A Floridian Call to Missional Living
Last night, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Central Florida’s “Summer Cru,” Campus Crusade for Christ’s summer meeting at UCF.
The crowd, dressed in Rainbow sandals, J. Crew shorts, and Polo tees, was over one hundred strong. The flavor was that of just about any Christian student gathering across the south: The leaders roll into an empty auditorium an hour or two before the start of the service; A temporary stage is rolled out and assembled; the sound system is installed, drums put together, guitar on stage, microphones in hand, and a sound check begins; the music team practices their worship songs. In the back of the auditorium, a prayer room is set up; in the lobby, a merchandise table. As people start to trickle into the lobby, the leadership team prays, checks off any last-minute tasks, and finally opens the doors to unleash the crowd.
The “seasoned Christians” make their way into the auditorium. Bottled waters in hand, the typical friends to their side and, every once in a while, a Bible in hand. The service begins with worship music familiar to all of those who were “raised in a Christian home.” The order of service, the flavor of the people, and the atmosphere surrounding the room was similar to any other Christian gathering across the south. The message, however, was something that to which these students are far too numb…
Matt asked the question “What is a disciple?” Blank stares initially, but solid answers finally came, all of which accurately represented what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Matt presented an overview of the Description of a Disciple’s Life, reverse engineering the process into three categories, which those of us at Mars Hill should be very familiar: worship, community, and mission. In his overview of this description, hard questions were asked. “Why do you ‘do Bible studies’?” “Why do you have this band lead you in song?” “Why do we sing worship songs?” “Why do we even gather here once a week?” “What is the point of all of this?” …All tough questions that must be asked in response to the greater question: “How does anything we’re doing make disciples?”
Without understanding it what really means to be a disciple, these programmatic questions are impossible to answer. The almost robotic, repetitive, traditional practices of young, southern Christianity must be put up to the ultimate test of its effectiveness in creating disciples. Likewise, the clean slate of “nothingness” presents a similar problem in Seattle at Mars Hill Church: How can we build a ministry that makes disciple-making disciples? A good worship band is not the answer. A big show is not the answer. Bible studies are not the answer. Learning what it means to be a disciple is a great start. This is a task we have been tackling the last few days. Worship bands, flashy shows, and Bible Studies may very well be effective, but they must be scrutinized with an understanding of the DDL.
The takeaway from this week in Florida, witnessing the ministry practices of a number of student ministries, is this: Those seasoned in the Bible Belt have had a lifetime of experience in ministries that may or may not have effectively been run to create disciples. We, in Seattle, have a unique opportunity to witness the pros and cons of this programming and to build our ministry from the ground up, with an empty canvas, attempting to respond to the call of the Gospel to most effectively make disciples that make disciples.
Comment added 05/23/08 by Chris Balt:
As someone from the south (I came to Seattle via North Carolina), the above encounter reminded me of interactions I had with youth groups and churches throughout high school. The picture I painted of UCF’s Summer Cru was descriptive, but perhaps too bleak a representation. The questions I would ask of this ministry should be asked of all Christian “programming”: Why do we do what we do? I am aware that this is a question the Campus Crusade leadership team at UCF is asking themselves and working through. It is also a question we are asking of ourselves as we begin the college ministry at Mars Hill Church. I praise Jesus for leaders like those @ UCF who are willing to ask hard questions as to why they do what they do.
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Hi Chris,
I just came across your post via Technorati. I’m on staff with Campus Crusade at Chico State University in California.
I appreciate your heart for learning from other groups; especially since as you mention you have a ‘blank slate’ so to speak. I’m also encouraged that you sincerely want to make disciples who multiply their life into the lives of others.
I would caution you against judging the group as ‘just another group’ that does what every other group does. Speaking as an insider, I can say that although we (Campus Crusade) look the same in terms of programming, the heart and vision for doing it is very much in line with the Great Commission.
I don’t specifically know what goes on at the UCF, but if you came to campus the first week of school I can guarantee you would probably be handed a flyer or asked to fill out a spiritual questionnaire, or personally invited to the first meeting of the year, where the Gospel would be shared. My point is that disciple making is often talked about as only within the body of Christ, and the hard work of going out and embarrassing yourself by giving people flyers or asking strangers to complete a survey often time goes unappreciated.
