One of the privileges I have in my job is interacting with a wide swath of people from various backgrounds who are full of hope looking to make an impact on the world. There is something about university students – they exude a hope and confidence in the world is going to improve, and that they are part of the solution. That’s why most of them come to university after all. Or is it?
Recently, I’ve noticed a change in the people I’ve been talking to. Overall, they are excited for a normal university year, after the past 3 years of lockdowns and disrupted rhythms. However, that youthful hope and exuberance I noted early has been slightly shaded by melancholy and despair. It doesn’t take much probing to understand why.
The list starts to roll, starting from loneliness, the pandemic, to the Russian War, to China, and, finally, the big baddie - Climate change. Many of them are aware of the brokenness in the world and despair because they don’t know how they will fix it. More importantly, they don’t know what will fix it.
The 3 Circles
One of the tools I have been using in my evangelism is called the 3 Circles. I particularly like it because it meets people where they are at. The rest of this section will be elaborating on my method of doing the 3 Circles (though I highly recommend watching the 3-minute video)
We start with the acknowledgement of what we all feel about the world – that it is broken, that it is corrupted. We then show how God did not design it this way. He lovingly designed a perfect world that we could thrive and flourish in.
However, when we chose to have our own way and seek our comfort and satisfaction, we turned away from God’s plan, introducing sin into the world – which results in the brokenness and corruption we are all so familiar with.
Now we hit the gold part of the tool. The 3 Circles proceeds to show how we cope with our imperfect world. I’ve had many students resonate with the various forms of escape that we all do – such as money, drugs, relationships, religion, games, travel, etc.
When I show them that each of these forms of escape are like bungy cords, that they all just pull us back to reality at some point, many just nod silently. And the clincher, whatever state we were in before we died, would be the state we continue in after death. Thus, we’d die in brokenness.
Having laid out our problem – we get to the solution. A loving God did not want us to continue on in our suffering, and so made a way by sending Jesus Christ. He lived the perfect life we should have lived and died the death we should have died as penalty for our sins. In doing so, he pays for our sin and selfishness.
When he rose from the dead, he affirmed that the payment was complete, and that we now have a way back into God’s perfect design. If we accept Him as our God, Lord and Saviour, we can re-enter God’s perfect design. From that place of perfection and life, we are invited to go back into the world to restore others.
The questions are then asked “Where do you see yourself in this picture?” “Where would you like to be?” and “What is stopping you from going there?”
Hope for the Hopeless
The people today are crying out for hope. We need to show them that Hope is found in Jesus Christ alone. Only through him, do we get the power and ability to change.
Only through him do we get to know a Father who cares so much for this world that He and His Son paid the ultimate price for its restoration (John chapter 3, verse 16). We have such a treasure in our message, that our friends, family, neighbours, workmates, teammates, need to hear.
So, in echoing what I ask as part of the tool - What is stopping you from sharing the hope that you have (1 Peter chapter 3, verse 15)?
(P.S. I would appreciate any answers to this question. I want to contribute in ways that would encourage and enable you to be a part of God’s plan)