Ever had a rice cake? I gave them to my baby once. Until I tried them. It’s crispy air disguised as food. Its like Styrofoam, only it tastes worse and has no nutritional value.

What do College students think of being a Christian? It is sadly an incomplete list of Do’s and Don’ts that even Jesus would have a hard time choking down. Its rice cakes. Mostly air, very little substance…and deep down they know it.

Do’s
Be a nice person…go to church, small group, read your Bible, pray, give money, get good grades, speak nicely to others, and if you are an really going for it…go on mission trip and help build something or cleaning up debris.

Don’ts
Don’t be bad person…don’t watch bad movies, listen to rap (bad) music, don’t drink or smoke bad things, don’t have sex, cuss, or go to Padre for spring break.

Many who grow up in the church do (and don’t’ do) these things and wonder silently (because they cannot really voice this to others), “Is this it? Is this the abundant life Jesus promised?” They have eaten rice cakes all their lives and watch others doing it saying, “doesn’t it taste like Doritos?” They long for more. And rightly so. They rightly long to experience Christ and his transforming power in their lives, to go deep with others in real community where there are really known, and to live for a cause much bigger than themselves. Something worth dying for. Some to be passionate about that gives their lives eternal significance. This is what they are missing. This is what they want. And this  what we as campus ministry leaders need to give them.

I find that if I my students can experience these three things, their lives are full of Jesus, beauty, intimacy, risk, passion, joy, adventure, and others. Get them out of their comfort zones, challenge them to take risks for God’s glory and their own growth. Get them into smaller settings where they can be real with others and they are still loved, accepted, but also really challenged. Help them cultivate holy habits that exercise their souls such as fasting (probably from media), solitude (I call them solos. Just me and Jesus), meditation (not Obi-Wan Kenobi style, but to think and pray long about a verse or passage). There are many others that we have lost of over the years that are so good for our souls. See Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline for more on this.

So, there you have it. Simple, yet so elusive. And no recipe exists to ensure our students experience these three things. But they are what we strive for, pray for, and labor for. Vitally connected to God. Vitally connected to God’s family in authentic relationships. And vitally connected to God’s mission to spread his glory and kingdom to every people group on the planet. Experience these in your life. When we do this, we can help them do this. Take them from rice cake religion to what it really means to follow Jesus, as he intended: deeply, wildly, abundantly, joyfully with all your are and all you have. There is so much more.