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This world needs Jesus. (To state the obvious.) Seriously, so much need in this world. Just on the college campus a huge percentage of students I come across don’t know the Gospel. They are broken. Some are jaded. Some are searching. Some know it all. Some are hopelessly depressed. Such a need for Jesus.
As leaders, our primary ministry is equipping others to do the work of the ministry. An important lesson I’ve learned and of which I need to be regularly reminded: don’t try to do it all yourself. If you do try…
- The students we reach will miss out on opportunities and growth that God has for them. Don’t rob them of what God has for them!
- You will be a bottleneck. We only have 168 hours in a week. Some of us are more talented than others but you can only connect with so many people in a given week. We’re finite. It’s a fact. If you want to see everyone reached, than you’ll need others beside yourself working the ministry.
- You will burn out. God has called the church to something great, but you aren’t the totality of the church! Ask God to help you play your part, and He will give you the grace to do all of that to which He has called you!
[su_quote cite=”Ephesians 4:11–12″]And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.[/su_quote]
God has called everyone in the body to ministry, not just leaders. And as leaders, we are called to equip others to do the ministry. This is simple enough of an idea, so why do we try to do it all sometimes? Because sometimes it’s just easier to do it yourself. I know I’ve been there many times, and I suspect you have too.
But in the long run this isn’t wisdom for multiple reasons. Obviously there will be work for us to do, but I want to encourage you as leaders: spend a large amount of your time and energy on equipping others to do ministry. Just like Jesus did with the disciples. And enjoy the process.
As leaders, this is our ministry, equipping the body for ministry! As you look to this coming semester ask yourself, “How can I encourage and equip student leaders?” Begin considering how you can raise up new leaders. Sometimes in the short term it feels like a headache but ultimately it’s a significant part of the ministry, and is what will allow the ministry as a whole to be realized!
Lastly, student leaders aren’t a dime a dozen (at least not in my experience). Pray. Pray for God to send laborers. Pray for God to raise up students who are submitted to seeing His Kingdom come on their campuses at this time. We can’t just generate a student leader with a great talk. We need God to change hearts and work something by the power of His Spirit. So pray, pray, pray!
Photo credit: “Social Red” by Daniel Tenerife – Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Social_Red.jpg#/media/File:Social_Red.jpg
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