BASIC stands apart from other college ministries in a variety of different ways, but one of the most unique aspects of this ministry is the value and importance placed on the local church. In fact, the motto for BASIC is serve the church, reach the colleges, change the world.
It is proven and biblically sound that being part of the church body is good for us. As a student leader or advisor, we may be tempted to want to make our weekly meetings church for our students. Now don’t get me wrong, for some students those weekly meetings might be the first and only exposure they will ever have to Jesus and the Scriptures, but that doesn’t mean we should ever downplay the importance of actually attending church.
Now some of you might be saying, “Wait a minute! Church isn’t a building! We, as believers, are the Church! We need to meet people where they are!” While there is validity to some of those statements, the greater picture is that we are part of a body that is much bigger than just our campus. Today, I wanted to point out some AMAZING benefits of taking you and your students to church.
1. Protection
When you are part of a local body, you are coming under the covering of that church and Pastor. That means that if something devastating happens in your family, you need counseling, or you have a questions about Scripture, you have a Pastor who is always available to you with wisdom beyond yourself. Nothing against that kid down the hall whose view on Revelation is quite riveting. Unlike him, you can be sure that your Pastor will lead you and help you in a healthy secure way.
2. Build Kingdom Mindset
When we step off our campuses and into church we start to understand that God’s plan for the world is so much bigger than ourselves. We worship alongside adults, teens, children and babies. It helps us to see that there is a plan and purpose for us inside the body, even AFTER we graduate college. It is natural for us to want to gather with people our own age and talk about things that are relevant to where we are. But Jesus didn’t only come for college students, and if we aren’t careful, we can develop a bad attitude towards the church. It is a mindset shift from, what can the church do for me and why should I care to what can I do for the church and how can I serve?
3. Personal Growth
This is perhaps my favorite. Being part of a local body is often a catalyst for personal growth. Why? Because there is something really special and powerful about meeting with other believers. When we invest ourselves and spend ourselves on other people and learn how to love when it’s hard, our return is far greater than we could ever anticipate. At church we can learn so much. Not only is the weekly teaching from the word good for us, but we learn how to give God our time, money, and lives. As annoying as it might be to wake up early to help in the nursery or scary it is to tithe from your already minuscule budget, church is the context in which we mature and grow into the people God created us to be.
4. Resources
Your church has resources to help you along in your growth process. This includes physical resources like books and video series, but people resources too. Getting involved in a small group in your church or taking a leadership class is something helpful that your BASIC group might not be able to offer. Making connections with people in the congregation can also develop fruitful mentoring relationships.
5. It’s What the Bible says
If all of that wasn’t enough to convince you, then let me point you to the word. This could probably be an entire post in itself, but I’d like to take a look at a few references.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
You yourselves are like living stones,being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
ONE MORE.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-Jew or Greeks, slaves or free-and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
The message is the same. We were never meant to do this alone. We are better together. It glorifies God when His people come together in one Spirit to build each other up, teach, correct, discipline, and care for one another. We are part of something bigger than ourselves, and it was always God’s strategy to use people to reach the world. Maybe you’ve never seen the importance of attending or can’t find a church that suits your fancy, my prayer is that today you will recognize that church is good and church is for you.