Monday, June 30, 2014

Are You Trying to Make Students Be Just Like You?

One of the real easy temptations in College Ministry is to just reach out to students like you.....or....try to shape students to be just like you.

Have you noticed that many students go to the seminary from which their College Minister graduated or currently favors? This is an example of how, without realizing it, we tend to shape students in our own mold. The problem with this is that it limits our outreach to those students who are not drawn to our particular personality, gifts and ministry style.

One of the basic truths of scripture is that we are a body made up of different parts. When we try to make everyone just like us, we deny the truth of scripture. Are you limiting your ministry to those who want to be just like you? Do students who see things a little differently than you do feel wanted and needed in your ministry?

Look around your ministry. How similar are your students in thought, style, and gifts? Too often students in a particular College Ministry all look the same. In situations I have been familiar with, once you met a student you good easily guess what College Ministry or Church they had connected to. A healthy ministry has a wide variety of people. Remember; who you reach determines who you can and cannot reach. A cheerleader at our University once told me she was not cool enough to attend a particular ministry. I've thought cheerleaders were pretty cool ever since Junior High.

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