Who Are You Cheering For?

Who are you cheering for? No, I'm not talking about college football (although the season does start in 50 days). I mean, who in your life are you cheering on? Or what does that look like? I've got a few thoughts. 

Living in the DC and working in campus ministry at an elite university, sometimes I'm suffocated by the amount of competition (while other days, it can be so easy to sucuumb to the temptations of ambition). When I first moved to the city for the DC Chi Alpha CMIT Program, I was looking for ways to serve the students in my small group and others that I'd met on campus. I was a little bit at a loss because these students didn't necessarily have the needs I was familiar with: knowledge, resources, vision. 

Written by Blane Young

Twitter || Facebook

For several years, I'd primarily worked children and teenages in low-income neighborhoods where the needs seemed to be more obvious. This was an entirely different scenario! 

But as I processed the story that God was (and is) writing at Chi Alpha at American University, I noticed something. It was later confirmed by several seniors as we discussed their time involved in our ministry.

Our community became a place where people found affirmation without competition. 

I don't know if you've ever been in a community like that. I hope you have. But in some ways, I think all of us have at least one person in our lives who is a cheerleader (for lack of a better word). Like, whether you tell them that you're going to a concert or you're spending a year helping children to learn to read overseas, they're excited for you and want to pack you a snack. 

So, how do we do this? 

Like most things in life that matter, it's going to require intentionality. In other words, it won't happen without us putting thought as to how it'll happen. 

I think we have to engage in the discipline of listening, for starters.  I mean, how can we support people in what they're doing if we're only focused on what we'd like to see them do. 

Perhaps you have a friend trying to be an artist or someone committed to a certain cause like Relay for Life. Whatever it is, I'm finding that being an influence in someone's life is more nuanced than simply painting a picture of what you'd like to see them do and asking them to make it happen. 

Instead, it's about supporting them as they pursue their dreams, as their potential leaks out amidst a competitive society, they'll need someone clapping behind them as they run towards doing something amazing. It takes more time than applying a cookie-cutter to people but the results are always better. 

I've got to admit, I'm not the best at this, but I've had a handful of people in my life that have done this for me and I can tell you, it makes a difference. 

The next thing we have to do is find ways to express to this person that we're rooting for them, that we're on their team. So, telling them is a great option. It's strange how often we expect people to know how we feel without ever telling them. It sounds obvious, but how many of us do it? 

Yet there's another level you can take this to. Find ways to engage and participate in the things they're passionate about. 

This is what affirmation, in my opinion, looks like at its best. 

Its people intentionally and deliberately recognizing how God is working in people's lives through their giftings and talents, then simply yet boldly using our voices and our time to let them know we as committed to them as they are to whatever they're doing.

We've probably all heard the cliche, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Although I believe it's true, let's take it a step further. People are most influenced in the context of relationship (see Mark 2) or as I've heard it more recently, "People may not remember what we tell them but they'll never forget how we made them feel."

The last and perhaps most difficult thing it takes to make this sort of impact on someone, is the continual refocusing from self to others. Yet, it's so essential to the message of Christ, we can't ignore it, no matter how many times we failed or how tiring it is.

I hope that you experience the joy and fulfillment of cheering on a friend, loved one or relative. And remember that as you do, you're embarking on a journey to become more like Christ while infusing courage (the definition of encouraging) someone else who's also somewhere on that journey.  

A Life of Distraction

Since I have returned to DC from Missouri, I have been shivering in my boots (rhetorically speaking; it’s summer, why would I wear boots?).  No, not because I walk in from the blazing heat in Noah-inspired levels of perspiration to the Arctic Circle (isn’t that what AC stands for?).  It is that blasted DC traffic.  In a simple month I’ve lost all capacity to tango these metal rapids.  Oh, but I’ve overcome y’er tidalous waves before City, and I’ll do it again!  

What I find most helpful is focus.  

Surprise.  

