If you remember back to our Govember series at Cru, I closed it by mentioning that I'd be writing periodically on the topic and specifically on applications for our lives. The purpose that God designed for us is to glorify Him and fully to enjoy Him forever. The plot of history - God's purposes and plans that we find ourselves a part of - gives feet to this purpose and a context to live it out in. That plot is God's desire and work to redeem for Himself a people from every tribe, tongue, language, and nation - a plot that is accelerating to its finish and promised end that we can see in Revelation 7. As it accelerates toward the end, we have a significant place. It is conceivable that the Great Commission - the making of disciples of all nations - will be complete before the end of your lifetime. We didn't ask to be alive in this climactic age, but God has graciously placed us here, and we cannot ignore that and go on our merry way with our own merry plans for life. We'd miss the joy and the privilege of being part of eternal history!
Mobilization of God's people into His mission is what is needed. My hope is to help share stories and vision that helps you get swept up in this eternal story, help you discern your specific place and role, and give ideas and present opportunities to be involved.
Have you ever wondered why we don't see God move in more significant ways in our midst? Why we don't see dozens, even hundreds of students coming to Christ? Why we don't see a flood of financial resources coming in, helping us expand Cru's ministry to more campuses and people? We do see God working, to be sure, but it often feels so difficult and ministry is fraught with as much or more setback than victory.
I was praying yesterday about the next semester and beyond for Cru, and as I was asking God for some of these noticeably significant things to happen, a nagging question rippled through my mind: "What if it doesn't happen?" This is typical for me - I tend to be of little faith - but as it struck me I was forced to examine the question rather than pass it off. Often when these sorts of doubts or questions hit me I wrestle with doubt - either about God's ability or His desire to produce this fruit. Or I wonder if I'm asking too much, if His plans for our ministry are smaller or more subtle. But in doing so I'm putting the blame, so to speak - whether it be a lack of fruit, or the product of unrealized vision, or ministry failure - on God. And unrightly so.
Whatever vision or dreams we have are not beyond God's ability or resources. Ephesians 3:20 tells us that He is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." Immeasurably more! If we can dream it, God can do far more. We can dream about every student in Pittsburgh bending their knee in humility to follow Christ. God can do more. We can dream about hundreds of students entering the mission field every year from Pittsburgh. God can do more. We can dream about the corporations and government and culture of Pittsburgh being radically transformed by an army of sold-out, on-fire believers living out their faith and values in their workplaces and neighborhoods. God can do more.
So the reason we don't see more fruit has nothing to do with God's ability. He is abundantly able.
I don't think it has anything to do with His desire either. The Bible reveals a God who delights in lavishing blessing on His children (Ephesians 1:3-14), and who is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) He gave His only Son as a sacrifice to save the world from sin and death. He is not short on desire to save and to bless!
Why don't we see more, then? It's probably a more complex question than I'm making it out to be, with an abundance of reasons, but I can think of two that I'll mention here.
One has to do with God's timing. We are often impatient, but God is patient - perfectly so. He can see the end from the beginning, and He may have a myriad of reasons for waiting to move powerfully. A speaker I heard at a conference recently said the phrase "we don't know what we don't know." In other words, we are incredibly limited in our perspective and knowledge. There is a wealth of knowledge we simply don't have, and we often don't realize that we don't have it! So we make judgements based on our incredibly limited insight. But! "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:29) "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)
God is God, we are not. We must trust Him. For me, this means not believing the doubts and objections than come to mind. I have to believe the truth - that God is able, that He desires to save and to bless and to use us, that His plans for myself, my family, and Pittsburgh Cru aren't small or insignificant - and walk in it. I may not know the details of how He wants to use us, or how He may fulfill a vision He lays on my heart, but I can rest in His goodness and power and sovereignty.
And the longer I walk with God and serve in ministry, the more I see God using the setbacks, hardships, and failures to develop and transform me and those around me. Whether He intentionally leads us into trials or He uses the natural setbacks and difficulties we face, I cannot deny His working through them for His glory and my good. Perhaps He values that more than the outwardly impressive fruit I envision, or perhaps He is preparing me for that sort of fruit in the future, when right now I'm not mature enough to handle it well.
Secondly, I think there is a hindrance within ourselves that prevents us from seeing more. I don't want this to come across wrong. We've all probably heard the sort of theology that says, "if you only had more faith, God would heal (or move powerfully, or bring prosperity, etc.)". With what I'm going to say, I'm NOT saying that.
I think the hindrance, though, is summarized in the word YIELD. I bet you were wondering why that picture a million miles above this paragraph is there. Now you know.
British revivalist Henry Varley said the following phrase to famous American evangelist D.L. Moody:
"The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him."
This phrase lit a fire in Moody, as he sought to be that man. You could substitute the word Yield in the place of the world Consecrate. This is perhaps God's greatest desire for us - that we would yield fully to Him. It's the heartbeat of Paul's words in Romans 12:1 - "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship."
The Bible and history are full of testimonies of men and women no different from you and me, who yielded to God, and God has used them mightily. Abraham, who followed God into the unknown, surrendering security and a home, and who was molded into the father of Israel. David, who abandoned himself to God and became a man after His heart, and became Israel's greatest king. Esther, who yielded her safety and status as queen with the hope of saving her people. In more modern times we see Billy Graham, who submitted himself continually to God in humility, and has had the most prolific public ministry this century. Even within Cru, Bill Bright, who founded the ministry, did so after he and his wife signed a contract, offering their whole lives and all they had to God for His glory. It was after this that God gave him a vision that led to the beginning of Campus Crusade for Christ, which has seen hundreds of millions of people come to Christ and thousands and laborers equipped and sent into the harvest fields of the world.
Perhaps God is simply waiting for us to yield more fully to Him, and to step away from prayerlessness into dependence, and more mighty works will follow. As large as our visions and dreams might be, as well thought out our strategies and plans are, and as much as we fervently pray and work toward seeing them come to pass, what's far more crucial is for each individual heart to be yielding to Christ. This is a daily practice, surrendering ourselves, our possessions, our time, our rights, our plans, our everything to Him, and continuing to determinedly re-submit and re-yield. It won't matter what big dreams we have if we aren't surrendering ourselves to Him.
The perfect example of this is Jesus. And that's not a cliche. He is the greatest testimony of a yielded life. He submitted fully to His Fathers will, even unto death. He even said that His food was to do the will of God (John 4:34). He laid down everything - His heavenly residence and His human life - in surrender to the will of God. In doing so He accomplished the greatest work of all - the salvation of our souls, something that was impossible otherwise (Luke 18:18-30).
Jesus is our perfect example and our perfect substitute, and He calls us - His followers - to join Him in this yieldedness. He calls His disciples to deny themselves and take up their crosses daily (Luke 9:23), and to remain in Him, for apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). It's a difficult invitation, but a worthwhile one. True delight and reward, which outweigh anything we can experience in this world, will follow.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Who knows what immeasurably more He may do through us as we yield.
- In what ways have you been frustrated by lack of fruit in ministry, or in your personal life? Are you blaming God for this? What are, perhaps, some other culprits?
- What areas of your life do you have difficulty yielding to God? Is it a relationship, your time, your career and future, your finances?
- Why is it so difficult to yield these areas?
- What are the eternal rewards and promises and hopes that we can look to? What is the joy set before us that will make it more attractive to yield?
-- Jason
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