Introduction
In the spirit of Ecclesiastes, when it comes to preaching there is nothing new under the sun. We ought not to want what’s new but the new is what always tempts us to change the message. To be sure, we always want to be relevant and contemporary. (1) We ought not to preach in inaccessible language nor in ways that needlessly discredit the message to the modern hearer. Nevertheless, the old saying remains true: “New is not always better.”
This truth is vital for college ministry. As a minister in a college town and as a former Campus Minister with Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), I know the temptation to change the message whether in truth, tone, or style. It is discouraging when a college student leaves your ministry to follow the new trending preacher. It is disheartening when students on your leadership team say, “I don’t think I could bring my friend to hear this.” But, it is incomparably delightful when a staunch unbeliever attends your church or large group meeting and, through the ordinary means of preaching, is given a new heart by the Spirit (Ek. 36). Nothing compares to witnessing Christians grow mightily through the preaching of the gospel.
Does it matter what we preach? Of course! Nothing matters more than this (1 Cor. 2:1-5). Does the message at all change whether we preach to children, youth, college, young professionals, families, or elderly? Never! But, are there certain motives that might drive our preaching in an unhealthy way? Sadly, yes. In God’s mercy, He not only reveals and forgives our unhealthy motives but He also shows us the proper way forward.
Unhealthy Motives For Preaching To College Students
It is undeniable that there are times when we get up to deliver a sermon to college students that is primarily driven by unhealthy motives. Even the best of us can have these moments if we’re not watchful. What are some of these unhealthy motives?
The felt-needs of the people
There is no preaching where there are no people. Preaching is an intensely personal exercise (Rom. 1:8-15). Critical as they are, however, the preferences and opinions of the hearers do not determine what the sermon is. The sermon is to them and for them but the sermon is from God. It is His message and we don’t have the authority to alter or edit it (Prov. 30:5-6). We are ambassadors who receive and deliver a message from Another (2 Cor. 5:18-21). While the needs of the people are a vital component of a well-constructed sermon, our understanding of the people’s needs doesn’t compare with the Holy Spirit’s understanding of the people’s needs. He, through His Word, addresses the true needs of college students.
This is important because college students will often request series on pressing topics. They want to reach the lost, their friends to hear the gospel, and be relevant on campus. Praise God for these desires! We would be foolish to ignore the needs of our students or to pour cold water on their evangelistic zeal. But we must also have a primary source for our pastoral ears—our Triune God’s Word. God’s Word always addresses the true needs of the students. Therefore, we ought not to choose a sermon series or develop a sermon based primarily on what we think the students need but on what God’s Word says they need. (2)
Illustrations or compelling stories
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Illustrations tend to enliven an audience and quicken attention.” While true, we mustn’t put the cart before the horse by hitching a text to an illustration. Rather, we hitch an illustration to a text. This means that we don’t choose a text merely because we have a good story to tell. The authoritative, life-giving power is not our illustration but God’s re-creative Word (2 Cor. 3:18-4:6).
Sometimes we have stories or anecdotes that do more harm than good. Frankly, some stories are so gripping that they distract from the main message. It’s not that the story has more power than God’s Word but that the story appeals to the fleshly mind in such a way as to eclipse the main point of the sermon. As a former professional football player, I have learned that some stories compel people to approach me afterward asking if I’ve caught passes from Tom Brady rather than how they might receive the grace of Christ.
Don’t choose a text or a series because you heard a great illustration from another preacher. A mediocre illustration or quick word picture that matches the text is more powerful and pedagogical than a TED talk worthy story. Don’t forget where the true power of preaching comes from (Rom. 1:16-17).
Well-known turns of phrases
Like illustrations, turns of phrase can be helpful pedagogical tools for pastoring students. The late Jim Baird encouraged me years ago to acquire a few turns of phrase to repeat throughout the years to help some truths “sink in”. By this Jim didn’t mean this is what should drive the sermon. Again, we shouldn’t preach our point but God’s text and the point He wants to make.
