Empowering Christian Students in Evangelism

Richard Wurmbrand was born in Rumania to atheistic parents. When a teenager he plunged recklessly into the life of a playboy. When 27 years old he met a village carpenter who told him about Jesus and gave him a Bible. He became a Christian. Soon after his young wife, Sabina became a Christian, impressed by her husband’s changed behaviour. He became ordained into the Norwegian Lutheran Church and became a dynamic leader for the Lord Jesus. During the Nazi occupation he was arrested 3 times for speaking to Russian prisoners of war about Jesus and the possibility of being saved. He was imprisoned and tortured. In 1944 the Communists took over the country. Whilst many church leaders compromised and collaborated with them Richard felt he couldn’t but continued witnessing to Russian soldiers and enslaved Romanians. He taught the Word of God wherever he could and became very involved in smuggling Bibles. He was captured by the secret police and spent 14 years in prison, including 3 years of solitary confinement. when eventually released he became a shining example to many of us who were students.

How should we encourage the next generation of students to be similarly passionate about the Lord Jesus and the gospel? So many who attend church today have almost given up living for Christ.

I had a patient who was the Church warden of her local village church. At the end of the medical consultation, I asked her how the church was going

“It is getting difficult. We are getting smaller and older!”

“Tell me do church members talk about the Lord Jesus to others in the village?”

“Good gracious me no. We don’t talk about him amongst ourselves.”

As always, the Bible has much to say about how we can encourage the next generation to life wholeheartedly for Christ. Let us look at the book of Acts and see what lessons we can learn.

1. The Leaders Example

This was crucial. It always is crucial. The next generation learn from how we live, even more than from what we say. Look at the fearless example of the early church leaders as they proclaim Christ.

Peter in Acts 2:23 and 3:13 fearlessly preaches about how his listeners had just crucified Jesus. In Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested and tried by the Sanhedrin. Just 8 weeks or so after the same group had tried Jesus, Peter boldly says,

Acts 4:12-13 - “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note they had been with Jesus.”

Isn’t that beautiful? They had been with Jesus. That must be key. They loved Jesus and had learned from Jesus.

Stephen In Acts 7 we are given the example of Stephen, a young man who fearlessly speaks out for Jesus and is stoned to death for doing so. The effect is to motivate the young church even more.

Acts 8:1 - “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem and all, except the apostles were scattered. . . “

Acts 8:4 – “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

Note that even at this young stage, evangelism and discipleship were based upon the Scriptures and apostolic teaching.

Philip A colleague of Stephen. In Acts 8:5 Philip went to Samaria and “proclaimed Christ there”.

Acts 8:12 – “But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised.”

So simple. We must ensure that the gospel we teach is fundamentally simple. Can all of us here explain the gospel outline about the kingdom of God in 30 seconds?

Peter in Acts 10 breaks with tradition when God directs him and shares the gospel with a gentile soldier - Cornelius. This is a massive step for the church. Traditions can stifle a church. Thinking and acting on what will be for the glory of Jesus often requires that we part from tradition. Do you remember Isaiah’s prophesy that Jesus quoted in Matthew 15:8?

“These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules of men.”

When the senior men in a church demonstrate such a love for the Lord Jesus and a real concern for the lost, the next generation must be influenced. It is a concern if our senior men are hidden in big offices and drive around in expensive cars and are not modelling humble discipleship.

Dr Tesfaye was a godly hospital consultant who was asked to become President of the Kale Heywet church. Senior people in the church recommended that he should be bought an expensive car as his was an old and dented. He replied,

“How can we spend so much money on a car when our evangelists are paid so little?”

Such Christ-like leadership is influential.

Archbishop Erica Sabete was Archbishop of Uganda but a very godly man. He had a real concern to build others up in Christ. One day he went down to Entebe airport to greet the Archbishop of Canterbury who was on an official visit. As they walked together away from the plane, Erica Sabete asked Michael Ramsay,

“Tell me Sir, how are you getting on with Jesus?”

We leaders must model Christ.

2. Persecution

It is striking that so often persecution helps the church to grow. Issues become very clear. Do I follow the Lord or obey the dictators who forbid me to do so. If people are committed to Christ, then having to move gives new audiences to hear the gospel. Richard Wurmbrand was taken to prison so he taught the prisoners there about the Lord Jesus and the Bible.

Acts 8:4 – “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.”

Acts 11:19 – “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. Some of them however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.”

It is infectious. Everywhere people are speaking about Jesus. Persecution toughens the Christians up and motivates them. God can use every situation for his glory.

I have been told that when the Communists persecuted the church in Ethiopia, the church may have been smaller but it was much more committed to living for Christ. They couldn’t meet publicly to sing but they still met in private to read and learn from the Bible. Many church members were passionate then about living and even willing to die for Christ

3. Helped by the Lord

This point is so important.

Acts 8:21 – “The Lord’s hand was with them.”

How the Lord Jesus loves to be involved in the ministry of those whose hearts are close to him. Doubtless they prayed about the awful problems they faced but their great prayer was to honour the Lord Jesus. They longed to please him and bring people to trust in the Lord.

If our hearts are not in tune with the Lord then our ministry will surely fail. God loves the prayers of his saints when they are about the glory of the Lord Jesus and the furtherance of His kingdom.

So we must encourage our students firstly to live close to the Lord but to pray for opportunities to witness for him. If any are doubting the efficacy of prayer encourage them to pray for opportunities. There is no prayer that he loves to answer more.

4. Helped by Pastors

Helping the church to grow is a team ministry. This is what the central offices of our churches are primarily for.

Acts 11:22 – “News of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabus to help them.”

He was thrilled and “encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”

What a pastor. The name Barnabus means ‘Son of Encouragement’. He encouraged them in their ministry but at the same time urged them to remain in the truth of the Lord.

Biblical doctrine is like a line drawn on a blackboard. Most of our life is spent trying to help people live up to that level. Unfortunately today we have to bring some people down from the skies and down to the reality of Biblical doctrine. The Lord wants us to live as his representatives in society, not in another ecstatic world. Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church that was tending to live in another world. He warned them,

“Do not go beyond what is written.” I Corinthian 4:6

Barnabus then sought out Saul at Tarsus and brought him to Antioch.

Acts 11:26 – “So for a whole year Barnabus and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.”

This is yet another example making the point that the prime function of the church is to teach God’s word to people. They were all message orientated. The pastors are the teachers who teach their church members how to teach the Word of God to their family and friends.

In the student world the leaders must be strong and help people move away from traditions that are not helpful. Make Bible teaching the prime purpose of our meetings, not singing, not dancing, not experiencing God. People don’t only learn from sermons. We need small groups where we can discuss bible passages and learn to share what we are learning. Personal bible study must be a priority. It was a joy to talk with some older school children in Tabor church last weekend. They showed me their “home-work” on which they are expected to write down what Bible passage they have studied that day and what they have learned.

Memorising Scripture is key and this again is a way that good leaders can encourage our young people.

Teaching simple ways to explain the gospel briefly is very helpful. Can all of our people explain the gospel in 30 seconds?

Good leadership will steer people away from emphases that the Lord Jesus did not stress. There are many weird practices that have infiltrated churches that Jesus knew nothing of. I will mention one – being ‘Slain in the Spirit’. Jesus did not encourage this or anything like it. He simply taught people the Word of God and expected people to trust him and obey him. To do that is the work of the Spirit. In fact the practice comes from the Hindu world where ‘Kundalini’ has been practised for thousands of years. According to ancient Hindu thinking ‘kundalini’ is a dormant force that is seated at the base of the spine. This force can be aroused in two ways. The classical way is by a combination of yoga physical exercise and intense meditation under the supervision of a yoga teacher. When the mind is emptied of its contents by these techniques they say that the blissful state of ‘nirvana’ is reached. An alternative way of having a temporary kundalini experience is to surrender to the influence of a gifted person or guru who has had the experience. Videos of Hindus having a kundalini awakening often show an emotional build-up, with rhythmic swaying.i The guru can touch the applicant who frequently falls backwards and remains on the floor in a dreamy state for a period of time. Inhibitions are temporarily lost and a state of laughter or crying, writhing around or other hysterical manifestations may occur. There may be trembling or spasms. The feeling of well-being may be associated with tremendous joy, love for others and a temporary healing of physical symptoms. It has been described as a spiritual orgasm. Kundalini is infectious and the experience may pass on to others nearby particularly if many are having a kundalini awakening. What is needed is for people to surrender to this influence and want an experience. It is interesting that the word ‘kundalini’ means ‘serpent’. This is said to be coiled up waiting to be released with the resulting ecstatic experience. This is so similar to what is seen in some charismatic meetings today, yet it has been known about in India for more than two thousand years. It is one example of going beyond Scripture.

Acts 11:26 is interesting.

“The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch”

This name was probably derived from the ‘Caesationos’ – those ‘devoted to Caesar’. The word Christian was also a nickname, those ‘devoted to Jesus.’ What a wonderful thing it is to be devoted to Jesus.

May I humbly ask you, do you really love the Lord Jesus? Are you serving him or are church activities and traditions more important? They are not the same thing.

The youth leader of a local church brought a group of her youngsters to join in one of our services. I sat down to her to welcome her. The first thing she said to me was:

“The trouble with your church is that you talk too much about Jesus.”

But the Lord Jesus is our message. We are not here for beautiful music but for Jesus. Our commission is to share the message about Jesus because those who belong to him (that is what the word ‘believe’ means) are saved and will eventually be raised from death to live with God in heaven.

If we are to win the students of this country back for Christ, this is what the sort of people must all be. Last Sunday in Hawassa we were invited back to dinner by a senior church member. We found that he had also invited a lady who had wandered into the church for the first time. She called herself a Christian but did not really understand the gospel. What a privilege it was to explain that a personal commitment to Christ is vital if we are to know that our sins have been forgiven. She took a copy of ‘Cure for Life’. I gave her my e-mail and she promised to keep in touch. It came about because a senior Christian was looking out for others he could help. Wonderful.

Some may object that it is not realistic to expect such a high level of commitment to the Lord Jesus. Paul would not agree. He wrote,

“He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:15,19

Jesus said,

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on earth . . .” Matthew 10:33

So, in summary, if we want to see many students won for Christ we have to model what we want them to be. Our meetings must primarily be to teach them the word of God and encourage them to obey it. We must all make sure that secondary issues such as the format of our services, music and dancing are in their proper, secondary place.

I was won for Christ when I was a student at Cambridge because I saw such genuine Christians living wholeheartedly for Christ around me. It has been so encouraging to see godly leaders in Ethiopia and we pray that the work of evangelising and then discipling the new Christians, through teaching them the Word of God, will grow and grow. We in the west have much to learn from you.

BVP

i See the videos in Carol Brooks article ‘Slain in what Spirit?” http://www.inplainsite.org/html/slain_in_the_spirit_2.html