Gracie Tignor is a student at Liberty University pursuing a degree in Christian Leadership and Church Ministries with a cognate in Women’s Leadership. She has served as a Women’s Ministry Intern and a Student Ministry Intern at London Bridge Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA. She has a passion for seeing her generation and the next generation know Christ deeper and make Him known.
Belief in Jesus has risen significantly among young adults. Revival is here and college students are leading the way. An opportunity for fruit-bearing college ministry exists now more than ever because college students are hungry for the truth. But what does that ministry look like? What do college students need from ministry leaders?
As a college student myself, I propose a few ways to more effectively reach today’s college students:
Cultivate authentic relationships.
College students detect insincerity from a mile away. If you show them that you genuinely care about them, then they will lean into a relationship with you and be open to listening to the wisdom you have to share. Take a sincere interest in college students’ lives with involvement that goes beyond just ministry programming. Reach out frequently – follow up on a prayer request, send an audio message with encouragement, ask to meet for coffee, invite them over for dinner (we love home-cooked meals). Be consistent in your communication and be intentional in developing relationships with college students, understanding that it takes time to build trust.
Share your story.
You might thinking because you are of a different generation that you don’t have anything meaningful to offer, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Regardless of age differences, your story relates to circumstances through which college students are currently walking. The struggles of jealousy and comparison don’t have a generation attached to it. Wrestling with purpose in life doesn’t have a generation attached to it. Peer pressure and the desire to “fit in” doesn’t have a generation attached to it. The context of struggles may be different since our culture is ever changing, but the root of the struggles college students are navigating remain the same. Sharing your story builds trust and models vulnerability. Don’t expect vulnerability from college students if you aren’t willing to be vulnerable yourself. Vulnerability encourages vulnerability.
Don’t shy away from the truth.
This generation of college students is presented with many ideas and philosophies. Society poses many “truths” for satisfaction, fulfillment, and purpose – ideas that overpromise and underdeliver. Hookup culture promises intimacy. Wealth promises security. Self-help promises peace. Popularity promises belonging. Most college students have tried these things and know they don’t work. College students want the truth. They want to know where they can find the satisfaction, fulfillment, purpose, intimacy, security, peace, and belonging they desperately long for. These things are only found in Jesus Christ. College students need to hear that. We don’t need or want the sugar-coated version of the gospel. Preach the truth and do it accurately, clearly, and confidently.
