Matt Bennett, founder of Christian Union (CU), an organization with campus ministries at influential colleges across America, is on a mission to spread the Gospel to Ivy League students.
Bennett’s new CU Rise campaign is an eight-week effort through March and May aiming to “disrupt” campus culture by introducing students to Jesus. The on-campus and online campaign will seek to evangelize students at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford.
“We want as many as possible to hear the Gospel message,” Bennett told CBN News. “Even for those who don’t [believe], it’s valuable for them to know the true Christian message.”
And the Christian Union head made a sobering statement that underscores the dire state of spiritual affairs and intense lostness at many of these colleges.
“What’s shocking is that, in this audience, you have fewer practicing Christians than you do, say … in Mainland China or a lot of other places that we consider unreached,” he said. “This is an unreached people group. And, so, it’s important for these folks in and among themselves that they have the chance to know the Lord. But it’s also important for the sake of the nation.”
Bennett emphasized the importance of the campaign’s message — “Jesus Disrupts” — reaching this population, especially considering the widespread confusion and lack of Christian knowledge that persists on these campuses — and the fact these universities churn out so many leaders.
“These folks need to know the Lord,” Bennett said. “A huge number [of influential leaders] go to the top 1% of schools in the country.”
According to a press release announcing the effort, the campaign aims to “introduce students to how radical and different Jesus is, and how He can change them and give them purpose and hope in their own lives.”
Through online outreach, Bennett hopes to push students to learn more about Christianity — and even the faith-based histories of their own universities. He believes these nudges toward truth will significantly impact individuals’ lives.