A caution can be directed toward naming our sermon series. Often times it is very helpful to have a memorable “hook” for people to remember throughout the semester. If you put the cart (your turn of phrase or sermon series title) before the horse (God’s inerrant Word) however, at some point the horse will collide with the cart. This can happen by only focusing on one theme throughout an entire series while missing another major theme that God wants us to preach. In our attempts to be creative, let’s make sure that we are not narrowing what God’s Word can and does say to our hearers.
A book, study, statistics, research, podcast, etc.
The Puritan John Trapp once said, “Be careful what books you read, for as water tastes of the soil it runs through, so does the soul taste of the authors that a man reads.” We need books for our personal refreshment and pastoral insight. These books must be chosen with care. They should be edifying to us personally and to those to whom we preach. And while we may find a book or resource that we think would be especially helpful to college students, we need to be careful that we don’t let something timely replace what is timeless.
The Book drives and determines each sermon rather than our books. Podcasts, research studies, or other resources can be immensely helpful but none of them are inspired. None of them can proclaim to dry bones to come alive (Ek. 36-37). Don’t replace the original thoughts from your own prayerful study of God’s Word with parroted sayings of others. God called you to preach to those students which means that you are called to be the minister—not other authors, podcasters, or world class preachers.
Cultural critique or celebrity mentions to draw attention
Scripture tells us to avoid worldliness (1 Jn. 2:15-17). We are not to be conformed to this world (Rom. 12:1-2). God provides examples for how to interact with our surrounding culture (Acts 17:1-34). (3) This is necessary and vital for a healthy ministry. But, if we’re not careful, we can be driven primarily by the cultural commentary we want to make rather than God’s Word.
There are times when we hear about a campus ministry preaching about the latest movies or Taylor Swift lyrics. The temptation to be relevant to college students can lure us in this direction. The double-edged sword of the Spirit is the most powerful weapon in existence. The greatest relevance, potent persuasion, and timely application comes not from our cultural commentary but from God’s Word. God’s timeless Word can bring the most timely message for our changing times.
Healthy Motives For Preaching To College Students
While we must remember that we are preaching to a particular group of people, we must remember that every type of person needs the same gospel. There are certain presuppositions that God’s Word provides that ought to direct all preaching regardless of the audience.
God’s Text
God’s Word is precisely that—God’s Word. Our omnipotent Creator created ex nihilo merely by speaking. No help needed. No raw material. No potential to work with—just God. Paul picks up on this in 2 Corinthians 4 and applies it to preaching the gospel. After declaring in 3:18 that beholding Christ by faith is what the Spirit uses to progressively transform us into the image of Christ, Paul says that we dare not “practice cunning” or “tamper with God’s Word” (4:2). We declare the gospel of grace by an “open statement” (4:2) “But,” one may object, “this is so bland. Surely this won’t produce a following among college students.” Paul makes clear why we can trust the simple open statement of God’s Word. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6).
God’s speech is His creative power and His re-creative power. We don’t edit or alter God’s Word; we proclaim it (2 Tim. 3:16-4:2)! College students need to hear of a much greater authority than anything else in existence. They want real truth, real hope, real purpose, real transformation, and real good news. Only God’s Word can provide that.
God’s glory
Psalm 115:1 ought to grip our conscience when it comes to preaching. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name give the glory.” Preaching is worship. It is the worship of the living God, not the preacher. The preacher is an ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20) who heralds to sinners to behold the Lamb who was slain. The preacher is one who announces the arrival of good news for wretched men and women. He is one who pronounces freedom for captives, adoption for orphans, and righteousness for the unjust. The goal of the preacher is to proclaim God’s text in such a way that, by the Holy Spirit, the people are moved to obsess far more over the glory of God.
