Brandon Moore serves as the Conway Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) director where he loves to help students explore their faith.
“Is there anyone you can tell? Because this is what we do!”
That was my question to a student a few weeks ago shortly after he placed his faith in Christ alone for salvation. See, John* had grown up in a great home, was in church every weekend, and even found himself in leadership positions at this church. There was one problem – he was faking it the whole time.
I met up with John in part to recruit him to our Freshman Leadership Team – a team of freshmen committed to going deeper in their faith and preparing themselves for leadership positions within the BCM and their newfound local churches.
The tone of our conversation changed once he told me that he wasn’t sure if he would get to heaven if he stopped living the “right” way. Over the course of two hours John and I discussed the relationship between faith and works, our inability to save ourselves, and how important it was to be honest with God.
After about an hour, John finally admitted aloud what he had known for a long time — he wasn’t a Christian. “So, what do I even do then? If my work doesn’t get me there… How does this work?” John asked with desperation. Not too long after this question, he was praying to receive Christ and genuinely placed his faith in Jesus alone.
I looked at him and said, “John, most everyone you know thinks they can work their way to God. Everyone needs to hear the message of Jesus. Is there anyone you can tell? Because this is what we do!”
He immediately responded with a name. I encouraged him to tell that person and let me know how it went. Less than 24 hours later I got a text saying his friend wanted to meet because they had lots of questions about receiving Christ. A few days later his friend prayed to receive Christ as well.
This is what we do.
I have encouraged our leadership team with this basic reality from the Scriptures: We have everything we need in Christ to do the work God has called us to. It doesn’t matter if we have followed Christ for 20 years or 24 hours. God and His mighty power at work within us, can do anything He wants to do through us.
This was true for John, it is true for me and you, and it is true for the next “John” that comes to Christ on our campuses.
*Name changed for privacy