Sharing Faith without the Guilt

Last week I had coffee with Doug and Sandy Schaupp. Doug’s got a very cool title; he is the Growth Coach for the Western U.S. for Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. The Schaupps live near Pasadena and our kids have been at the same preschool. I’m a big fan of a book Doug co-authored called Being White: Finding Our Place in a Multiethnic World and have recommended it a number of times. I haven’t read his newer book yet called I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus.

Doug’s got some great insights on how to help students share their faith. He mentioned that instead of asking college students, “How are you doing at sharing your faith?”, he’s found it more effective to ask, “Where is your friend at?” (pardon the bad grammar). That way, the focus isn’t on pointing your finger at your own students, but rather on helping them think about what God is doing in their friend. The focus is on the spiritual state of the friend, not an assessment of how your student is doing.

This shift is subtle but important. I imagine our students would be sharing their faith more if we invited them to think more about what is best with their friend.

©2010 Fuller Youth Institute