Confessions of a Campus Minister

I desire others’ approval more than God’s approval most of the time.

I want people to think that I am more insightful than the majority.

I want people to think that I have it all together when I don’t.

I want people to think that I’m a few feet higher on the leadership totem pole than they are.

When I lose, I feel ashamed because the game is really all about me and not about enjoying time with my friends.

When people are talking to me, it’s hard to listen well because I’m thinking about the important thing that I’m going to say next.

When listening to sermons, I think about how I’m going to influence others with the content more than letting the content influence me.

With each community that I enter into, I look for the things that people clap for, and then I go and do those things.

No means a Yes

I Just talked with a student on the campus of University of California-San Diego who asked me a good question.

“If I keep doing good without becoming a Christian, will I be all right?”

He explained to me that he didn’t want to get into any sort of organized religion – into a system where he would have to be hyper-committed and enter into a life of begrudged submission.

I don’t blame him for keeping God at a distance since his view of Christianity is one that would require him to leave his life of joy and freedom and enter into a no-fun monastic life.

Tonight, here at the coffee shop, I’m trying to get my head around the truth that when we say NO to something, we also say YES to something. The spiritual life, which looks like a life of many no's, is also a life of many yes’s.

When we say no to buying a bigger house than we need, we are saying yes to the opportunity of alleviating poverty in our city. When we say no to pornography, we are saying yes to a more fulfilling marriage with out spouse. When we say no to an hour of TV we can say yes to an hour of communing with the God of the Universe.

We give our no's to the lesser things and at the same time give our yes's to the greater things.

I suspect that if I were to share this with my friend at UCSD that he would roll his eyes at the offer. I mean, spending time with God, alleviating poverty, or stopping an addiction to pornography might sound like a no-fun deal.

That is because God's path is like vegetables. When you are a kid, eating vegetables sounds like a bitter deal. But, by the time that kid is 70 years old, he will will realize that the health-driven path that seemed bitter in the beginning turned out to be the better option.

God is calling you and me from a junk food life (devouring the things that give us temporary pleasure) and into a life of unmatchable joy in Him.