Ordinary Means of Grace in the Life of a Laborer

The means of grace are a balm to the soul of every believer who is faithfully seeking to glorify God through their vocation, whether they are called to raise children, lay bricks, program computer software, or study in preparation for a pastoral ministry. From the earliest time in the Church, the Scriptures, sacraments, and prayer have been indispensable (Acts 2:42). For the aspiring full-time campus ministry worker in particular, these means of receiving free grace act as lifelines during a peculiar time of preparation. Young college graduates are in a state of transition. They are not learning a myriad of various disciplines, but have focused in on one in particular so that they may serve Christ and his body. They are also not likely in a location where they will be called long term. The staffer has particular needs for fellowship, worship, and application of knowledge that are unique to this time period, but the fulfillment of said needs is nothing innovative. The same plain old means of grace the church has clung to for centuries are the means of grace that are all the more crucial for the campus minister.

For many campus staff, the Bible becomes unremarkable due to constant exposure and ever-expanding knowledge of said holy book. Many came to Christ in college, and now the novelty of intense Bible study is wearing off. For perhaps the first time, the student is reading and studying the Bible not only for spiritual edification, but also as part of their job. This may breed complacency and rote obedience that does not affect the heart. The life of one entrusted to mentor the next generation cannot be so, because “external knowledge of Christ is found to be only a false and dangerous make-believe” without this religion affecting the heart.[1] Private time in the meditation and application of the Scriptures is a must, even when throughout the day one is reading the Bible and books about the Bible and sitting under teaching about the Bible in church and training times. The way the staff member relates to the Bible in their private time will set the trajectory for their teaching ministry, and all campus workers must be at least proficient at sharing the gospel (aka teaching the gospel to someone who does not believe). One’s work must never be their devotion – as in private time with God – but one’s devotion must be given to their work.

Another way to connect the knowledge of Christ with the experience of the young full-time laborer is through the sacraments. Specifically, the regular sacrament of the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist, Communion) is in view here. A person may partake of it in a rote and ineffectual manner - to their detriment. To avoid missing out on the grace afforded to the child of God through the Lord’s Supper, one must actively “have a firm grasp upon what the death of Jesus accomplished before one can understand what is meant by ‘this is my body... this is my blood’”.[2] When one meditates and allows room for the Spirit to apply the meaning of the elements of bread and juice to the heart, beauty is brought forth. Part of this mystery is that the Lord’s Supper, and Baptism for that matter, are both tangible reminders of the physical, historic nature of the Christian faith. While the staff person studies theology, teaches biblical studies, and otherwise engages Christian disciplines of knowledge, they may become theoretical and disconnected from the simple gospel of grace. Isolated from the flowing waters of vital faith, these pools of knowledge begin to stagnate and hinder their intended purpose of bringing refreshing and renewal to the worker, and to the church and students. Seeing others baptized and partaking in the communal meal of faith as a body connects the tributaries of knowledge with the flowing stream of authentic Christian devotion, allowing that strengthened river of the gospel to cut grooves even deeper into the heart. In summary, “the Eucharist proclaims God’s promise to be our God and us his people” without words, and in a mysterious language that speaks to our hearts, when we listen.[3]

Prayer is both a corporate and private discipline in the life of a campus staff person. It must be taken seriously in both settings. If one cannot unswervingly pray in the Spirit amongst brothers and sisters, how will the staff person lead others to focused spiritual devotion? Can a man lead others to the spring he where he does not drink? Thus, it is crucial for the campus worker to develop a habit of finding a “place where [they] and God meet and carry on [their] soul’s unseen business”. [4] Staff have much to pray for in ministry, as if their own souls, the state of their families, and co-laborers were not enough to intercede for! But even granting this, staff need personal prayer, pouring out their own private concerns before God. One must prove faithful in the small things if one expects to be faithful in the bigger things. David, before he slew Goliath, proclaimed “the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37, NIV). This great victory for the armies of the Lord came because of David’s continued reliance on God in the small matters that pertained only to him and his family. If one will bear the needs of a congregation before God, they must first practice by trusting the Lord with their own daily bread as a young college grad.

The Lord allowed Adam “to eat from any tree in the garden” except “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” because doing so would bring certain death (Genesis 2:16-17, NIV). God provides humanity with boundaries that act as fences, and operating within these bonds brings the most life and joy for us, because they allow us to find that joy in Christ, the fount of life. The means of grace discussed here are essential to the life of the campus laborer for this very reason. During a tender time of transition, the young man or woman cannot afford to have their heart delight in worldly things, especially now that they are “professional” Christians. Satan will take that false security and run with it. The heartiness of one’s participation in the means of grace is not inconsequential. No less than the soul, and the souls of so many others, are at stake.

Eric Fulwider is the Campus Director at USC Aiken and lives in Aiken, SC with his wife Sydney. Eric graduated from Augusta University and has been on staff in Aiken for two years.

[1] Calvin, Jean. Golden Booklet of the Christian Life. (Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino Publishing, 2015). 18.

[2] Rodman, Lance. "At-One-Ment Accomplished and Applied: The Relationship Between Atonement, the Kingdom of God, and the Eucharist." Journal of Biblical Theology, January 2020: 236.

[3] Rodman, Lance. “At-One-Ment”. 239

[4] Milton, Michael A. I Want to Follow. 69.