where that young adult has come from or how they feel about God. The prevenient grace of Jesus does not discriminate, reaching out to every single one of them. This pursuing grace is, ultimately, what inspires students to answer our texts, come to our events, and hopefully join our community. It is the Holy Spirit who does the hard work. Anything we do, whether it is a text message sent or an event planned, is an opportunity to embody that loving and relentless pursuit. Again, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7 (CEB):

But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us.

Can you imagine how much work it must take to get a college student to actually respond to a text message from a campus minister? I can only imagine the amount of divine energy it must take for the Holy Spirit to inspire a young adult who is wrestling with their questions about faith to leave their dorm room and enter into a campus ministry worship gathering for the first time. If the Holy Spirit is the one who is doing the hard work, we as leaders must respond with reverence and intentionality. It is never a small thing when a college student comes to a ministry event. God has been at work in their lives, so the last thing we want to do is ignore that student or worse, make them feel like they are not welcome in our space. We don’t always get this right. But our aim is to welcome, embrace, serve and inspire as many students as possible. We send texts, make flyers, schedule meetings, plan experiences and yes re-order yard signs knowing that some weeks our work will feel fruitless. It is, however, work that echoes into eternity, and therefore we trust that God has started this work and that our efforts to make Jesus’s love tangible will be blessed. Again, Paul says, 2 Corinthians 4:16 (CEB):

So we aren’t depressed. But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day.

I know that most of the folks reading this reflection are not in campus ministry. However, I hope you see the similarities to the work of the laity and the witness of local congregations. Every Sunday, God is at work in the lives of the people who join our livestreams and/or show up to our worship services. The Holy Spirit has done the heavy lifting - inspiring these people, in some cases, to leave their homes and give faith in Jesus one more try. These folks bring with them their struggles, heartaches, doubts and disappointments. And since the reach of God’s love does not discriminate, we shouldn’t be surprised when Jesus brings to us individuals who think, love, vote and live differently than us. How we receive these individuals is a response to God’s prevenient grace in their lives. The last thing we want to do is treat the divine energy that brought them to us as if it were a small thing. Every single person matters to Jesus and our work is to embody His grace for the sake of others. 

From infants to college students, empty nesters to retirees, the grace of God is pursuing every single person on this planet. The Holy Spirit is doing the hard work of drawing individuals to God and we as followers of Jesus are called to embody that grace everyday and in every place. Let’s not treat it as a small thing. Let us respond to God’s work in people’s lives with the intentionality it deserves. As Paul says, “we are ambassadors who represent Christ.” May we all represent Jesus well.

Derrick Scott III
Co-Lay Leader, Florida Conference

Back to the Laity Space Weekend Update for September 3.