Eric Wright is the Team Leader for our ICM team on the Palouse. They minister to students at the University of Idaho, Washington State University, and Lewis-Clark State College. Eric and Mitzi were on the Palouse more than a decade ago when Real Life on the Palouse came to town to plant their church. Eric built an incredibly productive relationship with RLOTP and has enjoyed the benefits of the intentional relationships that come from that partnership. I asked him if he's be willing to share his perspective on our pursuit of MILIEU.
One of my favorite aspects of campus ministry revolves around the opportunities to rub shoulders with those who believe differently than I do. I have been blessed with mentors who have challenged me to read and listen to great thinkers and writers who reside on the opposite side of positions I hold. Civility and the ability to listen to understand the thoughts and opinions of others is key in our day and age to move the kingdom forward. This anomaly of bipartisanship only occurs when we choose to place ourselves in the nexus of diversity and ideas in our society. This nexus is the university campus in America.
While the word milieu may sound uncomfortable to the American ear, the concept of a physical or social setting in which something occurs or develops is not an altogether new concept for us. The term environment is one we may be more familiar with in our society. The environment in which we grow up helps determine our personality and works to direct our future in positive and negative ways. The milieu of the university campus works to direct the future of our civilization in a similar fashion.
One of my best opportunities to engage in intentional relationships with others on the university campus involves my connection with other student organizations at the University of Idaho. For five years, I had an office space with twenty other student organizations in the student organization center. This space put me in daily communion with students from diverse milieus. For two years, my desk faced the desk of the LGBTQ campus student organization.
This was my first occasion to engage with someone from this community. Being a student myself at the University of Idaho at the time, I had many openings for conversation. I developed a relationship with the organization’s student leaders by choosing to listen to understand and not by trying to win an argument. One of the key moments in my journey in understanding my place in God’s story involved the realization that these students I sat across from are just as much a part of God’s story as I am. God’s story of redemption and resurrection does not belong to my belief community or me but to all creation.
Those students I sat across from were as passionate about the restoration of community and our planet as I was. This actualization of the expansiveness of the breadth and width of those included in God’s story brought me to an understanding of milieu. One encounter with the student leader centered on my asking if there was anything for which I could pray about for them. The student questioned my motive by asking if I was praying against her lifestyle and for her world to be turned upside down.
I sensed the weight of my response and I took a moment to answer. I shared that my prayer for her was that God would bless her life and would show Himself and His love to her and that she may have a clear understanding of His love for her. Clearly this student was not expecting that response and it opened up even more conversations about the kingdom of God and her place in it. Moving the kingdom of God and conversations such as these forward hinges on our choice to engage others in the story.
This moment would not have been possible had it not been for those in my story who have encouraged me to listen to understand and lead with love. As a campus minister, one of my duties is to come alongside students and challenge them to listen to understand and lead with love. These actions give God room to move in the hearts of those with whom we intentionally step into relationships. It is God’s work to change hearts and move His kingdom forward; ours is to step out of our comfort zones and into relationship.
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