Loving Your Campus

Engaging is a word that implies involvement and a deep level of commitment. For instance, a couple becomes engaged to be married. That decision is not based on a passing acquaintance or superficial relationship. Rather it is based on a commitment to love the other person.

Similarly, engaging the campus is serious business and not just a passing fancy. Our supreme model for this kind of commitment is God Himself, who "so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." Your campus is part of the world for which Jesus died. Since he has "entrusted to us the message of reconciliation," it is the immediate world that we are to love for the sake of Christ.

Engaging the campus will mean loving the people on your campus. Our natural tendency is to spend time with those who are easy to be around, people who make us feel good. But loving the campus means extending yourself, your love to those who do not yet know Christ. It will cost you time from your studies, time from your Christian friends, and even part of yourself to bring Christ's love to another student.

Unfortunately, our relationships with the college campus can often be analogous to just having casual dates with the campus -- not really being committed to it in a significant way.

As a student, you have an opportunity of a lifetime. By living, studying, and socializing with others, you can impact many with God's love. Ask the Lord to give you a passion for your campus. Consider your student years as an internship in learning how to love people as God loves them.