Archive: Campus Chaos: God’s Opportunity
A great opening for the Gospel has been created by the turmoil which seems to be tearing U.S. colleges apart these days. Are we awake or sleeping?
By Dr. James Engel
Professor of Marketing at Ohio State University, Campus Crusade Leader
“Radicals Take Over at Harvard.” “National Guard Gasses Unruly Berkeley Mob.” “Prexy Resigns at Cornell Under Fire.” “Blacks Riot at Kent State.”
This is just a sample of 1969 headlines that reflect campus chaos. Large members of students are rioting against the “establishment” and are searching for meaning by open experimentation with sex and drugs. Moreover, this is not just a campus problem. The issues being raised cut all across society. Also, this is not just a communist-led minority of trouble makers; the headlines reflect deep-seated campus sentiment.
The radicals, however, have accomplished one positive thing that most people overlook—they have established a type of academic freedom which permits expression of virtually any point of view, including Christianity. As a leading communist student at Berkeley told one Christian group visiting the campus, “Welcome to Berkeley; we made it possible for you to be here.” In short, campus chaos is God’s opportunity.
If you doubt that such an opportunity exists, just listen to the questions these kids are asking: “What am I?” “What is life all about?” “How can I find meaning?” These are the very questions that the Gospel alone can answer. Moreover, experience has shown that students listen when Christians, by their life and words, demonstrate the life-changing power of the Biblical message.
In today’s wide open atmosphere of freedom of expression, there is no excuse for “secret-service Christianity.” The radicals win a hearing because they stand for something. In short, these are not times for “business as usual,” and there are many ways that Christians, individually and collectively, can become a vital part of the solution.
What makes these kids tick?
Let’s face it, this is a concerned generation:
- They have grown up under the constant threat of nuclear holocaust and cannot comprehend the continuation of a war-torn world.
- They have, by and large, not known economic need and hence cannot grasp the materialistic motivation of the majority when so many issues remain unsolved.
- They are in revolt at institutions, including the university, which render the individual as a number without face or name and expect him to behave in a prescribed way.
- They are uneasy at a way of life that prizes neutrality—doing your own thing—in lieu of conquering the world’s problems head on.
It is true that most do not share the sentiment of a minority who intend to tear this country apart. But our way of life is seen as wanting, and a large proportion are not content to sit back without action. It boils down to this: these are your kids challenging your values.
I do not agree with a strategy of revolt, but I share their concerns. Today’s youth sense social ills more keenly than many of their elders. And, most of all, they reject hypocrisy. Their message to the older generation is simply this: “You have not found the answers; why should we listen to you?”
Must this chaos continue?
I believe there is an answer to the issues which are being raised, because these kids are reacting to legitimate weaknesses of a society that has turned its back on God. They know that education alone is not solving the problems they see. Nor is education providing meaning for life. Furthermore, they are keenly aware that materialism is a false god, because they see the emptiness of material achievement without other goals. Many, in turn, will no longer turn to the church. They reject “Sunday morning Christianity” that does not make a difference during the week.
Students may be quite uneasy about the church, but they show a deep-seated interest in Christ. They sense that He was more than a mere man and that He taught a way of life based on genuine love. Large numbers are eager to commit their life to following Him once they see His message cut loose from the institutional trappings they resent.
Let me make one thing clear, however: it just does not work to divorce Christ from His Biblical claims as so many on campus have attempted to do in the vain attempt to make Christianity relevant. Once the Biblical message is tampered with, Christianity loses its powers, and the church loses its students. I could name one church-related campus after another that has closed chapel service for lack of interest. On the other hand, I have spoken on some of these same campuses and on many others to crowds of 300 or more meeting in fraternity houses and in other secular locations to hear about the uniqueness of Jesus.
The conclusion is clear: present Christ and the full Biblical message or do not waste time on campus. A watered-down version of the Gospel comes nowhere near to answering the tough questions this generation is asking. Moreover, they sense in a hurry when the message is “not for real.”
Tell it like it is
If space permitted I could tell you stories of students whose lives changed dramatically because a fellow student or faculty member cared and communicated how they can know Christ in a personal way. In just one of my classes this last year, three marriages were changed as both husband and wife turned their lives over to Christ. Today, these men and women are part of a “spiritual revolution.” Students are eager to know Christ when we “tell it like it is.”
Christianity, however, requires individuals who are willing to enter into battle and reject the comforts of non-involvement. It requires a keen awareness that a way of life is being threatened at its foundations and that Christ must use us, a distinct minority, as His vehicles to present the answer.
Fortunately, on campus after campus, a dynamic witness is emerging as students and faculty members meet in “action groups” for Bible study, prayer, sharing, and joint concern in presenting the Gospel. It is through such groups, much like the First Century Church, that a vital witness is beginning to flourish and make a real impact.
Laymen from all walks of life also can play a vital role, however:
(1.) Build a foundation of Christianity in your family that is reflected in genuine love and deep-rooted values. Children from such a family are not likely to be tomorrow’s irresponsible radicals.
(2.) Live your life in such a way that Christ is glorified and others know the basis of your hope. Show the youth of today the answer to the question I so often am asked: “How can you be a Christian and be in the business world?” Dare to be different and stand up for your faith.
(3.) Open your homes to students. International students in particular are hungering to participate in Christian family life. I have met many students whose lives changed because laymen cared.
(4.) Invite students to attend your church and make them a part of your fellowship. Old ways of worship may need some modification, but this is easily done by being sensitive to the needs of those to whom you are ministering.
(5.) Support campus groups that proclaim Christ. If a group is presenting a non-Biblical message, voice your concern and demand hard answers as to why. A non-authentic Christian program does more harm than good.
(6.) Pray that God, in His sovereignty, will bring about a real campus revival. The workers are too few, and God alone can meet the crisis of today. I am convinced, however, that concentrated prayer will bring results we have not even dreamed of.
My plea is a simple one: Let’s provide hard-hitting spiritual solutions for what basically is a spiritual problem·. The opportunity is there; it’s up to us as Christians to meet the challenge before it is too late.
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