It’s not a new concept… the idea of inviting students to participate in ministry instead of just being spectators, right? And yet I often I fall into the trap of thinking it’s always harder than “just doing it myself”, and the quality will be less, too. But… not always true!
Last night I was at a college basketball game – watching my alma mater Michigan State play at Northwestern. (I went to MSU because it’s such a great Bible school… oh, wait…)
Just before tip-off, a woman came out to sing the national anthem. I was up in the nosebleed section, so after about 10 seconds of awkward silence, it became apparent that she was actually singing, but her microphone wasn’t on!
As I was wondering whether anyone could do anything to remedy the situation, or whether we’d just endure an uncomfortable couple minutes of watching her struggle through it, a very cool thing happened. The crowd recognized that she wasn’t going to pull it off on her own, and everybody (I mean everybody) started singing! It was slow for a couple seconds… but once people realized that the room needed their participation, and not just their “watching”, thousands of people joined the choir. It was probably the most memorable National Anthem I can remember hearing!
Was it as “good” as if she would’ve sang alone? Well, my row wasn’t very “in tune”. ☺
But the rowdy cheers when it was over seemed to indicate that everyone loved being a part of it all.
It immediately made me think about my ministry… and how I can continue to invite students into the experience, and not just leave them sitting in the bleachers watching.
