Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Good News Meets Good Deeds

There is a growing desire among young evangelical Christians to not only share their faith through their words, but also by their actions. A recent article in Christianity Today spotlights the efforts of Campus Crusade for Christ in this regard.

Realizing that non-Christian students are looking for a faith that is backed up by a lifestyle of service to others, many Campus Crusade staff members and students are seeking to live out the gospel in both word and deed. Here's a portion of the article:
"Josh Spavin knows the stereotypes about evangelical Christians: judgmental, sanctimonious, narrow-minded. He may not buy into the image, but at the same time, he knows how real — and damaging — it can be. So that's why Spavin, a recent graduate of the University of Central Florida and an intern with the UCF chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ International, wants to launch an HIV/AIDS outreach with a campus gay-lesbian group. 
"Because of the way they perceive us," said Spavin, 25. "What we wanted to do is find common ground where we can serve along side with them. … We don't necessarily agree with their choices, because that's not part of our faith, but we still love them." Campus Crusade — an organization that once denounced rock music only to later embrace it — is once again changing with the times, engaging potential new Christians through social issues that perhaps seemed taboo in the past. 

Unofficially nicknamed "Good News, Good Deeds," the initiative at UCF, and others like it, is a ground-up effort by one of the nation's largest evangelical groups. It also provides a peek at what issues young evangelicals see as important, and how they are changing a faith they inherited from their parents, but sometimes chafe against."
The post by Amy Green goes on to share about outreach initiatives at Stanford and Michigan State. Click here for the rest of the article.

No comments: