Most Christian college students are involved in a campus ministry. As a result of this, many students may think they don’t need to join a church. I spent eight wonderful years on staff with a parachurch ministry where I learned incredibly valuable lessons and skills, but I also learned what parachurch ministries are not. Though there are many wonderful Christian ministries that accomplish great things in the way of Christian fellowship and outreach it’s important to understand the reasons why all Christians should be a part of a church, including college students.
What Does Scripture Say?
Many students might be surprised to hear that the Bible tells us to be a part of a church. More specifically, Jesus tells us to be a part of the church. The only institution Jesus died to established and promises to preserve for all time is the church. In Ephesians 5:25 Paul writes, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word so that he might present the church to himself in splendor…” Jesus died for his church and promises to present her as blameless. Further, Christ established and built his church and promises that even the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Jesus didn’t give any such promise about any other Christian organization.
Passages that mention the specific number of disciples added to the church (Acts 2:41, 47; 5:14; 6:1) or that there was a majority involved in reaching a congregational decision (2 Cor. 2:6), indicate that Christians were members of local churches however formal or informal that looked. Also, in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul refers to Christians as “members” of the body of Christ. For this reason, Scripture heavily implies that not only should Christians attend church, but should be added to that church’s number by pursuing membership and being actively involved.
Some might ask, “Aren’t all Christians a part of the ‘church’ universal?” It’s true that there is what’s called the universal church which is made up of all believers in the world and throughout history. However, that is distinct from the local or visible church which is made up of individual congregations. God established the local church to be the conduit of Christian discipleship and evangelism for all believers. You could say we prove that we are in the universal church by making an effort to be a part of the visible church.
Some might read passages like Acts 2:42: “they devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers,” and think that it describes their campus ministry fellowship. However, it’s important to realize that no Christian organizations, except the church, existed during the time period of the New Testament. For that reason, any passages describing Christian community were describing the local church and to understand them as describing a parachurch ministry is anachronistic. To be clear, parachurch ministries are a wonderful blessing and very useful, they just were never meant to replace the local church.
Some go as far as to say that the parachurch is the church because parachurch ministries didn’t exist in the New Testament. Again, we must remember that all believers are in the universal church, but that is distinct from the local church made up of individual congregations. The fact that parachurch ministries didn’t exist in the early church or the New Testament isn’t an argument that they are the church, but that they are distinct from local churches and came later.
There are also key distinctives of a local church. A church isn’t catered toward a specific people group as many parachurch ministries are. A church practices preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word. The church practices the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, which are the two ordinances of the church. The church practices church membership, elects elders and deacons, and encourages all its members to give cheerfully in support of the ministry. The church also consolidates its resources to support the ministry, care for the poor and support local and global missions. I know of no parachurch ministry that does or is seeking to do all these things, nor should they. Therefore, if any parachurch claims to be a church they are at best a very unhealthy and dysfunctional church.
This is why parachurch ministries could be compared to being on a soccer team, while a church is more like being a part of a family. On a soccer team a bunch of people who are similar, gather for a specific purpose, but a family is much broader and deeper and lasts for life.
But college students shouldn’t only join a church because it’s biblically mandated. There are many ways meaningful church membership blesses college students!
Preaching
Some of the most gifted communicators I have ever known have been on staff with parachurch ministries. However, much teaching in parachurch ministries are highly contextualized to the very specific mission or group of people involved. The preaching at a church and other related teaching moments (Sunday school, Bible study, etc.) are more far-reaching and aimed more generally at biblical and spiritual instruction. For example, I’ve never heard of a parachurch ministry teaching expositionally through the whole Bible, but this kind of teaching is vital for Christian growth.
Elders
Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them” (Heb. 13:17). We can (and should) have many spiritual leaders and mentors in our lives, but Scripture seems clear that those who are qualified and called as elders in the church should be the ones primarily charged to love and care for believers and also given appropriate spiritual and theological authority. College students typically have plenty of fun, but what they often long for is mentorship. The church is a great source of that.
Fellowship that is chronologically diverse
It’s an enormous blessing to have peers in your stage of life and at your campus who are Christians. These are the friends who can walk closest with you through the adventures of following Christ while in college. However, there is also great blessing in forming relationships with saints who are not your age or in your stage of life. These are folks who have followed Christ longer than I’ve been alive. They’ve lost friends, they’ve had ups and downs, and yet have faithfully followed Christ through it all. Singing “In Christ Alone” with those saints adds richness to those lyrics and to my life spiritually. Also, being around high school students and younger presents a great opportunity to pour into others spiritually.
The church helps believers serve Christ most effectively
Parachurch ministries can be a great source of spiritual growth for a season. However, when a person makes a parachurch ministry their primary source of community, sometimes they try to stick around for the fellowship even after passion for the mission is long gone. But, when a person’s primary source of fellowship is a church it allows them the freedom to explore the endless avenues to serve Christ in ways that God has uniquely gifted them while maintaining a consistent home base of spiritual teaching and Christian fellowship.
Good habit for the rest of your life
Campus ministries are a tremendous blessing, but the church will be the main source of spiritual growth for a believer’s entire life. Therefore, it’s good for students to form the habit of being a meaningful member at a church early on, even in their college years. This will prove spiritually vital in transitioning into life after college.
The church needs college students. Not only are they blessed by the church, but they enrich a local church family. The body of Christ is greatly blessed by parachurch ministries, but students need to build up the body of Christ in a local congregation by using their gifts and playing their role. In turn, they will be greatly blessed by the church.
Mike McGregor
Mike McGregor (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is Director of College Ministry at First Baptist Church in Durham, N.C. You can follow him on Twitter at @m5mcgregor.
