In
the past three years, campus ministries associated with the
International Churches of Christ have doubled in number. Many thriving
campus ministries did not even exist just a few years ago, and
attendance at the yearly International Campus Ministry Conferences has
also steadily increased during that time.
But God is slow to anger and abounding in love (Psalm 103.8b), and He
has seen me through a lot since I moved to Boston to go to college in
August 2008.
I grew up as a Kingdom Kid, blessed with faithful parents and friends
from birth. I knew that campus ministry was the heart and soul of the
ICOC, and I wanted to turn my campus upside down when I arrived there.
There was one significant problem, however: I was a prideful coward. I
was terrified of inviting strangers to Bible discussion groups or other
events, and I did everything I could to avoid actually talking to
strangers: I started a Christian club at my campus, helped bring guest
speakers to our campus ministry (including Drs. Douglas Jacoby and John
Oakes), sent out emails, and put flyers on hundreds of doors. The
problem wasn't that I started a club or helped bring out guest speakers;
those were good things, and several students were baptized as a result.
The problem was that I was trying to do things my own way because I
thought I knew better. And I was dead wrong.
Eventually - about two years in to my career as a college disciple - I
learned my lesson. I learned that it was laughably foolish for me to
think that I knew how to evangelize my campus better than my campus
ministers (not to mention my parents, both of whom served in Boston's
campus ministry back in the day). I learned that I needed to "imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised"
(Hebrews 6.12b) - to trust the judgment of those who had come before me
and who loved me. Most of all, I learned that pride was spiritual
suicide, and that I would never survive as a disciple without
wholeheartedly seeking humility.
As
much as I regret my past sin, I am eternally grateful for the lessons
God has taught me and the change He has wrought in me. This semester, I
have been given the opportunity to serve as an intern in Boston's campus
ministry under one of my heroes, Kevin Miller. When I was a freshman, I
saw meetings of the Body as burdens on my schedule; now, I anticipate
nothing more than seeing my brothers and sisters at meetings of the
Body. When I was a freshman, I was mortified of reaching out to
strangers; this past semester, I was able to reach out to hundreds of
strangers and study the Bible with about a dozen different students.
Of course, being a disciple on campus is a full-time job. I have to
use my time wisely; meals are often combined with Bible studies, and
many evenings are devoted to midweek services, Bible talks, Friday
devotionals, d-groups, and the like. I've learned to limit the time I
spend on Facebook and playing video games. I don't always get as much
sleep as I'd like; I wake up at around seven on Saturday mornings for
Saturday Academy, and not much later for church on Sunday. But I love
what I'm doing nevertheless.
Like my namesake Joseph, I know that I have accomplished nothing on my
own (Genesis 41.16); on the contrary, God has worked in me and through
me and for me. My repentance is a gift from God, and it is one of His
greatest and most beautiful gifts to me - "[n]ot that I have already
obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Philippians
3.12).
Just a couple weeks ago, the Boston campus ministry
saw its hundredth baptism in four years, and we are hoping and praying
for many more in the years to come. Worldwide, disciples are repenting,
maturing, and overcoming. There is still much to do, of course - we have
not yet won the prize - but God is moving! And that is all we need: "If
God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8.31b).
Your brother in Christ,
Joseph Porter
Harvard University
Send a message to Joseph: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Click here for another message from a campus disciple: Why God Beats Postmodernism