I noticed your post referred to things within the body of Christ–things that believers do with other believers. Campus Crusade’s mission statement is ‘Turning Lost-Students Into Christ-Centered Laborers.’ The focus of all their bible studies, worship, weekly meetings and flashy shows are aimed at seeing lost students know Jesus Christ.
I would be careful to criticize a group that is at its core apostolic in nature through a pastoral lens. Campus Crusade is very clear that we are not a church, and thus should be viewed with a different set of expectations. I also don’t think it’s fair to presume that people don’t know what a disciple is or are too numb to the message of being a disciple just because people were hesitant to speak up. I would invite you to examine the group, especially the student leaders, who set the tone of the movement, and see if your same assessments would apply.
If I sound defensive, you’re right. Campus Crusade, as I’m sure many groups, can be very misunderstood, and it frustrates me to hear some of your comments, not because I believe they are wrong, because like I said I don’t know the group personally, but because they were made off one meeting and without much personal interaction.
Hope that makes sense bro. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this blog and allowing for comments.
Thanks for the comment Brian,
CCC at UCF is doing some great things in the advance of the Kingdom. We were simply asking what does a disciple look like, and how do we make disciples that reflect their identity in Christ?
The issue is that we must know what a Disciple looks like and then determine what we do. It must be in that order.
As for “comments being made off one interaction”, I for one have dozens of friends in this particular CCC movement, and helped give it direction for several years and am grateful for its effect in my life in college.
Making Disciples of Jesus with you,
Matt
Cool Matt. The post was under Chris’s name, and from the way he wrote it, it sounded like it was his first time checking out the group.
The words ‘robotic, repetitive, and traditional’ came off as I read the blog as negative. I was hoping to make the point that just because a group looks the same as every other group, doesn’t mean that they are not committed to authentic disciple making. I’m a huge fan of change, but in some places what’s been going on for 20 years still ‘works’ great in terms of program. I sense often times that new groups simply want to be different not because it’s more effective, but merely to ‘not be’ like the other groups on campus. Not saying at all that’s the case for you guys, but in my experience.
Your comments help me understand more of the blog Matt. Thanks for clarifying!
As someone from the south (I came to Seattle via North Carolina), the above encounter reminded me of interactions I had with youth groups and churches throughout high school. The picture I painted of UCF’s Summer Cru was descriptive, but perhaps too bleak a representation. The questions I would ask of this ministry should be asked of all Christian “programming”: Why do we do what we do? I am aware that this is a question the Campus Crusade leadership team at UCF is asking themselves and working through. It is also a question we are asking of ourselves as we begin the college ministry at Mars Hill Church. I praise Jesus for leaders like those @ UCF who are willing to ask hard questions as to why they do what they do.
Brian, thanks for your comment and for your response Chris! I read this post awhile ago and I agreed with what you were feeling Brian, but didn’t know how to express it.
I’m on STINT in Tokyo with Campus Crusade for Christ and I love Mars Hill and love CCC. I think we both have the same heart. We’re constantly asking ourselves what it means to make disciples because we love Jesus (in fact today we just had a four hour meeting about what it means to make disciples in Tokyo). And we both have visions to reach around the same age group believing that if we “win the campus today, we’ll win the world tomorrow” (that’s a Campus Crusade slogan). For Mars Hill maybe it’s more “If we win young men in their 20’s today, we’ll win the world tomorrow”. But it’s close enough. =)
Since I’ve been with Campus Crusade for the past six years (as a college student and now intern), I have to say that I really have come to trust their heart and integrity of their mission. Even while we’re trying to figure out HOW to do things, we are at least willing to constantly learn. I feel like we have a ton to learn from Mars Hill, but at the same time the ministry at Mars Hill can learn from us (CCC) as well. Campus Crusade has a lot of resources to offer and they’re GOOD resources. MANY have come to know Jesus through both ministries and I thank the Lord that He’s not just limited to one Christian organization and that there are many that are seeking to glorify Jesus as God alone!