Leadership development is a giant aspect of campus ministry. It takes up a considerable portion of our time as ministers. There are many, MANY books and articles out there about the hows and whys of leadership development, but what has helped us lately is focusing on what leadership development is.

We believe leadership development is believing in people. It is a discipline rooted in hope.

It’s easy to get cynical about “believing in people,” isn’t it? It hurts when you pour your life into someone and they don’t choose Jesus. We know they’re rejecting Jesus, but it feels like they’re rejecting us. Instead of dealing with this hurt like a healthy person, we can just wall up and minister from a distance. Cynicism feels so much safer — or at least a lot less risky.

On the the other hand, the opposite of cynicism is hope. We’re not talking about naive optimism, but a real, true hope: a Person, an anchor for our souls, the kind of hope you can build something on. This kind is rare right now because it’s hard, and it hurts. It involves walking through a lot of disappointment and even embarrassment.

We believe leadership development is believing in people. It is a discipline rooted in hope.

We can easily take pride in thinking, “The things or people I have believed in always make it. I have never been made the fool by believing in something or someone that didn’t deserve it.” No one wants to be foolish. This is why when we talk about leadership development, we can often gravitate toward developing a system for it or focusing on its effectiveness as a strategy. These are good and necessary things, but if we focus too much on those, we can lose touch with what we are actually doing. It is possible to get so busy following our formulas and strategies as we try to develop a leader that we can forget at the core of leadership development is the discipline of believing in that person.

Jesus went to fishermen, shopkeepers, and a tax collector and said to each of them “lech aharai,” which means, “Come, follow me.” This was a common phrase used by rabbis when they chose disciples. It was an incredible honor because it was a phrase that meant the rabbi thought the candidate could become like him. From the very first interaction, Jesus was expressing to the disciples, “I believe in you.”

We know Jesus didn’t just believe in those twelve. In 1 Peter, Scripture explains that we are all a chosen people, a royal priesthood. Obviously college students who don’t know Christ aren’t aware of this yet, but even ones who do know Jesus usually heard one message in high school: “Don’t fall away from God.” The standard that’s been set for them is the bare minimum! If no one tells these students that they can do much more and that more, in fact, is expected from them, then why would they expect more from themselves?

When sitting across from a student who is struggling, I am often reminded of Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus.” If not for the social awkwardness, we would grab their hands and maintain intense eye contact while repeating that verse to them.

It can be easy for us to rely too much on our systems, and when we rely on them too much, we go a long time without asking ourselves important questions: Do I really believe in this person? Do I believe they can be who Christ says they can be? And if so, am I communicating that to them?

We don’t believe it is coincidental that our culture seems to delight in scorning young adults these days. What better strategy could the enemy have than to cut off the older generation’s wisdom from the younger generation’s passion and zeal?

College students need hope, and what’s more, they are ready for it. They want to believe something can change this world, and we have that Someone! We have the privilege — by the grace of God — of deciding to see what Jesus sees in them, to believe in them and hope for them. It is an incredible opportunity that should not be wasted.