My speech to hundreds of Christian college and university presidents on Wednesday was old news. Centuries old: How do we challenge young people to love the world that Christ died for?

On Wednesday evening, I delivered the opening keynote at the International Forum on Christian Higher Education in Atlanta, hosted by the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. Preceding my speech, Bishop Desmond Tutu said in a videotaped greeting, “Your institutions exist to raise up servant leaders—a generation committed to justice and mercy—the next generation of salt and light in the world.”

University presidents will influence 1 million Christian young people graduating over the next decade. Many of these schools are already committed to equipping their students for service.

I challenged them to do more—starting with believing their students can change the world. Christ asks no less. He invites us to be change agents, “salt and light”—preservers of good and dispellers of darkness.”

What does that mean today? It means challenging racism and ethnic hatred wherever we find it. It means offering hope to homeless Haitians. It means entering the stench of the refugee camps in Darfur; rescuing girls forced into brothels in Cambodia; and ministering to the millions dying from AIDS in Africa. It means challenging preventable diseases that kill 25,000 children worldwide each day.

It’s tempting for graduates to enter fields such as business, medicine, and law and live safe, insulated lives. But there’s so much at stake in our world, and this generation has unprecedented opportunities to tackle it. More importantly, Jesus poured Himself out for the world, and His love empowers us to do the same.

How are you praying for the young people in your life? How can we encourage them to lead passionate lives that embrace Christ’s revolutionary movement to change the world?