Becoming a River

I became involved in the Christian faculty group on my campus because of what it did for me. It was a blessing to receive prayer and to meet other Christian professors.

They Were Academic

Our faculty group met regularly, and over the years I even became one of its leaders. When I would lead our Bible studies, the discussions were academic, as though we were having a class discussion about a secular topic. 

One day a local pastor visited our group. Afterward he suggested challenging the group members to apply the passage to their lives and to share their takeaways. In retrospect this seems so basic and essential, but to our group, at that time, they were novel ideas. How had we missed this?

A Closed Basin

Another significant lightbulb moment occurred when I attended a Faculty Commons event. The speakers distinguished between insular faculty fellowships and those intentionally outward in their focus. They used the metaphor of a reservoir versus a river to describe these Christian faculty groups. 

A fellowship-focused group pours only into itself: all of the prayer is focused on the group members or their relatives, and Bible study is focused on the needs of the group. It’s essentially a closed basin where the focus is on retention and preservation. 

Centered on Blessing

An outwardly-focused group is more like a river, not holding everything in but blessing those outside the group. Prayers and discussions become centered on blessing the campus and beyond. Our group began to think of ways to be outwardly focused, rather than just a cloistered company of Christians. I feel like we removed the dam so we might become a river of blessing. 

I saw our prayers increasingly include faculty searches, needs of our administrators, support for Christian clubs on campus, and missions opportunities. I saw an increase in Christian professors who gave presentations at Christian clubs and who helped bring Christian professors from other campuses to speak on our campus.  

Here I Am

We also became familiar with two of Cru’s tools, Knowing God Personally and Soularium last year. This was in preparation for spending a day with Cru undergraduates on summer mission in nearby San Diego.  

We joined these students as they shared the gospel on the beach. This was a new and exciting experience for us, a step toward being more intentional about sharing our faith. On the drive home from San Diego, we talked about an attitude of “Here I am, send me.” 

I felt that we all understood that God brought each of us to our campus for His purposes.  

Something Beyond Me

We still fellowship together, but it’s different. Recently God brought a Christian professor to our university who has the gift of hospitality. She opens her home for gatherings, and she is missionally minded. She is key. I can see how the professors are growing more open because of her hospitality and how our group is growing in our desire to bless the campus and beyond for Christ. 

I now see what I was missing. God’s purpose for me on campus is much bigger than just me. I am called to live for something way beyond me and my needs and plans. I like this change. I don’t want to be missing out on what God wants to do through me.