Upcoming posts on church and campus
It’s 5:30 AM. I’ve been up for an hour, and I can’t get back to sleep.
There’s been a lot running through my mind over the last hour, and most of it has to do with a few series of blog posts I plan on writing over the next few weeks. So please be patient with me as, Lord willing, I put together these (tentatively titled) blog series:
- Bride and Bridesmaids. The typical major college campus is loaded with parachurch organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ and The Navigators. But are these organizations actually fulfilling their biblical role? Are they replacing the local church? If so, is that a bad thing? Where should a college student seek to get involved? And is this purely an issue on a secular campus, or is it present in Christian colleges as well?
- Ice Cream Parlor. With what sort of attitude do we view the church? Do we approach it as consumers, looking for a particular experience or trying to get out of it what we want? Or do we approach it as a family, where we build redemptive relationships with others in order to glorify God? (I’m sure you can guess my answer already!)
- Guys or Men? What is the most troubling pattern I see among college-age guys (and older!) in the church? Passivity. It’s something I struggle with, too. And it’s the source of a world of corruption both in ourselves and in our church.
As you can probably sense already, there will be a lot of passion in each of these. In fact, I think they may be the most important things I have ever written here (and I could use your prayers as I write them!). So please stay tuned, and stay patient…this may take a while.
Posted on August 29, 2008, in The issues and tagged campus, church, college, ecclesiology, manhood, masculinity, parachurch, passivity, university. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Dave-o,
The current issue of Modern Reformation has some good articles that address some of these issues. It might be a good resource to help develop your thoughts.
Blog on, brother!
As a note regarding the role of para-church organizations (PCO) on Christian college campuses…I have a few thoughts. Or at any rate, I can share my experience. At Bethel, there wasn’t really a large PCO presence on campus. However, official university campus ministry acted, for me, as a PCO. I attended a local church for Sunday services, but was not at all involved beyond that as I saw my work of ministry on the university campus. Campus ministry was thus “enough” and I didn’t really join a local body, and definitely didn’t pursue membership.
Oops, meant to include this link above:
http://www.modernreformation.org/default.php?page=main&var1=Home
I think that bridesmaids are pretty much just for show in real life weddings but are kind of useless in the grand scheme of things. So an interesting analogy. (PS if I ever get married and have bridesmaids, please don’t tell them they are useless)
Still eager to read on any one of those topics that you just mentioned.
Fair enough.
I should have the first post up by Monday.