Christian Union Unveils Historic Evangelistic Outreach
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
You have one business on earth - to save souls. - John Wesley
When Jesus sent out the disciples with the power to cast out demons, heal diseases, and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God (Luke 9-16), He showed us that The Great Commission would be fulfilled by the faithful work of His disciples. Through His indwelling Spirit that brings life out of death, God uses us to proclaim the good news of salvation, to heal the broken and sick, to save souls to Himself.
Unfortunately, the essential work of evangelism to fulfill the great commission can easily be put off. Evangelism often makes even fervent believers uncomfortable, and Christians can grow cold to the reality that God has given us everything we need to share the gospel with power and in truth. Over a hundred years ago, the great missionary Hudson Taylor famously said, “The Great Commission is not an option to be considered, but a command to be obeyed.”
Christian Union is using social media posts as part of its CU Rise outreach. Christian Union is responding to the call of the Great Commission with the most focused evangelistic campaign in its twenty years of existence. This spring, Christian Union, through its CU Rise outreach, is mobilizing students on its ten campuses to share the gospel more boldly, strategically, and frequently than ever.
“We want the name of Jesus to be the most talked-about name on our campuses this spring,” said Adrian Schoonmaker, vice president of Christian Union Universities.
If the Great Commission is true, our plans are not too big; they are too small - Pat Morley
Last year, Christian Union founder and CEO Matt Bennett saw the vision for this initiative developing: to saturate college campuses with the gospel, allowing every student to hear about the saving work of Christ multiple times each year.
The vision is inspired by the Engel’s Scale, an evangelism framework that shows how some people are ready to receive Christ simply upon hearing the gospel and being invited to respond, while others will need more specific apologetic or personalized arguments in order to come to faith. Bennett, Christian Union ministry faculty, and executive team members sought the Lord about how to give every student at these influential universities the opportunity to respond to the gospel in faith.
The result is a large-scale, multi-campus campaign designed to share the gospel with every student at each of three universities three to five times per academic year. That means that, in the course of this spring semester, the gospel will be shared 210,000 times—three times for each of the 70,000 students on the nine campuses where Christian Union ministers. The hope is that these efforts will not only bless and draw hundreds of students at influential universities to Christ, but also encourage and call up other universities, students, and American Christians to share the gospel with urgency and expectation.
CU Rise begins on March 13—a social media campaign challenging and inviting university students to respond to the gospel in faith. Because social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, and YouTube are so woven into the life of students, sharing the gospel and inviting students to apologetic events, to receive prayer, or to ask questions of faith will provide what might possibly be the largest scale initiative to share the gospel on these campuses in history.
Each Christian Union Universities ministry will organize local events to target their student demographics with events ranging from intellectual engagement lectures to book distribution to small group question and answer sessions. The hope is that interested and even uninterested students would be given multiple avenues to engage the gospel and their questions of faith.
May the gospel go forth in power for the glory of God this spring!
RELATED: Want to go deeper in your faith? Click here to receive a free download of Christian Union’s "Seeking God Lifestyle” Bible Course Manual.
