Name: Rebecca Bennett
Category: Undergraduate
Dr. Parker’s Quote: Inspirational Advice for Daily Living
Help each other by praying, communicating, ministering and encouraging each other.
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Essay:
The beautiful and intricate ways in which God designed the body of Christ to interact were mysteries to me until my freshman year of college at Southwestern University. Being one of the only Christians in my hometown that sought to be a “doer” of the Word and not just a “hearer” only, like described in Romans and James, I learned to isolate myself in my spiritual struggles. I had little concept of what it meant to be ministered to and prayed over by brothers and sisters in Christ. I expected college to be much the same, but God had a plan to purify me and bless me not only with understanding into His perfectly designed workings of the body, but also with a place in a body of Christ that has grown so very dear to me.
The atmosphere of my school unnerved me from the beginning, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord was calling me to attend Southwestern. Though it is Methodist-founded, it has grown into something very different than what I am sure was intended at its start. A thick cloud of intellectualism lingers in the air, slowly poisoning students against God with the mindset that human intellect is the highest authority and that God is merely a crutch that the weak cling to. Satan works tirelessly to instill deep-seeded hate for God and for His people in the hearts of students and teachers alike. Like Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, our battle is certainly not against flesh and blood. Though Satan uses students and teachers as puppets for persecution of the small group of Christians on campus, this battle is purely spiritual and can only be won in prayer.
For a college freshman claiming Christianity in this atmosphere with no fellowship with a body of believers, discouragement creeps in quickly. I doubted everything and fell into depression for a span of weeks, but suddenly God stepped in and thrust me into a friendship that quickly led me to the very middle of a pure-hearted group of my peers who seek after the heart of God, rooted in truth and righteousness. It has been a long journey overcoming standoffishness and fear of vulnerability with my brothers and sisters in Christ, but with God’s strength and peace I have begun that process of crucifixion and purification. We minister to each other through prayer and encouragement daily, meet at least once a week to worship and pray together, and fellowship in an intimate way that only the body of Christ could. Together we intercede for the campus by crying out for revival and the salvation of our peers and teachers, and we grow in knowledge of the things of God and in love for our precious Jesus.
In Philippians 1:6, the Word says that he who begins a good work in us will bring it to completion.” It brings me to tears when I look back at the path of momentary light afflictions that God used to bring me to the place of freedom and joy I find with Him and with the body of Christ today. As an intercessory musician, God has given me a heart for the body of Christ—to see the body walking in the fullness of the kingdom, rooted in the first and second commandments. I would not have made it through my freshman year without Jesus ministering to me through His people in that way. Like Dr. Parker wrote, we truly are called to “Help each other by praying, communicating, ministering and encouraging each other.”
