Hello, friends!
I've been a missionary with InterVarsity for just about 10 years now. During that time, I've seen a lot. I've seen students make decisions to follow Jesus and students make decision to leave the faith. I've seen students catch a vision for being missionaries where they are and I've seen other students who were seemingly solid go through their college careers with no sense of mission. I've seen Freshmen get plugged in immediately and Seniors fall off the face of the earth. I've worked with White, Black, Asian, Latino, and International Students, with successes and failure across the board. I've started chapters and shut down chapters. I've seen a lot.
When you're in this line of work, you have to develop a thick skin to a certain extent while still not losing your humanity. On the one hand, when rejection and failure comes in terms of students not following Jesus or leaving the chapter, it's important to remember that it is not necessarily you they are rejecting but Christ. Just like when a student comes to Jesus it's not because of my work but because of Christ. If I don't remember that, I go crazy, getting too high with the highs and too low with the lows of student reactions.
At the same time, it's important to rejoice and mourn well. I joke all the time about not really having any emotions but the truth is that if I don't at least feel SOMETHING, then I'm probably not doing my job right. I can't just be trying to REACH students; I also have to be willing to LOVE students.
One of the most important ways that I'm able to do this is by focusing on the PROCESS and not necessarily the RESULT. I tell students all the time that it matters to me where you are but it matters more to me where you're going. If you are moving toward Jesus, we're doing just fine, regardless of what you think of him now. In the same way, if you're moving away from Jesus, that's a red flag for me, regardless of where you are presently. An honest assessment of where you are and where you're going are what matter most.
That's why texts like these are so interesting:
"I don't see the point because I don't know if I believe that he even exists. My father is dead and to me God is the same."
"In all honesty man when you first approached me on the field I didn't feel comfortable telling you I was an atheist due to the nature of the conversation, subsequently entangling me in a lie in which you believe I am slightly religions. I apologize and should have told you earlier but I am actually very against Christianity."
Quote number one was a text message that one of my students received from a friend who he has been trying to reach in his dorm. Quote number two was from a student that I met while doing a proxe on campus.
In both of these cases, I'm a little bit torn between the happy and the sad. One the one hand, I love the honesty. The fact that these things can actually be said means that there is a certain level of trust built up. Those confessions are not easy things to say but there was something in the relationship that compelled honesty.
However, on the other hand, my heart breaks for these students. One student is blaming God for the death of a loved one and can't quite get past the sense of loss. The other student is straight against God and isn't all that interested in even entertaining a conversation about Him. Those make me sad.
My first instinct is to put together a game plan on how to reach these students. There are bible studies to be prepped, conversations to be had, and all sorts of strategies to be employed. None of those things are necessarily bad either. But, I've been compelled to pray more this year and I pray that you'll join me in interceding for these students. Pray that God will reveal himself to them and that in their honesty about where they are with God, He will bring a truth that will set them free.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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