I would love to see D. A. Carson speak at the annual Campus Challenge conference in the future! Organized by Ambassadors for Christ in Canada, and currently run by friends back in Toronto, CC is an annual campus ministry conference that challenges students to further campus ministry. I myself have been tremendously blessed by CC, having served on the organizing committee for the past 3 years.

Why Don Carson? For one, he is one of today’s most esteemed evangelical scholars — especially in New Testament studies. Second, he has tremendous experience speaking to college students — especially knowledgeable of today’s young, Emerging generation. And third but not least, he’s originally Canadian (from Quebec)! And apparently, he won’t simply turn down a speaking invitation because it is small or relatively unknown.

I heard Don say this during a panel discussion at the 2006 Desiring God National Conference on The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, but I recently read it again in print from the book that came out of the conference. In speaking very passionately with tears about the small, rural pastoral ministry of his father, he concludes:

“I made a resolution when I was a young man that I would never, so help me God, for the rest of my life, ever accept or reject any speaking invitation whatsoever on the basis of either size or honorarium. I kept that promise. Otherwise you only will end up going to bigger and bigger and bigger things. There’s something dishonorable about that when Christ comes for the poor and the needy and start with the twelve, but one turns out to be a traitor, another denies him, and the rest run away. Don’t let this crowd fool you. Learn the best things from it, and rejoice in the encouragement.”

The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, ed. John Piper, Justin Taylor. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2007. (174)

I wholeheartedly echo Carson’s words there — we must honor Christ by bringing the gospel to and serving God in ’small’ places in ‘fringe’ ministries.

It may be a far-fetched dream, but man, I would love to see Carson be the conference speaker for Campus Challenge one day, hopefully soon I would totally go back to Toronto for that! I hope someone from AFC would at least give it try and invite him — I know it’s a long shot, and it probably won’t happen for another few years, but there’s no harm in trying