1. education
2. graduate school
3. college

SAMPLE: INTRANSITION
ALUMNI NETWORK
CRU2 ALUMNI NETWORK
INTRANSITION
CRU2.ORG
RÉSUMÉ
EIGHT HABITS OF A HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DISCIPLE
BRIEFCASE
WORK, SEX, MONEY AND OTHER MEMOS AND BRIEFS
DELAYING THE REAL WORLD
A YEAR WITH A PURPOSE—OPTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES
THE OFFICE
SPIRITUAL IMPACT IN THE MARKETPLACE—A STUDY OF DANIEL
COMMENCEMENT
ADDRESSES FROM ALUMNI
REFERENCES
CONNECTIONS, REFERENCES AND CONTACTS
PRODUCED AND EDITED BY
Rick James
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTERS
Dave Sander
Carolyn Raye
Greg Clemens
Tanya Walker
Larry Stephens
PUBLISHED BY
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
RÉSUMÉ
(Page 5.)
Eight Habits of a Highly Effective Disciple—Personal Workshop: Section One
Introduction. A Personal Development Workshop by Carolyn Raye
Workshops 1–8
Personal Development Worksheet
BRIEFCASE
(Page 35.)
Articles, Briefs, and Important Documents: Section Two
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INTRANSITION
Copyright © 2006 Crupress, Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of
Crupress.
Unless otherwise identified, all Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® (NIV®). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The other version used
is The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
reserved.
International Standard Book Number: 1-57334-063-4
Labor Day. A theology of work, or “God, get me out of bed” by Bob Thune
MapQuest. On finding the will of God by Rick James
iPod. Single life is not an oxymoron by Sarah Gale
Cellular. The power of the network by Will Walker
Sexegrity. Sexual integrity: purity as a process by Nick DeCola
Commuting. In transition from point A to point B by Mat Weiss
W-4. Let me tell you how to spend your money by Steve Pogue
CoJourners. We’re all on a spiritual journey by Keith Davy
My Space. Evangelism 2.0 by Ryan McReynolds
Want Ad. In search of meaningful work by Tim Henderson
DELAYING THE REAL WORLD (Page 99.)
A Year with a Purpose—Options and Opportunities: Section Three
Detour. Creative career paths by Larry Stephens
Experiences
THE OFFICE (Page 115.)
Spiritual Impact in the Marketplace—A Study of Daniel: Section Four
Daniel. Wild ministry success in a secular environment by Tim Henderson
Daniel Bible Studies
COMMENCEMENT (Page 137.)
Addresses from Alumni: Section Five
Alumni Interviews
REFERENCES (Page 149.)
Connections, References and Contacts: Section Six
CRU2
Magazines
Books
Seminaries
Websites
Answers: Daniel
Notes: Personal Development Workshop
EIGHT HABITS OF A
HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DISCIPLE
BY: CAROLYN RAYE
WORKSHOP ONE
Assessing the Transition
WORKSHOP TWO
Writing a Mission Statement
WORKSHOP THREE
WORKSHOP FOUR
WORKSHOP FIVE
WORKSHOP SIX
A Personal Plan for Spiritual Growth
A Personal Plan for Finances
A Personal Plan for Relationships
A Personal Plan for Ministry
WORKSHOP SEVEN
So Many Decisions... How Do I Decide?
WORKSHOP EIGHT
Going to Work
more responsibility and changes than you’ve ever experienced
before. Such independence brings freedom and fear. Some
people panic. Some just don’t think about it. But, honestly, in
the back of your mind, haven’t you wondered …
What if I can’t find a job?
What if I don’t like my job?
What if I’m not really prepared to do the job I am being asked to do?
Where will I live?
Will I have friends?
Will I ever find that “perfect person” to spend the rest of my life with?
What will happen to my faith?
Will I find another group of Christian friends to grow spiritually with?
Will I have enough money?
Will there be people around to challenge me and help me grow personally and spiritually?
How will I make decisions when I’m tempted to go against my convictions?
Will I be able to live “in the world” and not be “of the world”?
Will I be able to balance work, friends, and personal life and still be able to serve in ministry?
Will I be able to make a difference for Christ as I leave college and go out into the world?
The list goes on. You may feel alone with the questions and
the fears. Perhaps I just gave you some new ones—sorry about
that. But I promise you, you aren’t alone.
We want to help prepare you for this significant time of transition. No, we can’t answer all your questions. And we can’t
guarantee you a blissful passage from one arena to the next.
But hopefully we can help you to think about what lies ahead
and help you navigate the transition.
