When I hear the word “missionary,” I sometimes think of awkward families that are leaving the country as “missionaries,” or dudes riding on bikes in black ties with name tags.

But when we think about Missionaries, Jesus should be the first thing that comes to mind. Jesus is the Missionary God, sent to earth as a Missionary (John 1: 14; 20:21). Therefore, a Disciple of Jesus is a Missionary, sent as He was sent.

Most people associate the word “mission” with Mission Trips –something we travel abroad to do. But the fact is the Mission is something a Disciple is always doing. A Disciple of Jesus spends every moment as a Missionary.

In Jesus, we are on a Mission with God to see His kingdom spread, allowing more and more people to hear and respond to the Gospel. With that, we are a part of seeing culture redeemed as people begin to glorify God in every aspect of life through continuous Worship in everything we do.

A good Missionary knows and understands culture. Missionaries contextualize the Gospel, while still retaining the authenticity of its message, in order that it can be clearly understood by each person around them. Missionaries preach the Gospel through every existing, and redeemable, medium in order that the highest amount of people possible can be forgiven by Jesus and Worship Him (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

College students have a specific context: the college campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Within this larger context are hundreds of sub-cultures, each with their own vernacular and rhythms. These can include sports teams, dorms, apartments, districts, cities, majors, clubs, jobs, fraternities, sororities, freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors, graduated, etc. Each of these aspects changes an individual and creates their worldview.

Therefore, if the College Ministry is to be effective, we must have students living out their Identity in Jesus on Mission in their spheres of affinity and proximity, living their lives, but as Missionaries.

We must have Missionaries in each of these sub-cultures, in order to see as many people in as many sub-cultures know Jesus as possible.