Second Timothy Strategic Template for Cultivating Students
In Second Timothy 2: 2, Paul not only gives us a great plan for world evangelization; his words also serve as a model for cultivating students of influence. Paul says, The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (NASB95). From Paul’s words I have extracted three concepts to provide a strategic template for cultivating students:
- Enlist – “…entrust to faithful men…”
- Equip – “…who will be able…”
- Engage – “…to teach others…”
Embracing the three elements of this Biblical strategy can be the catalyst for developing student leaders who own their faith. I offer the following three challenges for your consideration.
- Cultivating students of influence should be more than a maxim or mantra; it needs to be our passion.
- The Biblical plan is about growth through multiplication, not just addition. It is not enough to reach students and just “hang on” to them until they graduate. We must be transforming them into culture shapers and world changers every step of the way.
- Our goal is to “reproduce reproducers” of the faith.
If you would like to read more on this subject, you can read the full article in the March/April Youth Worker Journal http://magazine.youthworker.com/subscribe/ or if you would like to explore this concept further, check out the website The Greenhouse Project: Cultivating Students of Influence http://greenhouse.wol.org/
