The Baptist Student Union is placed on college campuses in Georgia for the expressed purpose of extending the ministry of the Georgia Baptist churches to the campus. As such, its only purpose is people, not facilities, equipment, or even programs. This BSU at GSU takes its purpose from that expressed by Jesus in John 10:10b where He said of Himself:

In BSU this is worked out in carefully planned steps to lead those without Jesus as their Savior to a saving relationship to Him. It is the individual that is important, not the quantity of individuals led to Christ. We affirm that massive long term efforts to lead one resistant person to Christ is as valid as leading many persons to Christ who accept him easily. All evangelistic efforts must "leave the person at least as open to Christ as that person was when the effort started". Otherwise our efforts become "stumbling blocks not stepping stones". Except in the case of Internationals, most of the students coming to Georgia State have been exposed to traditional methods of evangelism. In the case of those not already Christians, these methods have obviously not been successful. Other more time consuming, more thoroughly prayer supported methods have to be developed to fit the individual. BSU therefore strives to continually have non-Christians in various stages of development toward Christ in its membership at all times. In the case of Internationals or those of other non-Christian faiths, major efforts must be expended to help Christians learn how to deal with the challenges of these faiths and make sure that their adherents fully understand what it means to become a Christian.

The second part of the verse is worked out through strategies, programs, educational opportunities, counseling, and service ministries. All of these have as their primary emphasis the development of the individual into a more competent, wiser servant of the Christ, which we affirm as having a more abundant life. The success of all programming is determined by whether the individual will be able to better serve Christ in the future. This means that allowing officers to make mistakes from which they learn is more important than smooth running programs. BSU is a ministry with students during a very critical time in their development. The extent to which the individuals coming through the BSU mature into effective workers for Christ in the future is more important than a smooth running organization. With this in mind most of the BSU procedures and programs are developed in such a way that there is the maximum understandings of the workings of the church.

Fellowship and support are important to students at this time of their lives, but these must not take precedence over growth. Thus, persons are challenged to find a balance that is correct for them between personal spiritual development and development through service to others. The personal balance is more important than a balanced BSU program. The Georgia Baptist convention does not provide a center for the purpose of lounging, recreating, or hiding from the campus culture. Centers are provided as were the castles of old "to serve as a staging point for the control of the surrounding territory and for a place for the wounded to be nursed back to health and then later to return to the outside."

When any person is rejected by the BSU, then the BSU has lost sight of its purpose for existing. When BSU members reject another person, then they at that time are counter productive to the purpose of the BSU.

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