Since you have probably been involved with Campus Crusade,
another campus ministry, or a local church, you have undoubtedly been taught a great deal of biblical truth about walking
with Christ and having a personal ministry. We’re going to build
on that foundation, yet we will also focus on practical applications relevant to this particular stage of your life. This portion
of the InTransition groupzine is designed to help you do that
through the creation of a personal development plan. We want
to help you to think through the following key areas of life:
Finances
Spirituality
Career
Decisions
Ministry
Relationships
RÉSUMÉ A PERSONAL WORKSHOP
You are approaching a very significant milestone in your life.
Sure, graduating from high school was a big deal. Deciding
where to go to college was no small endeavor. Choosing a
major had its agonizing moments. But now you are graduating
from college. And with this milestone, most likely you will face
BY CAROLYN RAYE
SECTION ONE
INTROD
UCTION
OVERVIEW
A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
HOW TO USE THESE WORKSHOP LESSONS
OVERVIEW
AS A GROUP
Nothing happens in isolation. There’s always a bigger picture, a
context that is bigger than the moment itself. For us, that context
is eternity. Heaven. The 80 or so years you may get to spend on this
earth are but a small dot on the endless line of eternity.
In order for you to get the most out of this material, we recommend
that you gather with others who are also about to graduate from
college. We believe that you will find the discussion much more
meaningful and thought provoking when interacting with people
who are experiencing the same realities of life that you are.
Because we would like to provide as much time as possible for the
leader to facilitate discussion, there will be certain assignments you will
need to complete each week on your own. The more you’re willing to
put into these assignments, the more benefits you’ll receive. We think
that you’ll find most of the assignments to be fun and enjoyable—a
nice break from heavy studying. (Or, if your last semester encompasses
only phys. ed. electives, perhaps this will be your only studying!)
Additional questions and thoughts for the small-group facilitator can
be found in the back of this groupzine in the “References” section.
OTHER IDEAS
Go on a retreat together at the beginning of the semester and
complete the first two lessons. Then meet on a weekly basis to
complete the remainder of the lessons.
Ask group members to complete workshops 1 and 2 on their
own before the group starts. Complete the remaining workshops over a six- to seven-week period.
Have a weekend seminar to cover selected material. “Homework” could be assigned before or after the weekend seminar.
ON YOUR OWN
If you are not able to work through the content in a small group, you
will still find all the materials you need within the workshops to complete the planning on your own. We still encourage you to find someone with whom you can share your insights and plans, if possible.
MENTORS
Because this is such a significant phase of life for you, we highly
recommend that you seek out a mentor. There are different types
of mentors, ranging from a grandfatherly figure to someone closer
to being a peer, but generally he or she is further along on their
spiritual journey and has weathered some of the same decisions,
experiences, and circumstances that you are now facing. If you don’t
have a mentor, this workshop provides a great opportunity to invite
someone into that role, asking your mentor to give you feedback on
your personal mission statement and personal development plan as
you work with him or her.
One writer of the Bible put it rather bluntly: “Why, you do not even
know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist
that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14, NIV).
You won’t find that on a Hallmark card!
Because life is large, there’s wisdom in analyzing it in smaller crosssections. While labels may differ, we generally tend to stratify life
with the following layers: spiritual, physical, mental, relational,
financial, professional, ministry, and personal. I think we all would
agree that each of these aspects is important for living a well-balanced and healthy life. So these will be our categories for goal
setting as we work through a personal development plan, with the
following caveat.
We make a grave error if we see our spiritual life as only one piece
of the entire pie and miss the point of a life fully surrendered to the
lordship of Christ. To continue to grow spiritually, we must bring
each area of our life into relationship with Christ and see through
the lens of an eternal perspective. How will your faith affect your relationships or how you choose a marriage partner? How will you live
out your faith in an authentic and appropriate way at work? Will
God have control of your checkbook? Will you trust Him to guide
you with each new career opportunity? In the end, what will last?
What will really matter as you step into eternity?
It is with this mindset that we’ll approach the writing of a personal
development plan. Even though we’ll spend only one session focusing on the spiritual area of life, it does not mean that the other areas
of life aren’t part of spiritual growth. God desires that your whole
life glorify Him and that He be Lord over every area of your life.
THE POWER OF A COMMITMENT
While reading a fitness magazine recently, I found this advice: If you
want to complete a race (5K, 10K, marathon, triathlon, whatever),
then (1) register and pay your money; (2) tell one or two trusted
friends; and (3) begin a workout regimen. Why that order? Because
it solidifies your commitment to do what it takes to finish the race;
you’re less likely to give up because you have made some commitments up front.
Pastor Tim Hawks of Hill Country Bible Church in Austin, Texas,
teaches his congregation the same principles. He says that we grow
out of a commitment rather than into a commitment.
Then we want to chart a course that will help you navigate the
choppy waters of the next 12 to 24 months of your life, following
the philosophy that the best plan is to have a plan. You may want to
take a week or more on each of the sections of this workshop.
