Story of God at Work // In-Class Gospel Share

By Chelsy Massa

The harvest is plentiful. 

Right? 

That’s what we hear, that’s what we read in the bible, and that is God’s promise. Yet, why does it feel like when we go out, we get kicked in the teeth more than anything? Why does it feel like we get more losses than wins? Why does our basket that is supposed to be overflowing with the harvest feel meager and empty? 

Those are questions we ask ourselves in the quiet moments when we are alone and discouraged. I think it’s the question that Kyle probably felt when he shared the gospel as an excited village leader and junior at Western Oregon University. 

Kyle was a bright-eyed, wildly in love with Jesus junior. Sporting his “Jesus loves you” shirt to class ready for any and all opportunities to share the gospel. In one particular class, they are split into groups for a project. As they introduce themselves getting to know each other in their groups, Kyle stands up and declares, “I am Kyle and I love Jesus.” Proud of his boldness, yet looking around and seeing that he is met with a face of incredulity. 

“What do you mean you love Jesus?” his classmate, Sam asks, doubt written on his heart. 

However, without a beat, Kyle jumps at the opportunity not only to share the gospel and his story with Sam but also to share with his whole group. Now, Kyle was familiar with another guy in that group Mark, and Mark, like many college students, was sucked into the party scene. Kyle wasn’t unfamiliar with such a scene. Kyle shares how God had saved him from the hypocrisy he was living, that he professed a Christian worldview which saved him from hell, but allowed him to live into the hookup and party cultures that have a hold on the American university campus. He shared the freedom he experienced and the satisfaction he was trying to find in girls and alcohol was only found in Jesus. 

Then he finishes realizing that everyone in the group except Sam was looking away, pulling out their phones, and trying to find any means to avoid this awkward conversation. However, Sam leaned in and exclaimed, “I am Buddhist, we believe in the same things!” 

Kyles's heart sank with discouragement. No, no, Sam, we don’t believe in the same thing. One leads to life, and the other leads to death. Kyle’s sunken heart did not lead him to skirt the obvious mistruth of Sam’s exclamation. He boldly presses in and boldly states, “Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. We do not believe in the same thing; Buddha can never save you.” Sam sits back and doesn’t speak for the rest of the class. 

The class ends and Kyle slumps home. Distraught and beat up, no harvest to bring home. His roommates hear intently of Kyle’s day and pray for him and pray for Sam. 

Fast forward two years Kyle has joined the campus staff with Resonate Monmouth. He is added by a man on social media who turns out to be Sam. Sam posts about a vague, slightly political post about God. Kyle does not remember this particular Sam but sees an opportunity to develop a partnership with Sam and asks him to join the work that God is doing at Western Oregon University. 

Sam responds with a very cryptic message, but not a hard no. Kyle pursues forward. He sends a letter. Sam responds once again, and Kyle sets up a phone call. The phone call was for the same night. Two weeks go by, and nothing but silence. We will now arrive in January 2025. A weekend to remember - Kyle is wading through the crowds at ResCon and gets a message. Thinking it's a question from a villager or a student about the conference they are attending, Kyle opens it up and reads a surprising message. It’s a yes, to a phone call scheduled two weeks ago. 

Kyle, as we are familiar with, does not hesitate. He calls Sam, and Sam talks to him with familiarity. Kyle asks questions and gives his MPD pitch, but while listening, he is trying to remember who this guy is and why he seems to know Kyle. 

Sam pauses and says, “This is a really sweet full-circle moment.”

Then it all clicks in Kyle’s mind. 

This was Buddhist Sam. This was the Sam who doubted and slumped back in silence. 

Yet, this Sam is no longer Buddhist. This Sam is a new creation in Christ. Sam was greatly impacted by Kyle’s boldness in class. So much so that he went home and read the bible. He read the whole bible in three months. He tells Kyle, “When I read the bible, I realized that there was no way anybody could do what Jesus did without being God.” Sam goes into a deeper study of who God is. If God is real, that should be the greatest thing. Sam starts a comparative study of Jesus and other religious leaders and he could not have found a better man anywhere. Jesus was the one true God and in response, Sam had to bow down to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. 

Kyle, dumbstruck at what he’s hearing, praises God for not being one who gives up as easily as he did two years ago. 

The harvest is plentiful, and laborers are needed. 

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:6-8). 

Faithful laborers, like Kyle, stand up and say, “I am loved by Jesus” and are also those who remain faithful enough to return to a disappointing field; One who plants and waters and remembers the God who grows. 

What would it look like for us to keep returning to the harvest and to diligently labor? 

Knowing that God is always doing work, just like what He did in the heart of Sam, everywhere all the time.