by David Melton
Scary! Any event where people have access to the mic to say what they want to say — open mic — can go just about anywhere.
We do open mic here at Boston Baptist College quite a bit. Usually, it’s something of a student talent show, done for the sheer entertainment value — some inspiration thrown in, too — and it’s fun if a bit unpredictable. But this week, at our special Senior Day chapel, we had open mic. I was terrified to try it; I’m so glad we did. I actually had other stuff planned as well, but we never got to it. Once we shut down the mic, there was only time for our wonderful tradition of small group prayers over our graduates. What we heard had been the perfect introduction for those moving prayers.
For those of you who invest in this ministry, I wish you could have been in the room. Sure, a few of us in administration and on the faculty threw in our two cents, but this was almost entirely students saying to their friends things that needed to be said.
“You’ve grown up … you’ve become a man of God,” one student slowly worded, as he looked at his graduating friend.
“I admire you. I admire the way you live now.”
One of my favorite lighter moments: “I’m going to make even better grades than you have — you just wait and see!”
Sure, an open mic can open the door to the craziest things, but it can also open the heart to see what is really in there. I do not understand, but I know it to be a reality, it is so much easier to say something critical than to say something encouraging. And sometimes it is easier to say nothing at all! But some words are crying out to be spoken. Everybody needs to know when they have done well, when they have made a difference, especially when they have modeled Jesus to others.
I told the students they will almost certainly never live in an environment like we have in Boston ever again! Oh, I know we don’t have all the bells and whistles, and I would sure like to have more of those. But we have a treasure, an environment that is “real,” and real young people who are learning, growing, maturing, serving, and yes, even loving.
I looked at seniors sitting together on one side of the room, and to my knowledge, every single graduate of Boston Baptist College this year is going immediately into some kind of church service after graduation. One hundred percent! They will be in our Baptist churches making a difference. Celebrate that! It isn’t really a surprise, since they are already doing that now, but that is no small and certainly no automatic matter!
I watched, listened, laughed, and even choked up a bit. I heard words that revealed the kind of place Boston Baptist College is. There are days in the long struggle of it all when I sometimes wonder if all of this is worth it — all the work, the sacrifice, the emotional roller coaster, the disappointments, and yes, even the criticism. The answer came, amazingly enough, from an open mic. No need to fear.