What must “reach the campus today” mean in order to arrive at the desired outcome of a changed world tomorrow?This question has taken root deep in my soul over the past few years as I’ve helped lead an effort to transform a city of 28 million people. I have mulled over the question daily of what needs to happen in order to see Mexico City transformed by the power of the Gospel.
1. Depth of the Disciples
The key lies not in the pride of a plan, but in the depth of the disciples. Over the years, Campus Crusade has done an outstanding job developing young men and women that love the Lord and express that love through personal Bible study, prayer, fellowship and evangelism. Although those disciplines continue post-college, few students know how to effectively minister to their communities. Over time, those who so faithfully ministered to their college peers have their passion consumed by the frustration of “It’s just not like college.”
Of course, we all know nothing will ever be like those glorious days of shared experiences and passionate dreams of changing the world shared by so many on the college campuses of America (a little tongue-in-cheek). But have we (those ministers who help shape the culture of local Campus Crusade movements) traded the dangerous mess of holistic community ministry for the safe confines of pure evangelism on the college campus.
Jesus’ gives this analogy of the kingdom: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.” The kingdom doesn’t just encompass evangelism, discipleship and other spiritual disciplines. It touches everything within every sphere of society. (More on this later in the week.)
2. Your Kingdom Come
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” he wasn’t using pie-in-the-sky terminology. He had just rebuked the Gentiles for using meaningless repetition in their prayers. Jesus was actually saying, “Pray that earth will look like heaven, where there is no pain, no weeping, no misery and God is glorified and magnified by all.” And when Jesus asks us to pray for something, I can’t find one instance where He doesn’t also want us to act upon that prayer.
We live in an exciting era. This generation of youth has an understanding of the spirituality of life (although not of God) and they want to involve themselves in serving people in need. In a culture full of negative trends, here are a few good ones we should take note of and capitalize on.
3. Do As I Do
I’m careful as I write this next section. Those who minister on campus use their gifts to bring the power of the Gospel to bear in the lives of thousands of young men and women. Many of them work tirelessly to ensure every student understands how to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Yet, in our tireless work to evangelize the campus, we have cut short the fullness of the Gospel and the kingdom’s pervasive nature. And our students, very naturally, follow the pattern that they’ve seen in our lives.
What would it look like if they saw something a little different in our lives? Without abandoning that which God has specifically called Campus Crusade to do (reaching the campus), can we lift up our eyes to see beyond the edge of campus to the pressing needs of our communities? Can we say, "Do as I do," and be comfortable with the result?
3 comments:
good post, Jose. Yeah, i feel if church plants have the focus of the (1) gathering (Sunday service, good solid doctrine and teaching) and (2) scattering of the flock (ground war - street kid homes, orphanages, giving away money, sending missionaries, small group Bible studies, outreaches, prison ministry, etc) - we can make that impact in the world. we throw the seed and God grows the tree and fruit. - Jman
wow Joe i just read your last two posts and think you really hit on what i have been experiencing the last few months as i've transitioned from college and ministry into work. i feel like it is something i've learned a hundred times before but i am constantly fighting the tendency i have to compartmentalize my life, separating when and where i am trying to show Christ to someone from when i am just myself. but all my life is in Christ, and so there should never be a ministry mode, there is just life, and that life is to be outstandingly different because of the way God calls me to live. thanks for the posts and the encouragement. - rg
Hi Joe, thanks for posting this...very good food for thought. With my tie up experience with Campus Crusade for the past year, I can see what you mean by their need to still improve on helping students learn to really connect with people beyond their campuses. I think that most of the time, we've been too centered on getting a movement going, following strictly the steps of movement-building (campus setting)that we often miss out on the relational aspect.
If students could just really be exposed and trained on how they can first relate with the people around them, if one of the very basics they can learn from their mentors is how to develop loving relationships with others I believe that it wouldn't be much of a problem for them to reach out to others wherever they are. Everything else will just follow.
Anyway, thanks again Joe for the post!=)It helps put our movement priorities into focus.
Btw, wanted to ask if you happen to have any update on how the team in Mexico is doing regarding the pandemic. Pls. do let us know so we can pray for them, thanks! God bless you!
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