I’ve recently been faced with a few instances where I had to deal with a tough question: is it okay for me, as a college pastor, to discipline the college students that are part of the ministry that God has entrusted to me? If you’ve worked even one semester as a minister on a college campus, you’ve probably seen the need for some level of spiritual discipline within your ministry. But, is it ok if it comes from you?
The Blble speaks pretty clearly about the purpose and practicality of disciplining Christians within the Church (more info), but I don’t recall any part of the scriptures that say anything like, “If your college students invent a city-wide holiday for the sole purpose of getting drunk and acting like idiots, rebuke them for their foolishness!” Therefore, this is a fuzzy issue, at least in my head. Really, the deeper question here is, do we as college ministers carry the authority and responsibility of spiritually guiding our students to the point of calling out their sin? I submit to you, yes we do; but only to an extent.
Before we go any further, let’s just make it clear that I’m talking about discipline strictly in terms of wanting to see your students grow into their spiritual callings in Christ. I’m not talking about things that your students do that simply annoy you. Spiritual discipline is only to be used as another avenue of love.
Allow me to share a story with you. I recently took notice to some risky behavior coming from one of my favorite students. I was putting off confronting her on some of the issues that I noticed because I was wrestling so heavily with this issue. After all, she wasn’t on leadership at a church, and I’m not a lead pastor or on the elder board, so I didn’t think the specific scriptures applied to the situation. I’m certainly not a confrontational person either, so I was honestly pretty scared to call somebody out on their sin. I started praying about it, and soon the student actually asked to meet with me so that she could confess her behavior to me. That was awesome. I sat and listened and was so relieved that she brought it up. I offered my ear and then some feedback. I verified that her convictions were in line with scripture, and that Jesus was the key for her to get out of her rut.
Though I didn’t deliberately call this student out, I would be comfortable to do so now after thinking about it. Why? This student has submitted to my leadership. This student is somebody who I feel has a special calling of epic Jesus-style leadership. We asked her to come be part of our leadership team a while ago. Part of the process of joining our student leadership team is reviewing a document of expectations for leadership which includes the notion that joining the team means being accountable to its members, and submitting to its leadership team. So, I’m blessed to have a team of students who have made the decision to invest their gift of leadership into the ministry that I oversee. The least I can do is help them along by lovingly disciplining them.
To answer the question plainly, I believe that it’s ok to discipline students who have submitted to your spiritual leadership, but not so much for those who haven’t. In other words, I don’t think I have the right to approach a student who casually comes through our ministry doors about their sinful drug use. Your student leaders and those who ask you to disciple and mentor them are fair game. Students who haven’t asked for your leadership, those who are submitted to another college ministry, and students who aren’t yet believers are off limits.
There are lots of situations that called for spiritual leadership in the form of discipline. I pray that you are encouraged to lovingly approach some of your student leaders and disciples to discipline in the direction of following the ultimate leadership of Jesus.
Am I way off here? Let me know what you think!