Weekly postings on Mondays

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Equipping Teens for College, Part 4: Gospel Outline

In Part 2 I mentioned the importance of freshman possessing a big picture overview of the Bible that they can articulate.

Closely related is being equipped with a particular gospel outline. 

Whereas the overview is a summary of the Christian worldview as a whole, an outline of the gospel functions as an evangelistic tool to be memorized and shared easily with a nonChristian friend.

Gospel outlines are numerous, and I am not picky about which to use. All have their pros and cons.

The Bridge Diagram or "Bridge To Life"

  • Personally, I prefer the Navigators' Bridge Diagram because it is visual and memorable and I can share it in 30 seconds, if need be, or stretch it out to a half-hour.
  • The Big Story is another good one, used often in InterVarsity circles. Its main strength is its view of sin and brokenness as affecting the whole world, not just individual sinners.
  • Cru's Four Spiritual Laws has been used by students for decades to bring others to Christ. A proven tool in the trenches of ministry!
  • Billy Graham Association's Steps to Peace with God also works great.


The point is that a Gospel Outline can be used in the clutch. It reduces "verbal meandering" and gives students confidence in sharing Christ.

Show me an incoming first-year student who knows and uses a gospel outline -- and you'll find me investing in that student.

An additional benefit of a gospel outline is that it functions as an overall plan in the back of a student's mind as he/she interacts with nonChristian friends over time.

Oh -- adults. Might this be for you as well? Pick a tool and use it well.

* * * * * *

A helpful resource: Kingdom Come: How Jesus Wants to Change the World, by Allen Wakabayashi. The author does a nice job of laying out a "kingdom" vision for evangelism.


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Equipping Teens for College, Part 3: Inductive Bible Study Skills

To study the Bible inductively is an adventure in humility. It's a choice to place oneself under the authority of a God-inspired author of more than two millennia ago.

For this reason and others, my ideal incoming freshman would have been trained by her home church in OIA:

  • Observation: Scrutinizing the text for its basic facts and grammatical construction.

  • Interpretation: Discerning what the text probably meant in its ancient context.

  • Application: Allowing the text to speak relevantly to one's personal life and church.

Inductive is, of course, contrasted with deductive approaches which come to the text with prior-held conclusions that must be proven. Hence the phrase, finding "proof texts."

Proof texts merely reinforce what you believed before the study began.

Inductive study, on the other hand, expands the understanding, is open to surprise.

Takeaways from the inductive method often involve "dawning" realizations such as:

  • Wow, I never thought of Jesus that way before.    Or, 
  • This passage is messing with my head.

On campus, we could use a lot more first-year students who've had these kind of light-bulb-on experiences in the Bible.



Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Equipping Teens for College, Part 2: Bible at a Glance

The Bible at a Glance

Probably you cannot read the above chart in this compact blog space.

But it's an important element in the toolkit of my ideal incoming freshman.

To illustrate, consider the following story, which is based on a thousand real life examples:

Kendra grew up in the church. She arrives at college lacking any kind of big picture overview of the Bible's message.

Sure, she knows a smattering of devotional thoughts and concepts gleaned from sermons, worship songs and her teen Bible, including:

  • A bit of Paul's teaching
  • A small helping of Jesus
  • A smattering of the 10 commandments
  • The Lord's Prayer 

She knows she's a sinner, that Jesus died to save her and that evolution is false.

At college, she's confronted with atheism, agnosticism, Islam. All seem to offer comprehensive worldviews that challenge her hodgepodge of devotional ideas.

They all seem to make sense of the world in their own way.

Kendra's feeling overmatched, confused, embarrassed.

How great it would be if she had a big-picture grasp of the Bible that she could articulate in a few sentences -- and that offered a deep (and wide) explanation of human experience.

Christianity begins with God and his love, moves tragically to human rejection of God, then begins anew with Israel and crescendos into Jesus' death and resurrection. It culminates in the restoration of all things. Those who participate in faith live in God's presence forever. Those who don't, don't.

You could go a long way in college as a Christian, just knowing that larger narrative.

I'd recommend The Bible at a Glance! Every Christian should know the big picture. Especially the "Kendra's" out there who are headed off to college.



Sunday, June 01, 2014

Equipping Teens for College: What I wish they brought with them from home

Recently Sharon and I bought a car.* It got me thinking about the oft-used phrase standard equipment.

Here's the "standard equipment" I wish Christians students possessed when they enter college from their hometowns and churches:

1. A big-picture overview of the Bible, Genesis to Revelation. Important because it keeps students grounded in the story of redemption.

In contrast, students tend to arrive on campus equipped with a smattering of devotional thoughts and moral obligations.

2. Inductive Bible study skills. The 3-step process of observation, interpretation and application (OIA) gives students a way to study scripture that is solid and reliable.

An uncommon skill among 18-year olds.

3. A simple outline of the gospel.  It could be the Bridge Diagram (my fav), the Four Spiritual Laws, the Four Worlds, Romans Roads, Steps to Peace with God . . . it doesn't matter. None of these is perfect yet each provides a starting point for sharing the gospel with a nonChristian friend.

4. A beginner's apologetic. This might be the least likely standard equipment but is indispensable for collegiate life as a Christian. I'm talking about a clear frame-up of how to have a discussion with a seeker or skeptic and some basic answers to hard questions.

5. An awareness of social and racial justice. This area is improving relative to 20 years ago but still has a long ways to go.

* * *

Next week I'll dive into one or two of the above more in-depth and suggest some helpful resources.


* We bought a Ford Focus from the Hudson, WI Ford dealership. I'd recommend both.