Who is the Campus Minister? 

I believe that this is one of the most important questions that students, pastors and supporters of RUF can ask.  It is important because it reveals RUF’s deep commitment to both the church and the student. 

So who is the Campus Minister?  This question should be answered in three ways. 

First, one obvious answer is that the Campus Minister is the person in charge of the campus ministry.  He is the one who is called to organize the activities on campus, teach bible studies and counsel students.  Technically, the more biblical title for this position is probably “Campus Pastor”.  The reason for this is RUF’s commitment that their campus ministers be ordained elders (or pastors) in the church.  This is emphasized in Ephesians 4:11-13:

It was he (God) who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Here Paul teaches that God has fixed a structure for equipping Christians to do the work of ministry.  The structure is simple: God has called His officers in the church (ordained men) to pastor His children to maturity in the faith.  This is the model that the church should follow as it elects its officers.  Qualified men should be trained and ordained to the gospel ministry.  These men are the best equipped to lead and direct the church.  And this is why RUF is committed to placing ordained men as pastors on college campuses.

Having trained, ordained men as campus pastors is one of the best distinctives of the RUF ministry.  Because of this distinctive, parents can rest assured that their children will continue to have pastors who care about them in college.  Because of this distinctive, supporters of the ministry can rest assured that they have well-equipped, honorable men allocating God’s resources on the campus.  But most of all, the benefit is for the students.  There is nothing more wonderful than having a real, qualified pastor right there on the campus to encourage and shepherd students. 

The second answer to our opening question is a little different.  Each week in our leadership team meeting at Mercer I ask our students “Who is the campus minister?”  I do this to emphasize that I am not the campus minister -- they are. 

I am a campus pastor.  Students are the campus ministers.  In my first three years of campus ministry, I have worked very hard to get the students to see this truth.  The Scriptures call them to do ministry on campus.  1 Peter 2:9 reads: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” We are all called to a priesthood, to a ministry.  We are called to proclaim the gospel of light in a dark world.  We must all begin seeing ourselves as little sermons in this world that preach the gospel to others.  It is insofar that students begin to understand this truth that our ministry will grow.

The third answer to this question is the most obvious.  Jesus is the campus minister.  He is the head of the church, our Prophet, Priest and King.  He is the one who heals and redeems.  I once had a non-Christian friend in college who I ministered to often.  We talked about Jesus, but his life continued to spiral downward.  After a while, I just gave up on him.  One night, I came home and he was sitting in his bed reading the Bible.  He told me that he had been living his life for himself before, and he was now trusting in Jesus!  I had ministered to him for months, and nothing happened.  Jesus ministered to him, and he was saved in that moment.

So who is the Campus Minister?  I am.  Students are.  But mostly Jesus is.