On a mission, I check my local Game Spot - sold out. I check Toys R US - sold out. Finally, almost $600.00 later, I have a brand new Xbox 360 with 4 controllers and the only game necessary, Halo 3, from Best Buy.
On September 27th Halo 3 broke a bunch of records by making $170 million dollars in sales during its first 24 hours of action, conveniently released just a day after thousands of students went back to school in the Northwest. No one is quite sure what dudes were more excited about: a new school year or a new Halo release.
It’s always been pretty obvious that college guys are looking for a little more adventure than just settling down into a cubicle and working up that 401K with no purpose. But I’m not sure it’s registered for many college dudes that Jesus is calling us to something larger than Halo 3, where the battle is completely real and the consequences are eternal.
“.the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force.”
(Matt. 11:12)
As the kingdom of God presses into the world, we must seize it with the most intense zeal. This is where the real battle is, where the souls of men are at stake and the glory of the King is being revealed.
The popularity of Halo screams that men yearn for a battle to fight and a hero to fight alongside of. The real warrior hero is Jesus, not Master Chief, and He’s calling us into a real fight with real consequences and an eternal kingdom to reckon with.
Have you ever had the opportunity to talk about Jesus with someone but didn’t take it because you didn’t want to be “that hypocritical judgmental Christian”? I think I used to be “that guy,” but if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and what He has done for us we can’t help but speak humbly about what He’s done in our lives.
Most college students struggle with not wanting to be “pushy” or “judgmental” and therefore shrink back from sharing the Gospel with their friends. It’s true, many Christians are “pushy” and “judgmental.” When they talk about Jesus with their friends they come across as “me and Jesus” vs. you. I think that’s because they don’t understand the Jesus they are talking about. The only difference between you and your friend is that God has granted you repentance.
Scripture tells us in Hebrews 12, “let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.”
It’s very hard to be “pushy” and “judgmental” when we share our faith if we look to Jesus. If we see Him on the cross dying in agony for our sin, God dying for us! It must humble us, break us and cause us to see ourselves as the chief of sinners. How can we be pushy and arrogant if we are so bad that God had to die to forgive our sin? The sins you committed before you knew Christ and the ones you’ll commit today. Your humility when speaking about Jesus and the Gospel is a sermon in itself. It tells your friend, room-mate, co-worker or family member that you are jacked up and need Jesus too. The Gospel is for you now too and you’re asking your friend to believe it with you presently.
Nonetheless, scripture is clear people will find ways to avoid the Gospel because it exposes their sin. John 3:19 tells us that “.the light [Jesus] has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Jesus is unique. Sometimes when you get closer to certain people you feel better about yourself because your life seems more put together than theirs. Well, the exact opposite happens when you get next to Jesus. You can’t help but realize that He’s holy and you’re not. Without the eyes to see that He’s come to forgive your sin and help you, you’ll run and deny that you’re messed up.
Understanding that it’s sometimes awkward to call someone on their sin, call yourself out first, so that whoever you’re sharing the Gospel with sees that they aren’t alone. It’s not that you used to be a bad person and now you’re a good Christian person; you’re still a jacked up sinner that God is making more like himself. This is what John calls “walking in the light” in 1 John 1:7. “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Remember: Jesus is the perfect missionary, preacher and conversationalist. His perfect evangelism has been accounted to your life and He’s in you through His Holy Spirit empowering you to represent Him well and speak about him with humility and confidence.
In the midst of the roar of buses outside and plinks from a piano downstairs, Mars Hill College met for the first time last week at a community center in the U District. Over 50 people showed up, with a range of students from UW to SPU to ECC to PLU!
Here’s a summary of a few of the points we covered:
For now, the Wednesday night meeting is a strategic meeting to build up leaders and plan . We’ll train leaders to plant community groups where students already are instead of making people come to a separate meeting. Many subcultures already exist at each college. Instead of pulling out of an authentic group that already exists, add intentionality to it. Each subculture has its own vices and idols and can be reached for Jesus in different ways.
Many other student ministries already exist on campus. We don’t plan on formally partnering with any, but we highly respect them and will pray for and love them.
Prepare for spiritual battle. This territory is not ours. We’re taking it for God, but Satan doesn’t want to give it up.
Seattleites are extremely bold in talking about spirituality, which presents us with many opportunities to share the Gospel. Oftentimes we don’t join in the discussions because they spark questions about God that we can’t answer. We need to be prepared to speak the truth in love.
SPU has a different culture from UW. Fewer people are non-Christian, but many walk in darkness. We may need to first convince people that they do not walk in the light before presenting the gospel again.
The college ministry meets on Wednesday nights at 8:00 pm in the University District to equip and train college students to be missionaries on their campuses. The college ministry will be broad enough for any college student, but will be strategically geared and programmed to reach the University of Washington.
This Sunday is the official launch of the College Service! It will be awesome to have so many college students gathered together to be on mission for Jesus. Plus I’m excited for yet another reason to stay up late and procrastinate on homework!
We’ll also meet midweek in the U District. The agenda? To learn about connecting Jesus to our life at college and discuss the mission of the college ministry.
Mars Hill College Content