As I start this new year I’m trying to listen and watch for where God is already at work around me. I want to be involved with what God is up to… and not simply follow my own rabbit trails pertaining to the things that interest me.

I want my thinking and writing here to be focused. Not necessarily laser-like focused, but focused.

As I have had some good time away from the blog (and campus) to close out 2011, I found God bringing some different areas to mind. As best I can tell, these are some areas that God is wanting me to sit in for the foreseeable future… so if you come back here regularly in 2012 you might likely find more focused thoughts on the 6 areas that follow.

Discipleship — Discipleship seems to increasingly be a lost art and/or lost cause among far too many ministries today. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the people these ministries (our ministries) reach out to simply aren’t interested in it. They don’t want to be serious about following Jesus… and so we don’t make them. Which then begs the question… what are we doing with our time? What is it, exactly, we feel called to do? What are we about… if not Jesus and helping others to follow in His ways?

I’m in my 15th year of ministry with college students, and over the years I have seen the rise (and fall) of excitement, energy, focus and effort in the areas of discipleship and worship… and now outreach. Sure, over the years there has remained some level of interest and investment in the areas of discipleship and worship — but not to the extent I’ve seen in years past.

Today — far and away — students primary expression of faith comes in and through the act of service. And while this is good on some levels, I think my struggle is that many of these well-intentioned d0-gooders are serving others completely detached in any real way from the faith they claim to represent. There’s little (if any) tie back into discipleship or worship… and this isn’t good. My sense is that these three areas (worship, discipleship and outreach) are all intimately tied together and need to feed and bleed into one another. Learning how to consistently and constantly follow Jesus should drive us both into the worship of God and the service of others… which should drive us back into deeper levels of discipleship and commitment to Jesus.

OK, that got long… let me see if I can be a little more concise with these other areas!

Mentoring — If the discipleship of this next generation is going to happen, it’s most likely going to happen because mentor-types (like us) decide to intentionally step in, pursue young people and choose to be a consistent and intentional presence in their lives. Yes – I used the word intentional twice in that last sentence.

One of the hallmarks of generation iY (or the Millennials, or the Mosaics)… and really post-modernism as a whole, is a desire to “do-it-yourself.” No authority-figures necessary. Every individual can be the “expert” of their own life and their own way in life. At some point along their way (and hopefully while they’re in college) most young people will awaken to the notion that their life might be different — even better — if they could sit with someone whose “been there.” But let’s not just sit around waiting for them to come find us!

Assessment — I’m trying to smuggle this idea in among some of the more “palatable” ones… at least if you’re anything like me. The idea of assessment and evaluation often escapes me… in part, because I think that assessing the “growth” or “formation” of student’s spiritual lives is a tall task (if at all possible). Sure, we can assess the rise and fall of numbers in certain areas of activity or events… but we’re more than pushers of programs. Programs are simply a means to an end… an end that isn’t really an end at all. Our best hope as people who invest in college students is that they will be more spiritually “sound and secure,” “alive and thriving” in their faith than when we first encountered them. While there are some tell-tale outward signs of this work, much of it is a work of the heart… and nearly impossible to truly assess. But that shouldn’t (and doesn’t) let us off the hook. So we’ll see where this leads…

Technology & Ministry — With the continued boom in technology, and as we serve an increasingly tech-savvy generation, it will be important for us to keep pace with developments in technology and how we might be able to utilize it in our ministry endeavors. Think ‘pastoral e-presence.’ At the same time we need to take advantage of opportunities to help students “unplug” and understand life apart from technology.

Sex & Sexuality — I think this has long been one of the biggest issues that students have dealt with during their formative college years. We need to find more ways to engage students in this area (beyond the “just say no” or “wait” or “that’s bad” or “that’s a sin”). Sex outside of marriage, LGBTs and Christians, being single longer and needing to understand the notion of celibacy are just a few of the conversations that we need to be consistently having with our students — because for many this area will serve as an insurmountable wall between them and their discipleship of Jesus.

Ministry Partnerships — We need to find more ways to work together — to expand our reach — in order to impact more students. Whether its finding ways to connect and work with specific departments (faculty and staff) across campus, other campus-based ministries, or  local churches and community organizations — there is a lot of potential to grow our collective reach and influence. And in an increasingly post-Christian culture, now is NOT the time to be overly territorial — it’s time to come together under the banner (and Lordship) of Christ.

So these are some of the areas that are consuming my thoughts at the start of this new year.

A lot, but not all, of my writing here will connect to one or more of these areas over the course of this year. Of course, something could come up and change all of that… but as I type these words, this is where God seems to have led my heart and mind to rest.

What about you?

What has your attention as you start the new year?

Are there any of these areas in which you have insight to offer?