College students are sinners which means they’re inherently selfish like the rest of us. At the same time, they are image bearers which means they know at some level they’re meant for “something else”. Every day they swim in the waters of “how to better yourself”, “how to love yourself”, “how to accomplish your goals and dreams”. When you talk with them, you hear their exhaustion. Freshmen come in excited about the possibilities while Juniors are tempted to fall into despair after they’ve changed their major for the third time. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of campus ministries that bring a man-centered approach to Christianity. This too exhausts the students. The foundational problem is that it all places man on a higher pedestal than God. Not only does it not work, it is sinful.
What students need is a big God and big Gospel ministry. He is the “something else” that they are to live for. The college preacher ought to be a man who is gripped by the glory of God so that when he proclaims God’s Word, he overflows with an infectious joy that grips the hearts and minds of the students that hear him.
God’s gospel
Luther said it well, “The apostle’s greeting [in Galatians] is new and unknown to the world… These two words, ‘grace’ and ‘peace,’ encompass all that belongs to Christianity.” It’s also been said that the gospel is not good advice but good news. College students go to two or three classes a day to hear good advice and works righteousness. They walk home from class and they see student groups, associations, and clubs promoting more activities to do. They check their phone during lunch to see what all their friends are “doing”. They hardly know how to say “no” when invited to the next party, meeting, hang out, study group, sporting event, or even campus ministry event. It doesn’t take long until a college student feels overwhelmed by all there is to do along with recognizing all they’re not doing.
Enter the words “grace” and “peace”. Each week, the campus minister has the privilege to proclaim good news to wrath-deserving sinners. He is able to proclaim both Law and Gospel to afflict the too-comfortable and comfort the afflicted. He is sent by the Holy Spirit to show the true way of holiness rather than the way of the whitewashed tomb. College students need to hear that they can never do enough but that Jesus did more than enough to forgive them of their sins. They need to rest completely upon the finished work of Christ and trust that His doing now enables them to obey God’s Law out of love rather than slavish fear.
The only path toward this is proclaiming the gospel of grace. The grace of Christ’s propitiation is placarded before wrath-deserving sinners. The peace of the Lord Jesus Christ is billboarded before weary Law-crushed souls. Most importantly, Jesus Himself is proclaimed to believer and unbeliever as the only One who can satisfy the soul. The best part of the good news is that we get Jesus. What college student could ever find something more delightful?
“Holy jealousy” of others to enjoy this God
There is far too much nonchalant preaching to college students today, if you can even call it preaching. Much of this is due, I would argue, to our desire to be approved by the students who hear us. This has often resulted in “lightening up” our preaching; we bend over backwards not to be “too earnest” or “preachy.” Some of this is due, no doubt, to the “Preacher Bob” and “Sister Cindy” fire and brimstone (and false gospel) “preachers” who come onto our campuses. Students intuitively know that this is not the right way and we want to distance ourselves from them as much as possible. This is understandable. But, as we try not to sound like the false preachers that students hear, we must strive to sound like the Lord Jesus Himself.
Jesus proclaimed. He didn’t just “talk” (Mt. 4:17). Jesus preached with authority; there were no “take it or leave it” lessons (Mt. 7:28-29). Jesus denounced hardened hearts, not afraid to call sin for what it is (Mt. 11:20). Jesus compelled people to apprehend His mercy, not merely mention the possibility of having a more satisfied life (Mt. 11:25-30).
If we shrink from preaching the way that Jesus did, our message will sound little different from a reformed TED talk that has the “vibe” of: “Don’t let me intrude too much on your life but here is some teaching you might want to look into.” Are we willing to be fools for the sake of the gospel? Do we have a true sense of the danger of sin, wrath, and hell? Are we unashamed to call out to students to come to Jesus now to with all their sin? Is there a “holy jealousy” in us to see Christ magnified in the lives of these college students?
Sometimes, I’m afraid we are too worried about being liked and seen as intellectually astute. As a mentor of mine once said, “The students have enough friends. They don’t need another friend, they need leaders.” He didn’t mean we shouldn’t be friendly. Nor did he mean that we should never count our students as friends. What he was driving at was the temptation to forsake our role of leadership to be one of their peers. Our students need God-ordained leaders in their lives who will unashamedly pour themselves out like a drink offering in the preaching of the gospel of grace. Sometimes that will come across as warm, tender, and wooing. Other times it will necessarily come across as shocking, warning, and pleading.
