READING: Titus 2:2-7
This weekend, I’ve had the privilege of training collegians and their leaders in New England. Every time I work with college students, I’m reminded of the great potential that exists in their generation. They’re committed and passionate. They want to make a difference by doing hands-on ministry. They’re willing to go anywhere (even if only for the adventure, but more so for the sake of the gospel). They want to minister among the hurting, disenfranchised, and abused.
What most concerns me is that many of these college students find more fellowship and training within their collegiate ministry than they do in a local church. Sometimes that’s because the students give too little attention to a local church, but it’s also because many local churches give little attention to college students around them. In some cases, there’s almost a sense of resignation in the church—“College students always stray for a while, and they’ll be back when they get married and have kids.” That kind of thinking leads to our missing a prime opportunity to invest in a generation that longs for relationships with an older generation.
Indeed, we who are older must follow what the apostle Paul told Timothy: “Older men are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love, and endurance. In the same way, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission to their husbands, so that God’s word will not be slandered. In the same way, encourage the young men to be self-controlled in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity in your teaching” (Titus 2:2-7).
For the sake of the gospel and in obedience to the Word, we need to be Titus 2 churches.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to be ever aware of college students in our church and area.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Jeremiah 4-5, 1 Timothy 1