“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
We’re not so much talking about cold-contact evangelism here, but rather letting people know who you are and what you believe.
A New You?
Some people come to uni and see it as a great chance to start afresh; a clean slate after high school. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you yourself change but that often you present yourself differently – carve out a new image, if you will. While this is in a no way a bad thing – it can often be a very liberating time – it is still something which you can lose control of without really noticing. Much depends on how you go about your first term. Your new-found independence could see you stepping up and stepping out in your faith, or, on the other hand, might result in you leaving your Christianity in a box for the time being.
Start as You Mean to Go On
One of the best pieces of advice I received as a fresher was simply this: tell people you’re a Christian as soon as you can. Your new friends don’t know you yet and so in a sense you have no ‘reputation’ to live up to. For some reason it just seems to be a lot easier than doing it after a number of weeks, months, even years. If people know about your faith from the outset, not only will they not be shocked when they find out you are a Christian, they’ll learn about who you are in that context; they’ll see how you live and the beliefs and that you hold knowing that there’s a reason behind them – Jesus!
(c) Vinelife/Ralph Pedley 2008 (permission required)
