thanks for your thoughts on the last post about connecting with lost students on your campus. i think it's fun to see how the Lord has given each of you different and unique ways to reach lost students on your campus, yet it continually comes back to building relationships and being authentic with others. i think we definitely live in a generation that values authenticity. keep going for it!
as you continue to seek reaching lost students on your campus, what do you need or desire to be more fruitful in connecting with lost students on your campus?
8 comments:
I'm aware that this is brief and very simple but I am in need of genuinely showing love when meeting people on my campus. Lately when sharing with people in the dorms it feels as though I am an outsider sales person and I feel like the love is not evident.
Well said Matt. I believe I am in need of a deeper understanding of God's love for me through Christ Jesus. I am convinced that Love is the single greatest evangelistic strategy we have. But to be honest, a lot of days I don’t feel like showing love and I really have to work at it. I’ve come to realize that Love is not something I can conjure up but only reflect after truly concentrating on God’s great grace for me. I almost need it to be ingrained in my mind how incredibly indebted to Jesus I truly am so that then I could truly abandon everything and simply Love God and Love others.
Ephesians 3:17b-19 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I've noticed that my ministry becomes my relationship with God rather than my ministry coming as a result of my relationship with God. When that happens, I do things out of duty rather than delight and it becomes something I dread. I really just need my relationship with God to be my focus before I can even hope to bear any fruit.
I show more love to those around me when I am in a right relationship with God. I enjoy living life in the dorm more when God is my focus. I think everything that I need in order to be fruitful comes right down to the most basic thing: where is my focus?
I think what I desire most, especially when I'm trying to build relationships with those non-Christian students that I really care about, is more information, about what's important to them, what are issues in their lives, and just what the shape of their existence is where it differs from mine.
That's not to say that it's impossible to relate to someone different from myself, but I think it is important to try for a decent base of things that I can relate on. This may come down to likes and dislikes, books, movies and music, those things that aren't deep spiritual views but are closely held by so many people.
Actually being acquainted with some of this stuff, more than just feigning interest, shows interest in and care for the other person, and provides a common language for discussing other things.
I fail here a lot, however. It's very easy for me to withdraw into Christian subculture, which can provide enough media and other material to keep me occupied. Allowing this total division to occur throws up a wall between me and those I need to reach.
It goes back to building relationships, by as many means as possible, and the call to be separate from the world but most definitely within it.
So, I have completely dropped the ball on posting on this blog all year, and I am sorry guys, but better to start now then not at all. I completely agree with what y'all are saying about the necessity to show love to all those around, that is so important. Especially when connecting with people, cause the more you open yourself up the more they open themselves up. That helps me connect with people so much.
In terms of what I need to be more fruitful on campus, I simply need to just simply start acting. I feel that in so many situations I build relationships, but don't take the next step out of fear or whatever it is. That is one of the biggest things I struggle with is seeing the pain so many people are in, and instead of reaching out to them, I sit on the friendship we have, when I should be telling them about the most important relationship in my life.
I feel similar to what other people have said. I notice such a difference in evangelism when I myself am clinging to Christ's love and salvation, and when I realize how much I need him. I need a reality check, that even though I am already a Christian, I still need love and relationship with Jesus each day. I think that totally changes how I communicate this with others. It becomes Christ pouring out of me, instead me trying to persuade others on my own strength.
I think a huge barrier for me is simply time. I am always trying to make time for people, but it can never be consistant with my whacky college schedule. I make time where I can, I guess. However, I've noticed this can just become an excuse for me as well. I say this because when I do have time that could be used for meeting people with the intent to share, I tend to not take advantage of it. Therefore, I would say that another huge thing for me is accountability. When I am vulnerable with my close friends and let them know I need help with this, my focus on the Lord is much more solid. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." (Proverbs 27:17)
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