by Hansol An
As the school year begins, and with it the college football season, I’ve noticed a few teams using the slogan, “We Are…” followed by their school’s name or mascot. SDSU and USC come to mind but I’m sure there are others (schools tend to copy one another). The intent is to bring unity and solidarity to the fan bases of these schools with a short, memorable slogan that embraces being identified primarily as an Aztec, Trojan, etc. But having your identity defined by your support for a team has limited real-life value – bragging rights aside. Though many fan(atic)s are deeply committed to their teams, how important is it really in the grand scheme of things? For Christians, our identity is in Christ (Gal 2:20). As a believer we are a member of Christ’s body the church. We shouldn’t forsake the assembling, as the author of Hebrews warns. We and should be actively using our gifts to minister to one another within the context of the local church.
At Lighthouse, we have many things to look forward to as the fall season begins. Since our calendar year is predominantly scheduled around the traditional fall-to-spring school year, many of our ministries start up again during this time. Second Hour classes, GraceLife, LKC and Flocks are all back from the summer break. But for many, one of the most anticipated aspects of the start of a “new year” is the return of the collegians that were away on break and the barrage of new visitors from the local colleges.
From the beginning, LBC has always been a church that has been equipped to minister to collegians. When the church first started, about a third of the regular attenders were collegians. That has stayed fairly consistent throughout the past 14 years as the church has grown. God has allowed us to reach the campuses by supply many youthful members not too far removed from their own college days, who have a desire to minister to the collegians. But where many churches will segregate collegians from the rest of the church, the leaders of LBC have recognized that there’s no reason for that. There is no special designation for collegians because they are in a more transitory stage of life. LBC has always endeavored to treat collegians as adults, with the rights and responsibilities of being full members in the church. We understand that there are unique aspects of college life but there is no less a responsibility to be active in the church for a collegian, than a single adult or married person. If anything, this stage of life allows the most liberty and flexibility, which in theory should translate into more participation, not less.
Collegians should be challenged by their calling as Christian adults to be a faithful part of Christ’s body, not later but now. Everyone is important and God commands us to minister to one another. So consider how you’ll be a part of the local body this year. Get involved. Whether it’s LBC or another church, being present is half the battle. Collegian or not, we should show the world our identity in Christ through our service to his body. Maybe churches should adopt the slogan too. WE ARE LBC!