US College Campuses: A Revival Brewing?
By J.P. Pokluda
Something is happening on college campuses.
There are still the normal frat parties, sporting events, and final exam anxieties. There is also, dare I say, revival brewing. Students are tired of mundane faith sitting in the periphery of cafeteria visits and late-night benders.
There is a movement of college students wanting to live out their faith. They aren't interested in just going to church on Sunday but following Jesus Sunday through Saturday. They are up late into the night worshiping and up early the next morning praying. They are walking their campuses sidewalks and sharing the gospel with classmates. They are throwing events that rival large conferences, but they're doing it in what little spare time they have with extraordinary outcomes.
A series of nationwide outreach events aimed at uniting college students in the name of Jesus continues to draw hundreds of young people to spontaneous baptisms as witnessed most recently at the University of Georgia on Wednesday evening (4/3/24). PHOTO: Unite US/Facebook
In February of last year, I was speaking in Nashville. I almost always travel with someone, and this time it was one of our worship leaders. We got back to the hotel, and he said, “Bro, we should go to Asbury!” Asbury? I had heard about the revival happening there, but how away far is Asbury? Kentucky? I failed geometry…uh…I mean geography class. He started typing furiously on his phone, then looked up and said, “It's only 4 hours away.”
I took a quick power nap, then we got in the car for a road trip. We pulled up around 10 PM and there was a line of people wrapped around the campus (and city). When we went inside, it was simply an old chapel filled with people (mostly college students) worshiping in song. I went up to the balcony and sang with the others. I read a few chapters in my Bible, then stood up and sang some more.
There was one particular moment where we sang the familiar song “Agnus Dei.” named after the Latin term meaning “the lamb of God.” These lyrics were sung over and over, echoing throughout the old chapel: “Holy! Holy! Are You Lord God almighty! Worthy is the Lamb! Worthy is the Lamb! You are holy!”
Someone came on stage and tried to move the night forward, but the momentum of the voices in the crowd were too strong. We just stayed there. Tears were streaming down my face. The Lord was gracious to lead me to a passage in the Bible that was very timely. I was moved in a powerful way.
Shortly after we returned home, a friend reached out. She felt led to gather the college students at Auburn University. In just six weeks, she had secured the basketball arena, locked down Passion Music to lead worship, and invited Jennie Allen and I to speak. Tonya (the visionary behind the gathering) branded the event UNITE, with a heart to connect college students to local churches around their university. She was burdened by all of the sexual sin on campus and asked if I would talk about finding freedom from sexual sin.
It's not really a “crowd pleaser” message, but I gave it and Jennie Allen went up afterwards, talking about the importance of living in Christian community. The arena was full of over 6,000 students! Jennie wrapped up with an altar call and someone in the crowd wanted to get baptized. Someone else shouted there was a pond by The Red Barn, a notable landmark on campus. Thousands of students went out to the pond, and over two hundred students lined up to get baptized. We were in the water for hours. This was not a “dunk and next” situation. This was two hundred different Gospel-centered conversations. We went slow to confirm that they were believers and baptized past midnight!
News stations were reaching out and we were on Fox News and nearly every Christian radio station in the country. Everyone wanted to talk about what happened at Auburn.
I didn't have much time to process all that God had done at Auburn University because when we returned, it was time to get ready for Passion in Atlanta. Nothing could have prepared me for Passion. There were 60,000 college students in a football stadium praising Jesus. I have never seen anything like it.
The skeptic will think: “What about every NFL football game?” It's not just the number of students that brought the sense of awe — it was the common focus on the God's Word and God's glory. While zero effort was given to make sure the messages fit together, they seemed to supernaturally build upon one another.
During the last session right before Christine Cain would close out the conference, the crowd took over singing “Agnus Dei” again. It was in the same key as Asbury. The setting was very different. It wasn't a simple chapel on a university's campus. This was an NFL stadium with one of the most advanced stages in the world. Kristian Stanfill did an incredible job of leading us in worship, by handing off “leadership” to the Holy Spirit as the crowd sang that same familiar refrain for 25 minutes. In the words of Louie Giglio, “God does whatever He wants, wherever He wants, whenever He wants to do it.” And He will use whoever He wants to use.
I got back from Passion in January and UNITE, the new organization and movement, had picked up steam. We were headed to Florida State University in Tallahassee. FSU has earned the title of the second-largest party school in the country. As I took the stage, I sensed the Lord wanted me to pivot to a message clearly laying out The Gospel.
Jennie came up afterward and taught on confession, giving students a time to confess their sins to each other. Then we did an old school altar call, saying, “If you want to place your faith in Jesus, come forward.” Over the next few minutes, 314 college students made their way to the stage. We know there were 314 because UNITE was able to get their information and connect them to a local church.
It only felt right that we should have baptisms, but where?! Well, there is Westcott Fountain — a fountain on campus that's notorious for tossing in drunk people at midnight on their 21st birthday. We said, “Let's go to the Westcott Fountain!” Then the crowd followed. The police were there waiting on us. I figured they would shut it down, but they just seemed delighted that it was something other than drunk college students climbing into the fountain.
Over 300 students were baptized that night. But this time the conversations were different than Auburn. We would say, “Have you ever been baptized?” They would respond with, “No, I've never even been to church, but I want to follow Jesus.” It felt like a “first century” movement of The Spirit.
Here's an observation: The momentum is only building. From Asbury to Auburn, then Passion to Florida State [now University of Georgia], college students are wanting something more than church on Sundays or religious rituals. They are wanting to follow Jesus. Universities are pregnant with revival.
The church, however, seems bored with that word. I see a cynical spirit capping the celebration or waiting to see if it was “real.” I'm not saying there are not legitimate reasons for cynicism out there, but I am saying a cynical spirit is in contrast to the optimism that holds true to The Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, gospel translates to “good news.”
I want you to know God is moving in our country. I think it would be amiss if we didn't pause to reflect with gratitude on all the things He is doing in our midst. We should support these movements with our prayers and by sharing the stories of His goodness. Let's not argue over what a revival is and what it isn't. Let's just pray for it, celebrate it, and be a part of it anyway we can.
Jonathan “J.P.” Pokluda is the lead pastor of Harris Creek Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, author, and host of Becoming Something Podcast. Pokluda is also in the speakers lineup for UNITE.