Showing the Love of Christ on Campus

Christmas is the celebration of a miraculous event—the birth of Jesus Christ.   Christians call this birth the Incarnation, the coming of a unique God/human into this world.  And InterVarsity is keeping Christ in Christmas.

The Bible speaks of Jesus’ birth as an expression of God’s love. Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have sought to follow God’s loving example of living among us by going into inhospitable places to share with people the good news of Jesus Christ.  InterVarsity witnessing communities on campuses across the United States show students and faculty the love of Jesus and the truth of the gospel.

Ministry of Presence

This fall on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, Justin Tibbels, an InterVarsity staff member, and some InterVarsity students helped first-year students move into their dorms as an outreach to introduce them to InterVarsity’s campus community. Justin was leaving the campus after a tiring morning of helping new students move furniture and boxes.  He was hungry and his muscles ached from all the lifting and repeated trips up the stairs.  So he was ready for some rest.  But in the parking lot he passed a young man who looked lost and confused. Justin asked him, “Do you need some help?”

Nathan introduced himself as a freshman student.  He explained that he was moving into the dorms by himself, since his parents had to stay home with his brother, who suffered from a chronic illness.  “I need things at a store,” he said. “But I don’t have a car.”

“Let’s take my car,” said Justin.  Together they went shopping for the supplies Nathan needed for his dorm room. 

Later that evening, Nathan joined Justin for dinner.  And days afterwards Nathan met some of the InterVarsity fellowship leaders and other members of the InterVarsity community on campus.

Incarnational Love

Nathan had felt welcomed by his new InterVarsity friends; so he decided to attend InterVarsity’s first large group meeting on campus for the new school year.  During that meeting two upperclassmen shared stories about how they had found deeper meaning for their lives through the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Nathan was impressed by their sincerity. They told of how God’s love for us through Jesus inspires us to love and care for other people.  They said that the Incarnation of Jesus Christ demonstrates God’s love in this world and that such incarnational love is a core value among InterVarsity students.

Justin invited non-Christian students and anyone who wanted a deeper relationship with Jesus to come forward to symbolize their decisions to follow him.  Eighteen students walked to the front of the room for this moment of commitment.  And Nathan was among them. 

Nathan recently emailed Justin, thanking him for helping a “scared and flustered freshman” on the first day of school.  “Since then, your influence in my life has grown.  I think meeting you was a little ‘God sighting’ in my life.  Thank you for being a friend, mentor, teacher, coach, and leader,” he wrote. 

Nathan now attends a Bible study every Monday night, along with other freshmen from his dorm.  The InterVarsity community has learned about Nathan’s brother’s illness, and they pray for him and his family regularly.

The Incarnation of Jesus shows the love of God for all people.  InterVarsity’s campus witnessing communities proclaim the good news of Jesus and help all students and faculty experience the love of God.