God desires our InterVarsity chapters to be places where students are not just concerned with themselves. He wants chapters to act out the "love your neighbor" principle.
In Luke 10, Jesus answers the question of "Who is my neighbor?" by telling the story of the good Samaritan. From that account, we see that our neighbor is anyone in need. To love our neighbor means to love Christians and non-believers.
Love and change should take place in our InterVarsity chapters. All people should be accepted.
Reaching Out to Christians
What does the "love your neighbor" principle look like in action? Let me give you two examples….
One summer I had an opportunity to teach an InterVarsity small group leaders' camp on Prince Edward Island in Canada. One member of my small group was a man named John, a student from the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia. During our first meeting, John admitted that he was extremely shy. He could not interact well in a group, and he did not want to be at camp. From the world's perspective, John was the last person you would want in your group.
During the week of camp, I saw the rest of the students pour out their love to John. They helped this lanky 6'6" kid learn how to play volleyball and how to interact with others.
By the end of the week, John didn't want to go home. We had become family to him. The students in his small group loved John, and were changed by him. And John taught us something. He taught us how to worship God more deeply. Our chapters should be places where people like John are cared for and loved.
A second example….In the last 10 years, sexual temptation has been one of the major struggles I have seen students face on the campus. Society says that God's design for sexual behavior is outdated. How do we counterbalance that trend? One way is by creating an environment within our chapters that frees students to discuss sexual temptation and other struggles with close friends.
When I am discipling a student whom I know is dating, one of the first questions I ask is, "What is happening in the physical relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend?" A number of years ago I was meeting separately with two students in the chapter who were dating. I found out from both the man and the woman that they were having serious struggles with sexual temptation.
To help them, I instituted a little signal with each of them. When I saw them on campus, I would ask, "How are you doing?" By that question, they knew I was asking about their physical relationship. Yet nobody around them knew the intent of the question. That little accountability question helped them to deal with their problems in this area.
I have followed that same process with a number of other students. To my amazement, instead of those students jumping behind a building or running the other way when they saw me coming, they welcomed the tough love that I showed them. They desired to be loved and desired to change to be more like Christ.
Are the small groups, large group meetings, and discipling relationships within your chapter places where the "love your neighbor" principle is being acted out? Are your chapters places where all types of students are accepted and helped to be more like Jesus through the love of other students? How can this action be a bigger part of the vision for your chapter?
Reaching Out to Non-Believers
To reach people who are not Christians, the "love your neighbor" principle has two dimensions: evangelism and social justice. In InterVarsity we describe these two dimensions with the phrase "engaging the campus with the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
What part does evangelism have in God's vision for your chapter? In God's eyes, evangelism is not optional. Too many students think erroneously that evangelism is only for those who have significant gifts in that area. God calls all of His people to be witnesses. Sometimes our actions (or lack of them) in evangelism indicate that we do not really believe a relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is what everyone needs. As chapter leaders, make sure evangelism is a vital part of the vision for your campus.
Another vital part of the "love your neighbor" principle is social justice. God cares for the whole person.
Students can act out God's love to others by meeting the needs of people on campus and in the community. This love will take many forms. One small group, composed primarily of well-to-do InterVarsity students in the Greek system at Chapel Hill, decided to participate weekly in a community soup kitchen for street people. That participation radically changed a number of those students' understanding of materialism.
God calls His people not only to meet needs but also to help change structures. Campus structures that students can help change include the student government, Greek system, campus newspaper, and resident housing.
You might think changes like these are impossible. They are not. A number of year ago, Jim Hummel came to UNC-Chapel Hill as a freshman student. He quickly got involved in the campus newspaper. God encouraged Jim and a few others to influence the paper from within. Through a lot of hard work and prayer, Jim was elected editor his junior year. Due to the influence of Jim and other Christians, the paper, which previously had a strong non-Christian bias, has been more open to advocating Christian principles and ideals. The structural influence has lasted for a number of years since Jim's graduation.
Is your chapter involved in acts of social justice on your campus or in the community? What place does social justice have in God's vision for your campus?
