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THE CGO BLOG

A Challenge for Christmas Break

12/8/2016

2 Comments

 

By Mark Vowels, CGO Director

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Note: This will be the last post before Christmas Break. We will return to the blog on January 13th. Merry Christmas!

I am a baby boomer - fifty-five years old and typical of my generation. The experiences and influences that have shaped me are not the same as those which have shaped millennials.

​But I love millennials, have fathered two of them, and spend my days ministering to and among them through the Center for Global Opportunities at Bob Jones University. Additionally, I have researched, written and conferenced regarding how leaders of my generation can better connect with millennials for the sake of global missionary endeavor.

Just now, I finished reading another blog post by a millennial blogger about everything that is wrong with the boomer led church. It offered twelve problems and twelve solutions to those problems. For the most part, I agreed with all of them. Yes, the boomer-led church lacks authenticity and focuses far too much on serving itself rather than serving those in need. Yes, the boomer-led church seems to navel gaze about minor doctrinal differences while ignoring the masses of spiritually destitute humanity around the globe.

It’s not the diagnosis which disturbs me - it’s the prescription, which comes down to “the church should change to be more like us and do more to serve us.” Okay, maybe it wasn’t quite that narcissistic, but it was on that pathway.

In one of the courses that I have taught for several years at BJU, I assign students to go out, find an unsaved person and tell him or her about Jesus. Students are directed to ask opening questions like, “What do you believe to be true about God?” or “Are you a religious person?” or “Can you tell me about your spiritual journey?” with the expectation that after listening to whatever response is given that person will allow the student to share his or her own spiritual understanding, i.e. testimony of faith in Christ. It’s a pretty simple assignment, and points are given for completion, not for outcomes.

What does that have to do with the millennial’s blog about the problems of the church that I referenced a minute ago? Well, college age people are pretty good at pointing out the flaws in my generation’s practice of Christianity. And in the process they often indicate their sense of passion and enthusiasm for the simplicity of the gospel and their longing for a return to authentically simple gospel living.

​So what could be simpler than just telling a non-Christian what it means to you to follow Jesus?

But among the hundreds of students who have completed my assignment, the overwhelming majority confess that this was the first time they have ever shared their faith with an unbeliever in their entire life.

Is my assignment perfect? Nope. Are there better ways to build a relationship and share Christ over time rather than just walking up to a total stranger and talking about salvation? Absolutely.

But I fear that we mostly talk about our better ideas rather than doing anything.

I’m probably a bit jaded right now after having read another critical blog about how my generation is failing the younger generation, and after just finishing grading another set of more than a hundred witness experience assignments. 

But I’m challenging all of us to do more than critique the failings of others!

I’m issuing a challenge to every reader of this blog to walk up to some stranger over the Christmas break and say, “Can I ask you what you believe is true about God?” or some other introductory line that attempts to initiate a gospel conversation.

If you accept the challenge, let me know what happens – with you and with the person you meet.
2 Comments
J. Bright link
12/9/2016 06:45:23 pm

Excellent reminder! Fulfilling the Great Commission means more than listening to sermons about obeying it; it means actually going out there and making disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).

A while back in a Korean coffee shop in Bucheon I heard some college girls repeatedly refer to English as they spoke in Korean. As their conversation drew to an end, I engaged them in conversation about their classes, majors, and the like.

This gave them the chance to ask about me. I told where I worked and mentioned I was an English Pastor of a local church. I asked where they went to church. They don't.

They don't believe in God. I spoke of how I could look into the heavens and know there must be a Creator; I could see beauty and know there must be an Artist and so forth (basically Psalm 19 arguments). I went on to talk about how the Bible speaks of the Creator.

It was an opening conversation. Hopefully, seeds were planted.

Another time I was on the subway with some friends from Guam here in Korea. I saw a boy writing in a notebook with English verses on it. Eventually, I engaged the college lad in conversation, asking about the paper. He said he was not a Christian, but his Mom was. She had bought the notebook. It was time to leave the subway, so I gave the student a Korean/English tract and asked him to read it. I departed with the parting words "you know your Mom would want you to read it!"

I'm not nearly as faithful as I should be in witnessing, even though I'm a pastor and Bible teacher. Nevertheless, I'm thankful God sometimes gives clear opportunities to speak on His behalf.

J. Bright

Reply
CGO
12/12/2016 06:00:58 am

Encouraging stories - keep up the good work, brother!

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