Written by Nick Holmstedt

Facebook || Twitter

Simple focus can suppress your flighty arms from flailing and fumbling.  The streets are just so filled with distractions, though.  It’s really important to watch that robin feed its chicks.  Or the kayakers in the Potomac.  Or my sandwich.  And suddenly I’m swerving.  Sometimes I’m on the highway, and what brings me back are those obnoxious CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK strips on the side of the road.  Sometimes in the city I get a honk… or a thumbs up (wrong finger, strangely).  In any case, these interruptions bring me back from my distraction.

I think this held true in my lifestyle.  My focus was torn between the real interests of my life as I stepped into college.  Education, relationship, church, campus ministry, jobs, books, creating lists of interests.  My life was filled with distraction.  Not bad things.  Just many things without focus.  

One summer I faced my first interruption.  More or less on a whim I attended a leadership retreat with our campus ministry.  Someone must’ve changed the angle light was entering me, because my image was clearer.  In this interruption (from life), I was free to leave behind distraction.  I was pleased to have a fixed focal point.  

I needed this more than once.  As I grew more involved in my campus ministry, taking on leadership, I discovered the picture can always get clearer.  Miscommunications.  Broken relationships.  Missed opportunities.  Interruptions.  No moment off your path seems right.  But without the interruption of campus ministry, I would have been off kilter (do people still use that?).  Campus ministry not only provided the interruption to my life, but it was the LASIK machine.  

God is an excellent eye surgeon.  Over the years on campus, He managed the ministers (in title and otherwise) well.  He repaired my eye’s uneven lens.  He gave me friends.  He gave me focus.  He gave me the capacity to walk His path.  Without campus ministry I could not define my life now.  I was uncertain, floating in mysterious mists.  But now I stand with the joy of the Lord, to share His good news with all the purpose and provision He delights to provide. 

Don’t go blind.  All you college folk go out and find your campus ministry!  

Why University Ministry?

When I stepped onto my university campus as an 18-year-old freshman, God was the farthest thing from my mind.  I love to tell people, though, that I was not the farthest thing from His.

Outside of an occasional visit to my grandparents Greek Orthodox church (where Mom did have us baptized), my family didn’t really engage much in a life of faith.  I knew only a few people who walked with Christ until I went away to college.  It was in my freshman dorm that I encountered the reality of the presence of Christ. 

Dennis, Kristin, Lisa and Andrew all lived on my hall, and they loved God beautifully.  What confused me (besides some of their views on things like partying and sex) was that I really liked these guys.  They were fun.  They were funny.  They were people I would want to be friends with.  I was totally surprised.

Written by Stefa Chappell

Facebook || Twitter

My new friends were all a part of a couple campus ministries on our campus, one of which was Chi Alpha.  In their ministries the four were well connected with other believers, and were encouraged that God would strengthen their faith in college and use their lives to show His goodness on our campus.  

Midway through my freshman year, my roommate started following Christ.  So did my neighbor, Randy.  They quickly got involved in Chi Alpha and before I knew it, Chi Alpha was praying for me, loving me, and showing me the sweetness of God reflected through their lives.  The students of this ministry loved me past my resistance.  Looking back, I really don’t know why I resisted.

My story demonstrates the value of university ministry.  

Students who come to college with faith grow stronger in their faith when they are connected to a faith-filled community on campus.  They live in the center of God’s mission for their college years.  Students who come from little faith background can see the goodness of God reflected through the lives of their peers. 

Yes, we can speak of the future leaders who study today on our campuses, and lead our communities tomorrow…and we do.  We can talk about the hundreds of thousands of international students who come through our borders and to our campuses to study before they go back home to their nations that are often closed to missionary efforts…and we do.  We can talk about how what happens on the university campus affects our larger society…and we do.  But if we break it down it comes down to Andrew and Dennis and Kristin and Lisa and Sandy and Randy and…me.  Ours are the lives deepened and changed for Jesus’ joy on the university campus.  

