School is back! Even here in the Republic of Texas school is officially rolling (we held on to summer as long as we could).  What now? You spent your summer, or part of your summer, or part of a past summer making Him famous overseas. So how do you continue that on mission lifestyle back home?

This week will feature a short series of blog posts to instruct, encourage, and equip you to do just that. You are on mission. There is an ancient work of God on your campus ready for you to join. Live to make Him famous.

So far this week we have focused on praying and changing your perspective so that you see yourself on mission on your campus. You are prayer walking those halls and fully embracing your ambassador status. So what now? How do you begin to now make Him famous in that circle of influence?

“And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” –Mark 10:42-45

There is a tendency to think that the first thing you need to do is to carry the biggest bible in your house , display it prominently on your desk even if it inhibits your working environment, and remind people around you that they are indeed sinners headed due South upon their untimely death. We are kidding of course, but the truth is that most of us don’t know where to start when it comes to making Him famous with our peers. And just about the only thing we think about doing is “preaching” to people the message of salvation.

I honestly do hope that you will have many gospel conversations with your friends this year. As you pray, ask Him to give you those conversations. But in the meantime, let me suggest something a little different as you get started.

Serve.

One of the things we taught you overseas was to listen to the Spirit as you walk the walk of obedience. There is a really good chance that your next step of obedience as His ambassador to your campus is to see where and how He wants you to serve others. Ask God to show you ways that you can serve your classmates. Jesus’ words about leadership and influence of others in the above passage highlight the need for us to approach the world as servant leaders. His death served as the ultimate example of servant leadership, while also freeing us from our pursuits of our self interests. Just to be clear, I am not suggesting that you start off your homeroom class today by filling up a bucket with soapy water and removing the TOMS off your classmates so you can be like Jesus.

But you can approach this year as a servant leader. As you talk to your friends on mission with you, ask those kind of questions. What can your youth group do this year to serve the student body at your school? How can you serve the band while they are sweating in the heat practicing that routine that everyone comes to the football games to see? How can you serve the teachers? How can you meet the needs of other students? How can you come to the aid of students at your school who are in need?

You know they’re there, right? All around you. Students in need. Some of them have labels. Some of them just don’t have any friends. Some of them are crying out for someone to show them real love by the way that they dress.

So serve them. Meet the needs. Preach the gospel and see how God uses that to open up those doorways to meaningful conversations. Get creative. Share your ideas and get others involved.

And PLEASE share those ideas with us. We want to know about your walk of obedience as a servant leader on your campus.

And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. –Luke 9:1-6