Thoughts on Christian Outreach in Canadian Universities
Christianity Doesn’t Just Boil Down To Faith — It Starts and Ends With It
Faith is an important part of the Christian system of belief. This is well known and is the reason people will refer to Christianity as “The Faith”, or ask about “your faith” when they are referring to your Christian beliefs. This creates an accurate depiction of a Christian: that he or she has faith in something.
This does not provide any further insight into what the Christian system of belief is composed of. A young, smart, academic person is not made curious by the fact that someone can have faith in another; this is such a simple concept compared to the philosophy and psychology studied in school. If such a person did develop an interest in Christianity for some other reason, and sought information from a strong believer, they might quickly be enlightened that the reason for their Christian friend’s strong beliefs is their simple faith, which is the foundation of everything they do. To many intelligent people this is a huge disappointment. Faith can be misplaced. Putting your faith in something that doesn’t deserve it isn’t rational. Irrational decisions are not encouraged by society, the education system or the mentors in our world, nor should they be.
“Why is your faith so important to you?”, I have been asked on many occasions. The first time I was posed the question by a peer was in grade 6. I answered, “because I have seen”. I have since been working on improving my response. At the time, the reason for my faith was to me so profound, and so based in personal experience that it would be impossible to explain in a single conversation… looking back I see that I hoped that the pure strength of my convictions could demonstrate their validity to my friends. This was utterly ineffective.
Many Christian students lose their faith during university. Universities are the center of modern thought and the place for open debate in society. Modern thought is progressing, and this is undoubtedly to the benefit of the human race. People are learning the importance of making intentional, well-considered decisions. This is key to the sustainable maintenance of the environment, business, society and also relationships. When students go to university it is almost always a time of great personal growth. More concrete friendships are made, major life decisions become more easy to tackle. People become more effective in creating and maintaining relationships in university, so why doesn’t creating and maintaining a relationship with God become easier? Students learn to have a critical eye. This helps them recognize good versus bad friendships, good versus bad decisions. This brings the Christian student to a crisis of faith. If his or her faith has never been questioned before, it will be during university. If it has been questioned before school, and no concrete answers were provided, it will be abandoned. I have seen this many times.
It Shouldn’t Be About Me
Questioning one’s faith is the most worthwhile part of being a Christian. Why do you put faith in God? Why is he deserving of trust? It isn’t because He has proven himself to be a reliable, hard-working team member in group projects. Do you know God? Not like you know your friends and mentors. Does being a part of the Christian community benefit your life? In my experience, students will almost always respond to that question, “It shouldn’t be about me”.
The young people I have met are not fundamentally interested in personal gain, so consequently the benefits of having a supportive, healthy community do not justify a belief. A symptom of this is that Canada ranks 2nd in the world in terms of entrepreneurship, and that around 50% of Canadian students plan to start their own businesses.
In their podcast “Whims That Work”, Joe Buhlig describes a new type of employee on the market: one that will sacrifice salary and quality of life in order to have the time and opportunity to put effort into their own company, something they believe in. According to a survey by the Globe and Mail: by region, the greatest percentage of students who say they plan to start their own business was in British Columbia, at 50 per cent. That was followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan at 49 per cent, Ontario at 47 per cent, Quebec at 46 per cent, Atlantic Canada at 42 per cent and Alberta at 41 per cent. The fact that the category of productivity podcasts and media is on the rise is another indicator of the work ethic of the current generation.
A complaint I have heard on several occasions from educators, ministry leaders and friends is that the dominant young generation is lazy. They are not motivated to take the leap of faith necessary to be a Christian, not motivated to contribute time or money to their local Church. When I see that these people are spending their time building businesses, pursuing difficult courses of study and changing the world I can’t agree that they are unmotivated people.
The Secret
What is the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven that Christians are having such a difficult time articulating? In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us that it is this: to ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find. There is something to be given, and there is something to be found. There is a true understanding of the Bible that can be had. Unfortunately, a sermon at Church cannot render this understanding to anyone on its own. The Bible itself is also powerless to do so by itself. Faith in and of itself is not a gift. Faith and trust must be rewarded. Questions must be answered. Just telling someone to keep asking and seeking is leaving them out to dry, and is only practicing half of the message that Jesus taught.
What is missing in so much Christian outreach is the follow-up to tough questions. People won’t settle for vague answers anymore. Many Churches play a key role in encouraging Christians in their faith, but new or prospective believers don’t just need to be encouraged, they need to be convinced. This is not unreasonable. This is not incompatible with faith. This is not a dead-end. This is smart.
Yet Christians in outreach are often stopped in their tracks when someone is unwilling to believe without some convincing. This is often because they think that being closed to uninformed faith is being closed to faith itself. “There is no proof because it isn’t about proof, it’s about faith!”, they think. This can be a sign that this member of ministry does not have an informed faith themselves. Being placed in ministry can be dangerous for people like this because before long they will analyze their own system of belief and realize it is baseless.
How does one become convinced that a friend is a good one? It isn’t about proof either, at first. A relationship is built one step at a time. People are willing to give someone a chance, the benefit of the doubt. People are also willing to give God this chance. As His arms and feet, we as Christians must seize the opportunity to demonstrate the kind of friend God is. Being a friend Is hard. Being a good friend means being there for people during the hardest challenges imaginable. God desires to be everyone’s best friend; this is why he calls Christians to love others above all else. As Christians, we must realize that this is the highest calling for mankind, not simply in the sense that it is good, but also that it is extremely hard.
There is almost no chance that the type of relationship God wants to offer to people can be shared without first being demonstrated. That is why it is said that “they will know we are Christians by our love”. The only effective campus ministry I have witnessed has been prolonged, genuine discipleship. Discipleship is a type of friendship that grows to incorporate spiritual mentorship. When someone offers discipleship they should be offering the type of relationship that Jesus had with his disciples.
Modern Disciples
The disciples asked Jesus an outrageous amount of questions. Jesus provided some of the most enlightening answers to questions that humankind has ever recorded. The disciples trusted that their faith in Jesus was not misplaced. Jesus led the disciples through a series of experiences that demonstrated time and again that He was worthy of their trust, to the point that His promises to them would overcome the natural elements, the armies of Rome, and even death itself.
God’s Church is strong and capable, and has been bestowed the Gifts of the Spirit. When we lead a friend into faith, we are the hands and feet of Jesus and it is His example that we follow. We should go to the lengths He did. Our disciples should see the miracles that Jesus’ did, and get the answers that they did as well. This means when someone asks about the credibility of a passage in the Bible, we don’t shy away. We do our research and encourage them to take part. Every verse in every version of the Bible is there for a reason: a series of intentional decisions spanning the centuries which are mostly documented but rarely sought.
When someone is sick we don’t tell them to have a good attitude and not to worry. Jesus’ approach was to heal the sick. It should be ours as well. I personally know more than a handful of people who have been healed from, or seen others healed from, bodily ailments in Jesus' name.
When Christianity is criticized, we need to take a critical lens to our religion ourselves. Christians have made many poor decisions and had a negative impact on the world on many occasions. Admitting this is our responsibility. Admitting the flaws in the religious systems around the worship of our God is what started Christianity in the first place.
The gifts of the Spirit are outlined in Romans 12: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miracles, Prophecy, Tongues, Interpretation, Administration and Helps. These are the tools we have been given. Faith may be the point, but there is no reason to neglect the rest.
