Example One: It was morning, and I got on an elevator with another student in an administrative building at school. She was holding a sheet of paper, and I knew by the color and time of year that she was dropping a class. I asked her what she was dropping, and it turned out I’d dropped a class with the same teacher the previous semester. Almost instantly we had a bond, there was a connect.
Example Two: My dad is from Nassau County…turns out millions of other people are too! When I meet people, I ask where they are from, and a not insignificant percentage of the time they say some place in Nassau. I’d mention where my dad was from, where my aunt now lives, and my favorite places…and there would be an instant bond. It’s so simple, almost silly, but significant.
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” Romans 10:14-15
You’ve maybe heard of friendship evangelism and cold contact evangelism. Well, as a college student, a friend and I discovered a merger of these that was amazingly effective at finding people willing to listen to the Gospel message, and we call this super quick friendship evangelism.
Jesus primarily poured Himself into and ministered to the Twelve. And I recommend we all have some close friends whom we’re reaching for Jesus’ sake, so I’m not teaching this to the exclusion of traditional friendship evangelism, more as a variation on cold contact evangelism. We have a few friends, but we’re surrounded by multitudes; Jesus didn’t ignore the multitude, and neither should we.
I discovered something while I was a student: I could make a friend (in the loose sense) in minutes. Consider those examples with which I began. Understanding the urgency of getting the Gospel out to hundreds of people, I’ve participated in cold contact evangelism. And I’ve shared the Gospel with people this way, but I’ve also been cussed out many times too! But I realized that if I spent five minutes becoming their friend, they would listen to the Gospel. They might not accept it, but once they were my friend (and, again, in a loose sense), they listened.
One of my favorite approaches was to grab food at the dining hall, find someone who was sitting by themselves, and ask if I could join them. I’d quickly move from chit chat (like where they’re from and classes they’re taking, creating simple bonds) to deeper questions such as “What are you truly passionate about?” or “If you only could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?” And guess what, most people reciprocate. Meaning, they ask back! How awesome is that, someone I’ve only known for five minutes was asking me what I was truly passionate about? Talk about a soft ball! So I would tell them about Jesus, who He is and what He’s done. They always listened. Most of the time it ended in, “Hmm, that’s interesting.” Or, “Well, I’m glad that works for you.” But one time someone prayed and asked Jesus to save them on the spot!
I share all this for a few reasons, but one of them is this: our time in college is so special because we are surrounded by people with whom we can almost instantly befriend and share Jesus.
Students, how are those around you going to get saved unless someone preaches to them? Why not you?
College ministry leaders, I hope this inspires you to encourage and equip your students to evangelize. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be terrifying. It can be as simple as sitting down with someone for thirty minutes, becoming their friend, and telling them about Jesus. And how they respond, let’s leave that between them and God, but let’s be faithful to proclaim the Good News!
And if you need a simple refresher on what the Gospel is and how to easily share it, check out my last post: The Gospel 1,2,3.