About a month ago I read a post from the blog run by Campus Renewal Ministries about the importance of emphasizing to our students the concept of being “in this world, but not of it.” I think many times we point out the importance of being not of this world, but we don’t always do a good job of communicating what it means to be in this world.
Let me explain that statement in a little more detail. We very regularly encourage young people to confess sin, repent, find accountability partners, and beware of getting involved with the wrong crowd. Many of us probably do this at least a couple times a year in our campus ministries and it’s usually a major part of conferences students attend as well. There is nothing wrong with this, in fact regular repentance and confession of sins is something that is not stressed enough in the church today. This is the emphasis we place on being “not of this world,” but how are we presenting the first part of that phrase, being in this world?
We tend to think we have accurately touched on being in this world by explaining all the perils that will surround us as we go through life on earth trying to avoid sin. The problem is that this is only one small aspect of being in this world. Justin points out in his post that Jesus prayed to the Father saying, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:18) We have been sent into the world. We are not meant to merely cope with the sin around us that entered the world after “the fall” and do our best to try and get by.
God does not want us to avoid culture, but to influence it! Imagine what would happen if college students around the world could get a hold of the concept that as Christians we are not meant to hide inside the safe walls of the church, our BASIC group, weekly Bible studies, and prayer meetings. Of course all of those activities are good things, but if we never intentionally go out and live among sinners (just as Jesus did) we fall far short of the Great Commission.
I often say that our college campuses are one of the most important mission fields. We must emphasize to our students their ability to affect culture, both on their campus and as they graduate and go out into the world! As leaders God has blessed us with the opportunity to speak into the lives of this generation and has given us an incredible place of influence in the lives of students to be able to fuel this passion to affect culture and fulfill the Great Commission. Look for ways to encourage students to speak up in class, go out of their way to befriend non-Christians, and pray that they would have more influence over their peers. As Christians we should strive to be changers of culture rather than absorbers.