Two decades later we all still love God passionately.  We have travelled the world for Jesus and so much of our faith journey points back to our time as college students.  

And when I look at the students who walk by me on campus every day, I can hear their names in my mind.

Andrew. Dennis. Kristin. Lisa. Sandy. Randy. Stefanie.

Questions to Spark Meaningful Conversation

I think that it can be difficult to get to a place of meaningful conversation with someone. Sometimes it’s just hard to talk about the deeper things in life, because that means more investment not only in the conversation, but also in the people we’re talking to. As a minister on campus, it’s important for me to be able to have meaningful conversations with students so that I can know how to best love them and help them grow. It’s also important to have deep conversations in my friendships and other relationships. I enjoy having fun and hanging out with my friends and family, but I feel that I can’t truly connect with them and love them if I don’t know what’s going on with them underneath the surface.  

While sparking the conversation can be tricky, there are some questions that I have found helpful in getting to a place of deep conversation with students and other people in my life. 

 Written by Becca Pugh

Facebook || Twitter

How are you doing? 

This seems cliché, but it’s surprising how such a common question can cause someone to open up and share when I ask it during a time and space designated to them, not as I’m rushing through campus on my way to my next meeting. It gives them the space to really share what’s going on and know that the listener on the other end cares enough to stick around to listen and respond.

What did you think of [insert pastor’s name here]’s message on [whichever day that person attended service] ?

This is something that will definitely spark a meaningful conversation, especially if it’s followed up with asking how the message specifically applies to someone: “What is God speaking to you personally through this message?”

What aspect of God’s character has been most apparent to you in this season?

This question can reveal a lot about what God is doing in someone’s life, how they are connecting with Him and how they are growing in their faith. It can also help me know how to pray for someone. Speaking of which…

How can I pray for you?

Even if a majority of my time with someone is not spent talking about deep things, this question will definitely create a space to share struggles, worries, and difficulties that I can pray for, and vice versa.

I try not to let all of the deep conversation be one-sided. Sometimes initiating deeper conversation happens when I begin to talk about something deeper, or share what’s going on with me.   

Thinking of Giving to Chi Alpha?

I’m the type of person that rarely buys something out of impulse. It usually takes a lot of thought for me to buy things that seem relatively important and things that are fairly cheap.
 
I think part of the problem is working through a comparative basis of what money could be used for. I always keep in mind where my money could be well invested and how many hours of work it takes to earn that much money. This makes shopping a tremendously difficult task and giving to ministry even more so.

Written by Katie Zimmerman (Facebook)

This perspective needs to shift from a self-focused opportunity cost scenario to handing over financial control to one who controls all of our finances anyway. What we can do with our money is so insignificant compared to what God can do with it. Even though things come up it is important to remember the need to support the Lord’s work and to trust that God can use our money much better than we can.
 
Giving to Chi Alpha is more than a donation. It is an investment in the work of God on our campus and on campuses across DC.
 
If we can declare that Jesus has our heart why is it so hard to give him our wallets?
 
Tuition is expensive and I’m pretty sure I’ll be in debt ‘til I’m 50, but thinking about all the other financial costs in my life and my longing to have complete control over my money reminds me I never really have control over anything. I can’t guarantee a job after college, or any sort of income. My financial situation may change but God WON”T.
 
If we have faith to move mountains, I’m pretty sure we should trust that God will provide for us to.

When I read the story of the young man who refused to give up his wealth for Jesus I think of how unimportant money is. I mean really, it’s just green paper with pictures of dead people on it. It’s not more important than living a life for Jesus!  But so often I find myself in the same situation where finances are such a delicate topic that I never want to bring it before God. The value we place on money doesn't mean anything compared to the value of the cross. When we keep in mind the value of the cross and it guides our financial decisions, I am certain you will see God use your money in ways you never thought possible.
 
So how many cups of Starbucks coffee would you be willing to spare? How many fancy new gizmos and gadgets could you do without? What would you be willing to do to invest in something so much more important than yourself?