Student Work By Non-Students

One of the greatest leadership opportunities I've ever had was to lead City Church Sheffield's work with students. At the time, I myself was still a student. Fast-forward to now: I'm in an equally exciting season being involved with the 18:20s work at Life Church Southampton. And although term is really only just kicking off, it seems like leading a student work as a non-student is completely different to leading it as a student.

The one big advantage I can think of, of leading a student work (or society) as a full-time student is this:

You're 'just like us'

You have coursework, deadlines, revision, exams, cheap food and scummy students houses, just like the people you're leading. And that is a real advantage. It means when you're exhorting people to do something, they know not only that you've 'been there', but that you 'are there'. You're not just telling people people what to do, you're showing them what to do in a way you simply couldn't hope for as a non-student.

It totally undermines the 'student card' (the tendency many students have to make excuses for lack of zeal/lack of discipline/lack of money/lack of time-keeping/lack of work by using the infamous one-liner "I'm a student, so..."). I really hate the student card. It's a fast-track ticket to guilt-free laziness, when the only route to guilt-free anything should be grace, not the 'student card' (and even then we are not to let 'grace abound' by continuing in sin!). I do think I had more leverage to combat it when I was a student and aiming to be counter-cultural in that way. I could challenge students on it because I was living differently.

It's interesting that despite his extraordinary leadership exploits which set him apart from the people, Elijah is described as a man 'just like us'. We need leaders who are 'just like us'. So I am fully supportive of the idea of student leadership, whether that's in the Unions' societies or in the local churches.

I always thought I'd find student work easier once I was no longer a student. So far the opposite seems to be true. But that doesn't mean that those who aren't students have nothing to offer the world of student work - far from it. I love to see inter-generational one-anothering going on (probably the most Biblical sort out there). And the idea of homogeneous church just antagonises me (by the way, some people assume if you believe students should give themselves primarily to church rather than CU, that you believe in homogeneous church - I've never met anyone for whom this would be true). We are made for cross-cultural community which is outward-looking. It's inclusive of everyone, which means non-students definitely have a part to play.

I have a feeling that as Life Church's 18:20s progresses I'll see more and more of the benefits of non-student leaders alongside the students leaders. But the shift of going from one to another is something quite interesting to experience.