Am I really reaching out to others?

I'm part of RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) here at MSU. It's a campus ministry that was started by the PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) and I love it dearly. I'm on the core group (a sort of leadership/feedback/accountability team) for it and we meet once a week to discuss the ministry, plan events, give feedback on how things are going, have a Bible study, pray for RUF and each other, along with other things.

One of our reoccuring prayer requests is that we would reach out to our school community and that God would bring more students into the ministry. During the core group meeting on Monday, our campus minister took this request a step further. He asked each of us to think of four or five students, pray for those students, and ask those students to attend RUF. He said if this was difficult for us to do, it was due to two things: one, we don't really like RUF enough to ask people to come with us; or two, we don't have any friends outside of RUF.

I was struck by how long it took me to think of four or five names. (Granted, probably 90 percent of my friends are through RUF, but I still have many friends---both Christians and non-Christians---that are not involved in a campus ministry.) I would think of someone and then immediately write them off by saying, "They're not interested in Christianity" or "I don't know them well enough" or "They've got another meeting on Thursday nights" or "I'm not sure what they'll think of me when I ask"...the list goes on.

Then it hit me---God sent His only Son to die for the sins of His people so that we might be saved, thus enabled to have communion and fellowship with Him and have everlasting life through His atoning sacrifice. God sent His only Son to die for me and to save me. Don't I want others to have that salvation? Shouldn't I be telling everyone I meet about that salvation? Am I really so concerned about what people will think of me that I'm unwilling to ask them to a campus ministry when I should be concerned about their salvation? This is not about me; this is about what God has done. This is a matter of life or death---without salvation, these people are going to perish. Do I care so much about my appearance to others that I don't care about asking people to a ministry that God could use to bring them salvation?

I also need to be concerned about those of my friends that are Christians but aren't plugged into a church and/or a campus ministry (a side note: I recommend both! RUF isn't a substitute for church!). God commands us in the Bible to be in close fellowship with fellow believers and to spend time studying the Word, praying with and for one another, and teaching and encouraging one another. That's not something you can do all by yourself; you need a community where the Bible is studied and preached, where confession of sin occurs, where prayer occurs, where mercy ministries are practiced, where sacraments are observed (church), and where believers can lift one another up and challenge one another in the Lord.

One of my greatest desires for RUF is that it would expand and truly reach out to those who are lost, hurting, and searching. If that really is my desire, my list should have been filled instantly after Nathan asked his question. I should have pulled out my phone immediately after core group to call friends, talking to classmates in between classes, and visiting with my neighbors in the dorm, keeping the issue of their salvation close in mind. 

So, here's my list. I've changed the names so that no one will recognize anyone but I've posted it here to publically remind me of this goal. It isn't complete, but it's a start. This is not a judgment list; this is what each of these individuals has either told me or what I have gathered from knowing them:

1. Katie (put-off with the churches and ministries)

2. Cam (simply needs Jesus in his life and is willing to come when someone asks him)

3. Mary (needs godly friends in her life)

4. Vicky (foreign student who says religion is not important or relevant in her country; again, needs Jesus!)

5. Laney (needs to be plugged in to a Christian community, specifically one that provides Biblical teaching, not just Christian friends)

6. Megan (desires to be consistent with one campus ministry and wants/needs to be involved)

7. Terri (foreign student who has already gone through some hard things this semester and is searching)

8. John (needs to get reconnected in a Christian community and desparately needs godly friends to challenge him to stay faithful)