Reinventing everything you know about yourself

Sometimes we don't see the blessing of our particular circumstance.

Over two years ago I became a Christian while I was a student at Youngstown State University. Circumstantially, I was busy with classes and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. Yet, I was also fully devoting my time to this new-found Christian walk and I was in the right place for so many opportunities. I was surrounded by college students, an age group that’s arguably one of the most lost and searching. So in some ways, I felt that I became a Christian at an ideal time for me to share the gospel with others. 

Yet, I don’t think I was right about the timing at all. The problem is that becoming a Christian means reinventing everything you know about yourself. You’re now looking through the lens of Christ, rather than your old identity. In the couple years after becoming a Christian, I started going to a healthy local church, reading the Bible with actual understanding, spending time building Christian community, and reworking my old sin-self. Now I see that these things were fundamental before I could start taking full advantage of the college atmosphere God placed me in.

There are phases to our growth and maturity in Christ. For me, that realization that Christ means all took a while. But the next step is taking this hope that I have and giving it to others and now I’m learning and growing in that.

This is where Share The Gospel comes in.

At my church, there is a ministry I volunteer in called TBT (The Bible Talks) that is connected with Youngstown State and does ministry on the college campus. Although I am no longer in college, I spend a lump of time participating and leading this age group. On Sundays, we have been reading through Share The Gospel in small groups. It's been awesome to experience the mind shift of these students- away from their own lives, to suddenly evangelizing other college students they don't even know.

One quote from the book puts it well:

"We look around us with new eyes, and see a world full of people who remain hostile to God; who are God's enemies, not his friends. And we discover that just as God has reconciled us to himself, so he has entrusted us with the privilege and responsibility of spreading the extraordinary message of his reconciling love to others."

This is exactly what I am seeing among the college students on campus and on Sunday mornings. The girls in my small groups are having discussions and sharing the fears, insecurities, and doubts of sharing the Gospel with others. Yet, they are growing more and more comfortable and ARE sharing this good news!

Share The Gospel is built on the foundation of knowing the gospel. I spent those two years or so after becoming a Christian, learning and growing in my knowledge of the gospel, so that I could teach and equip these college students who are now sharing the gospel. I am meeting with girls to disciple them in their Christian faith. I am growing in my habit of inviting any young girl into a conversation or Bible study where I will Share The Gospel with them.

Going back to my first statement, we often miss the blessing of our unique and particular circumstance. Being around college students who are growing so much in the Lord and are sharing the gospel so well, has made me wonder if I took advantage of that time well. However, I have realized the blessing of the particular circumstance that I am in currently, and I wouldn’t change it. I now have a deep-rooted understanding of the gospel and the Lord has removed many of the hindrances to the gospel in my life.

One of my favorite chapters in Share the Gospel considers conversational pathways. The first idea is to tell your story. I find it so fruitful to tell 'my story' with the students, and to illustrate the saving power of the gospel. The Lord gives us many particular circumstances to share the gospel. Let's make it about Jesus!