"Every Student on Every Campus"

Today's guest blogger is Tom Virtue. Tom is the LA Metro director for Campus Crusade for Christ. Tom wrote this back in 2002. This just goes to show that some lead . . . . and then some post what those are leading.
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Planting Multiple Transformational Communities (September 2002)

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For, there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. (1 Tim 2:1-7)

When you read all of scripture seriously not just this short passage, it leads to the inescapable conclusion that God's heart is for ALL people. That's easy to say, but when you get down to thinking of a city, a neighborhood, or a campus the practical implications of what that means can be a bit overwhelming! All means all - everyone!... as in, no one you lay your eyes on is excluded!

Picture yourself at an airport doing some people watching. Look around - how many of those people do you really want to get to know - not just observe their oddities, but spend time with, learning about them, understanding them, accepting them? 40%, 60%, maybe if you're highly energized by people even 80% tops? God doesn't stop at 80% or even 95% - ALL to God means every individual no matter what barriers or unappealing qualities appear to be present that cause separation. There is not a personality type, cultural idiosyncrasy, annoying personal habit, or unattractive feature which stops God's heart from wanting to know a person.

So now let's say that you are the coordinator of a ministry which is seeking to fulfill what is on God's heart for a campus. We're going to think a bit about the principles involved in getting to every student on a campus. What will be the guiding thoughts to move us toward seeing every student on a campus have an opportunity to be exposed to good news about the possibility to be reconciled to God and in a positive context have the opportunity to respond?

No matter what your approach to ministry you'll have some kind of gathering of the people involved with you on the campus - whether it takes the form of one large meeting or several small groups of one kind or another. Whether there is a small or large number of people who are currently involved in your gatherings, my observation is that the gathering where God is working in peoples' lives can very quickly become the biggest obstacle to thinking about every student on campus. When we have a group of people together we seem to automatically make the existing group our standard of measure - we feel good because of who is there, we want to see growth in the number of people there, we're worried that there are fewer people than used to be there, etc., But, all of a sudden the number of people gathered has become the key measure of what God is doing.

Here are some questions I would propose to help keep us focused on the idea of giving EVERY student an opportunity...

1. Who are the students on campus who aren't at your gathering(s)?
2. What groups (subcultures) on your campus can you not even picture being at one of your gatherings because of some personality, cultural, or geographical difference?

Honestly answering these 2 questions will put you more in touch with the impossible nature of the vision that God has given for any location whether it is a city, community, or a college campus. Seeing impossibility is where dependence on God is stimulated and where we see reality most clearly. We see our need for God and what He alone can do.

Beginning to see differences from someone else's eyes also begins to educate us on what is needed to get to everyone - it will begin to give you a picture of some of the needed strategies and tactics that will most effectively move you to God's vision of the entire campus. Unless your campus is entirely mono-cultural you will begin to see how individualized strategies, meetings, and groups may be the only way to get to some major segments of the campus population. So, what God may want to do in your ministry is not just have one large group which reaches out to the students on your campus, He may have you in a situation where the most effective solution would be to plant multiple communities right where students are (their turf) rather than asking every student to come to your meeting or where you are (your turf).

You've hung in there so far with this little article. That means you may be interested enough to check out some of the most common questions related to planting multiple communities rather than focusing attention on just one group on campus.

1. Is this for every campus?
Not necessarily. The answers to our 2 questions above determines what would be appropriate for your campus. My personal experience tells me that on most campuses one established group or ministry on that campus will NOT get the gospel to every student on the campus. However, I don't want to answer with my bias, I would argue that the character of the campus will determine the answer to our questions more than the character of our ministry.

The principle we're dealing with here from a missions standpoint is the Unreached People Groups idea. Missiologists define a people group as, "the largest group within which the gospel can spread through relationships without encountering barriers of understanding due to culture, language, or geography." Technically we may not have "unreached people groups" on our campus, but when you think about the principle, don't you see "unreached subcultures" on campus - groups which aren't touched by the gospel because of barriers of understanding due to culture, language, or geography? Most campuses have them. Those are the people for whom a community planted in the middle of their subculture may be the difference between them sincerely looking at the gospel or writing it off as not relating to them. When a community is planted in every subculture of a campus, then the gospel is accessible to everyone on that campus!

2. Is this just an ethnic strategy?
No! That's one of the more obvious applications of this thinking, but sometimes the cultural differences between athletes and architects are even larger than any ethnic differences! The principle of contextualized ministry can apply into a variety of contexts and may or may not be needed in some ethnic groups on campus. For example, there may be many Filipino students (A - more assimilated in the culture around them) who would culturally prefer a multi-cultural ministry context, but on the same campus there may be a group of Filipino students (C - not assimilated into the culture around them, more comfortable operating within their own culture) who would only come to a ministry that specifically identifies as a Filipino ministry. If we are talking about true contextualization, we want people to fit where they see themselves fitting – not put them into a category that we assume!

3. Is this a statement about the unity of the body of Christ?
No! This is a statement about Mission not the Body. In fact, the planting of multiple communities will function most effectively and contribute to the greater expansion of the kingdom on the campus best when there is recognition of the mission focus of each group among the leadership of each group as evidenced by joint prayer for each group, a sense of respect and blessing among the leadership of each community, and the absence of a territorial spirit. For example, the welcoming of an African-American student as a leader in a multi-cultural group even when there is a contextualized group of African-American students on campus.

4. Isn't this an overwhelming amount of work - us going to every subculture planting a community that is contextualized to that subculture?
If you think you'll do all the planting it sure is! I'd give up now! Imagine learning the uniqueness and beliefs of each subculture and seeking to tailor it to them. It makes me tired to think of focusing on more than one or two groups at the most! That may just be my age speaking, maybe you can think about 3? 4? Now you’re tired too!

That's the beauty of God's work. If you plant one community and communicate the vision of getting to the entire campus then you have some laborers who already have the picture of planting multiple groups. By the nature of what they have learned in planting their own group they have all they need to be able to train someone else to plant in a different subculture. I also believe that God has some people in each subculture who are waiting and ready to be key people in establishing a new community in their context (see People of Peace article).

5. To start a contextualized ministry do I have to be in the culture already?
I think we've answered this already, but just to be clear!... if your vision is to stimulate, empower, and equip others to do ministry, then what is required of you is to be a servant, a learner and to demonstrate humility, not to be a certain color, have athletic talent, or to possess a certain ethnic heritage. God gives his stamp of approval very clearly in the scripture to cross-cultural ministry, so anything we do that implies the need for a certain call, color, or culture to reach someone of a certain color or culture doesn't do justice to God's Word.

As we reach the end of this article. What I passionately desire the most is that this has communicated the heart behind a contextualized ministry approach to different subcultures on a campus. I think it is next to impossible to maintain a vision for every student on a given campus unless there is a decision already made internally that some of those students don't have to fit into the structures that we've already created. In fact, it helps us to believe that God has already planted people all over the campus who are waiting and ready to be used by Him to create the new structures (communities) who will be used to touch even more people. Enjoy joining God by praying for Him to bring those people across your path and across the path of the other people with whom you've entrusted this vision! And enjoy joining God as you get out and meet some of those people!!