Don't Waste Your Evangelism Opportunities in College

This is the second post in the series "Your College Years Will Fly By"

Here is my syllogism:

·       Every Christian must be involved in “making disciples,” which includes sharing the gospel with unbelievers.

·       Each stage of life brings some unique evangelistic opportunities. 

·       Therefore, be a good steward with your opportunities, for they will never be exactly the same in the future

Every Christian should evangelize

Jesus commanded his disciples to make disciples of all the nations. They “make disciples” (or followers of Jesus) by sharing the gospel message (Mark 1:15), exemplifying Christian love for fellow Christians (John 13:35), and letting the Lord give new life (John 3). The point is, every believer has a role to play. We know that this is true because the promise in the Great Commission is that Jesus will be with his followers until the end of the age to empower them in ministry. Therefore the ministry must endure past the original disciples to the end of the age.

Each stage of life brings some unique (and some similar) opportunities

For example, a young mom who is at home with her kids will have opportunities to evangelize her children, other moms she spends time around, her hairstylist, etc. Some of these are unique opportunities (her children) while others are more common (hairstylist).

You, as a young and single adult, will likely not have as many opportunities in the realm of evangelizing your children (but you could evangelize children through a ministry).  All I am saying is that there is usually a unique “people group” you can reach now that you will likely not have as direct access to in the future.

So, don’t waste the particular opportunities you have now. What doors are open for young adults? For those who are students, you have more direct contact with college students. These young men and women are at a phase of life in which they are trying to formulate convictions about their purpose, why the world is as it is, and where everything is going. That is a unique opportunity in terms of evangelism. 

Beyond that, young, unmarried adults often have a greater number of exchanges with people during the day. Between work and school, you are around large numbers of different folks. Being around more people, especially at a secular university, means you also have contact with a wider variety of people. Not merely in terms of numbers but in terms of worldviews and nationalities. You in a stage in life in which it takes less extra and intentional effort to break out of the silos of being around people that are mostly “just like you.”

Therefore, be a good steward

What a tremendous set of circumstances to minister in! What opportunities to make Jesus Lordship and grace known. So, don’t waste these unique opportunities. The same goes for “the rest of us.” We have unique opportunities that are unique if we open our eyes and love our neighbors.