Conclusion
Throughout the history of the Church God has often brought revival in and through college-aged students. The density of a college campus makes it very appealing for gospel ministry. When college students believe the gospel, one can sometimes see an entire fraternity house or a sports team revived. A whole friend group starts coming to church or an entire dorm is evangelized. Campus ministry ought to be a priority in the PCA. And preaching in our campus ministries ought to be a priority.
The call today is for Spirit-filled, prayer-saturated, Christ-adoring, holiness-promoting, gospel-proclaiming preachers to go on campus and declare the unsearchable riches of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are ambassadors sent with His message, not our own. Jesus desires to see college students delivered from the domain of darkness more than we do. This is not our ministry; it is His ministry through us. Therefore, let us put aside the unhealthy motives and pursue the healthy motives of gospel preaching.
(1) Even someone as theologically astute and serious about preaching as Martyn Lloyd-Jones has spoken on the importance of preaching to be relevant. One can’t imagine that his understanding of “relevant” was to change the message, use different definitions, nor to contradict the apostolic way of preaching. Rather, it is to speak to the modern man in the way the Bible speaks to them. Biblical communication is the most important art for a preacher to learn. Biblical communication is to speak God’s Word in God’s way in so that the hearers understand God’s Word in God’s way. Whether that is different illustrations or using terms in modern vernacular, the way we describe doctrine is not by our own fancy or opinion but in such a way where people understand God’s teaching the way God wants them to understand it. There are some terms we must not change. Even if the terms and words aren’t familiar, we ought to be teaching these important terms and words to the people. In our explanation of these words we need to make sure people understand the Bible the way God wants them to understand it.
(2) This deserves much prayer and communication with other wise people. Often the Lord lays a burden on our heart to preach through a certain Book or section of a Book. There are times when a theme of the Bible might be what the Lord has for the students—and you can preach that theme expositionally as you work through each text. I remember one semester teaching Romans to a small group of 8-10 students. They enjoyed it so much that they requested that I preach Romans for our large group meetings the following semester. It was similar content but delivered in a different style along with more application and Christ-centered appeals to believe the gospel. I decided to preach through it based on conversations with students, other college ministers, along with prayer and study. Once Romans was decided upon, I let the text do the talking. The goal was to explain, illustrate, and apply that text—trusting that God would set the agenda each Wednesday night for what those students needed to hear.
(3) It is important that we don’t isolate Paul’s ministry at Areopagus from what happened in Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17). We must remember that Paul’s philosophy of ministry brought outright rejection (Thessalonica), revival (Berea), and great intellectual discussion (Athens). To conclude that being “missional” leads only to Athens-like results might keep us from saying necessary truths that could cause people to feel uncomfortable. One piece of criticism I received was that I shouldn’t talk about the “world” in negative ways. In the name of being “winsome” and “missional”, this person thought it was wrong to juxtapose the world with Christianity. If we were going to win people to Christ, he didn’t want us to make them feel uncomfortable in church. The problem with this criticism is that it ignores the way Jesus Himself spoke about the world (Jn. 15:19). Though not always, there are times when behind the mask of being “winsome” there can be the subtle desire to be loved by the world. Nevertheless, others can respond with the exact opposite emphasis of being winsome and determine all that’s needed is fire and brimstone. After all, as this thinking goes, if we’re not being hated for the message then we must not be preaching it rightly. The result is that we bring unnecessary offense and needless stumbling blocks to a message that will already offend people and cause some to stumble (Rom. 1:16-17; 1 Cor. 1-2). The goal for us is to be faithful and let the Holy Spirit determine the type of reaction.
I’d like to give a special thanks to Jon Payne and Stephen Spinnenweber for reading through this article and providing helpful criticism and suggested corrections.
