By Christopher Strok

Connectivity is perhaps one of the most innate desires that we as humans possess.  The need to communicate and interact with one another can be traced back to its roots in Genesis 2:18.  When God created Adam, He placed under his control a measure of power, responsibility and authority, but of these things were not enough. 

“So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:20).  His work was complete, his assignments were finished but still something was lacking.

I’ve been known to go to a restaurant by myself.  Accompanied with only a book, I’m often asked if the “rest of my party will be joining me shortly”.  I smile as I inform the host that I will be eating alone. 

It doesn’t end at the restaurants though, on several occasions I have gone to a watch movie (gasp) “flying solo”.  These little experiments in human tendencies fascinate me.  The employee at the ticket window, the couple in front of me intently gazing into each other’s eyes, or the group of teenagers with their wallet chains and lip rings all wonder who I’m going to watch my movie with.  Regardless of the circumstance or situation I’m the odd man out because I’m in a group situation all alone.

We’re designed and created to live in community.  Though I do not possess knowledge of the Greek or Hebrew meanings of the word, I can only assume that there is great insight to be found upon the further study of this word.  When I break it down, I’ve come up with this simple understanding: community at its core is an instruction, “come unity”. 

We’re urged repeatedly about the encouragement that results from belonging to a body of believers.  The strengthening of our faith and the sharpening of our knowledge equips us to go into a lost and hurting world where we are able to meet the basic needs of those around us, love our neighbors as ourselves and to bring light to darkness. 

Maybe I don’t get out enough, but that’s not what I see and it’s certainly not what I hear.  We often pray for “eyes to see and ears to hear” and then tune-out what comes our way.  We do this because it isn’t what we expected and if we’re really honest, what we see and hear doesn’t make us feel all that great.

I was in a restaurant on a Saturday night.  The group of people I was with had finished ministering for the night and we were hungry, so we stopped in a friendly neighborhood grille to satisfy that desire.  Through casual conversation with our server, we’d come to discover she wasn’t a believer.  DING! DING! DING!  A golden opportunity!

As she returned with our checks I asked what her plans were the next morning.  Since we’d be leaving later that night to minister in our next location, we invited her to attend the morning service of the church we had been at earlier that night.

Of course she couldn’t make it because she had to open the restaurant the next morning, but what she said next stopped me short.  She said she wasn’t terribly excited to work the next morning and that she’d even give church another shot; her problem wasn’t with work or church, it was the “Sunday afternoon church crowd” that would filter in following the local services.

Poor attitudes, poor communication and poor tips are what she associated with the “church crowd”… she was shocked to discover that we were a part of it.  Needless to say, she was tipped well that night.

Unfortunately stories like these plague our cities and rather than proactively striving to make a difference, we sit back reactionary, trying to fix a problem that is spiraling out of control. 

With the ever increasing price of gas I am reminded of a trip I took in 2003.  I was heading to Colorado to attend a retreat while I was in college.  It was too far for me to drive myself and much to expensive to fly, so I did something I’d never done before, I rode a bus.

Now I grew up riding the “cheese wagon” to school and thoroughly enjoyed those wheels going round and round all the way to town.  No seatbelts and no parental supervision; these were wonderful freedoms to enjoy until I began to mercilessly get picked on. 

What kind of school bus ministry are we involved with?  Over the course of a week, I’ll bet the kids in your ministry spend as much time on the school bus as they spend in your Sunday school classrooms or your kids church services. 

Back to my road trip in 2003, we’ll delve deeper into school busses in a moment.  I rode from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Denver, Colorado on a Greyhound bus, a trip of nearly 23 hours.  With stops in places I didn’t know existed with a group of people I’d only ever seen in movies (gasp, again) I found myself in the middle of a world I knew nothing of. 

You see, I grew up riding in my parent’s automobile.  I didn’t ever have to ride the bus to go to the store.  We would pile into the minivan and head to Kroger (in the days before Wal-Mart) to get our groceries.  If not the van, then we would jump in my dad’s car and go to baseball practice, the hardware store the dry cleaners or wherever else we needed to go.  Riding that big yellow bus was a privilege I reserved for school and school only. 

On that trip I discovered that the Greyhound wasn’t gray and all busses definitely  are not yellow.

With the ever-increasing price of gas in the United States I see a unique opportunity afforded to us.  We can either choose to embrace it or let it pass by.  Perhaps the rise in gasoline prices is a call for Christians to rise as well… for a time such as this. 

Many of us don’t live in cities large enough to sustain an intricate public transportation system.  Many of us can’t ride the bus to work in the morning.  For those of us who can, are we?  What a better place to “let your light shine, whooa” (I’m sure you’ve sang the Hillsong Kids song and you know what I’m talking about). 

Some of our churches aren’t big enough to support a traditional “bus ministry” as we’ve come to understand it.  You don’t have an “inner-city” riddled with projects and old apartment complexes where all of the “sinners” live. 

Remember that big yellow school bus?

The public school system in America is responsible for educating the kids who aren’t enrolled in private academies or home schooled.  It is also responsible for bringing the kids they’re trying to educate to the school facilities.

What does bus ministry look like for you?  I think we’ve narrowed our potential in this critical area.  There is a dire need for bus drivers across the country.  The need for volunteer safety monitors and ride-along supervisors is also a critical need in some school districts across the country. 

While yes, there are major ways we can impact our PUBLIC schools for the cause of Christ in this “out-of-the-box” way of thinking about bus ministry, I would offer up to you our greatest unused resource yet, our kids who are already on the busses!

While limitations and restrictions may be placed upon us as adults, as volunteers or as ministers, our children can exercise their freedom of speech, their actions and their attitudes freely in that environment!

The question isn’t how can we make an impact in our public schools, but why aren’t we?  How are we discipling our kids?  Are we training them to go out and “make disciples of all nations”? 

We’re locked into a battle for the souls of the children God has placed in our sphere of influence; what are we doing to gain back the ground that the enemy has stolen?  Are we strategically designing plans and engaging the students He has given us?  Are we making a difference in their world?

I used to hate the song we would sing growing up about The Lord’s Army… Maybe some of you remember the tune “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery, I may never fly o'er the enemy, but I'm in The Lord's Army (yes sir!)!”

My problem was this: if I’m not marching in the infantry, riding with the cavalry, shooting the artillery or flying over the enemy what in the world am I doing?  Do I get to be the waterboy in The Lord’s Army?  OH YIPPEE, JUST WHAT I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO! 

In no way am I implying that there’s something inadequate with a water-dispensing job, we each have a critical part to play and we must play it (1 Corinthians 12:12)! 

My question isn’t with what part you are playing, what part you are called to play, or how long you have been playing it… instead I would encourage you to ask yourself a question only you can answer: how well am I playing my part?

We aren’t all called to bus ministry, whether traditional or non-traditional and rightly so.  If we were all on the school busses we’d fall short somewhere else.  There are enough busses to go around.  What we are called to do is make a difference in the lives of those around us; to train and disciple the children He has brought to us and to be good stewards of that great responsibility. 

What has He distinctly called you to?  What passions has He burned into your spirit?  What desires can’t you escape from?