OVERVIEW
A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
CONT
Let’s say, for example, that you think it would be cool to read
the whole Bible through at least once. (I agree, that would be
cool.) So you decide that you’ll just try it for a few days and see
how easy it might be and then decide whether you’ll commit to it. Day one, your alarm doesn’t go off. You’re already
behind three chapters. Day two, you plan to read during your
lunch hour, but you forget your Bible. Day three, you decide
it’s just too difficult and maybe you’ll try again in six months
when things slow down a little. Taking this approach, you tell
yourself that you’ll give it a shot and see if it turns into a commitment. If you fail, you haven’t lost anything. You have no
money invested and no one else knows about it.
The opposite approach is growth that comes out of a commitment. Using the same example of wanting to read the Bible
through, you would perhaps start by buying a One Year Bible
or downloading a Bible reading plan from the Internet. Then
you would tell a couple of friends (maybe one would want to
join you in the commitment). Then you would start reading.
Day one, your alarm doesn’t go off. Because you have made a
commitment, however, you stay up later that evening to complete your first day’s reading. That night, you set two alarms
to make sure you get up the next morning. The commitment
up front keeps you from being derailed by a bump in the road.
You push through the difficulties that come. You will grow
because you made a commitment.
Because we desire to see you grow—in all areas of your life—
we are going to unapologetically ask you to make a few commitments. Six, to be exact. At the end of each workshop, which
is related to your personal development plan, you will have the
opportunity to make one commitment that can be carried out
during the first 12 to 24 months after graduation.
Make a few commitments. Seek out the counsel of a mentor.
Do these two things and you’ll be off to a great start in this
passage from college to the world of work. (“The world of
work”—now there’s an inviting name!)
But we don’t want you to embark on a development plan without a context. So in the first workshop we’ll discuss the areas
of life that will change in the upcoming transition, and in the
second workshop you’ll construct a personal mission statement.
This will be your compass, establishing your priorities and shaping your commitments.
The Personal Development Work Sheet, where you’ll be recording your commitments, is on the last page of this workshop
section. (page 31) You can’t miss it—it says PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHEET on the top. Whatever you choose, have
fun with this and try to take someone with you on your journey
through InTransition. You may also want to purchase a notebook to record your thoughts and journal to and with Christ
through the process.
WORKSHOP
ONE
ASSESSING THE TRANSITION
Before we get to the specifics of the personal development plan, we
want to first get our minds around the transition we are about to
encounter. What exactly are we looking at here? Well, let’s start with
a reality check. Not someone else’s reality. Your reality. Let’s get all
the issues out on the table.
SO WHAT EXACTLY WILL CHANGE?
To know in advance the exact nature of any transition—all that will
be involved and how we’ll personally respond—is impossible. But that
doesn’t mean we can’t intelligently project and assess the major issues
that will factor in. To that end, filling out this chart will be helpful.
WHAT’S TRUE ABOUT MY LIFE IN COLLEGE
In the left-hand column, check the statements that
are true of you.
In the right-hand column, write how this statement might read after you graduate and start a
new job.
After completing this list, add at least five more
items that come to your mind as changes that will
occur in your life.
WHAT WILL BE TRUE AFTER I GRADUATE AND
START A NEW JOB
My parents are paying my rent and/or bills.
I am on my parent’s health and/or car insurance.
I do not make car payments.
My monthly paychecks are between $0 and
$800/month.
I have roommates and we have been friends for at
least two years.
I am part of a small group and/or church body.
Most of the people I am surrounded by each day are
my own age.
I see my closest friends every day.
I have an older person who meets with me on a
regular basis to help me grow spiritually.
I usually go to class, but sometimes I just don’t feel
like going and skip out.
10
ASSESSING THE TRANSITION
CONT
WHAT’S TRUE ABOUT MY LIFE IN COLLEGE
I schedule my classes so that I do not have to get up
before 9:00 A.M.
WHAT WILL BE TRUE AFTER I GRADUATE AND
START A NEW JOB
I have dropped several classes because I did not like
the professor.
ASSESSING THE TRANSITION
HOMEWORKCONT
CONDUCT INTERVIEW
Ask one or two people who have been out of school less than three
years to have lunch, coffee, or a phone appointment with you.
These questions are intended to be a starting point. You can make
up some of your own or ask follow-up questions as appropriate. In
order to be considerate of the other person’s time, try to keep this to
about an hour.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Where did you go to school, and when did you graduate?
On the weekends, I just do whatever my friends
are doing.
Did you move to a new city after graduation?
I have been building relationships with my unbelieving friends in order to be able to share the gospel
with them at the appropriate time.
I know that we all anticipate changes after college, but what surprised you the most about your transition from
college to the work world?
What have you enjoyed the most since leaving college?
I have served in ministry because someone approached me and challenged me to a specific role or
position.
How long did it take you to find a church to get involved with? What was that process like?
What does your church involvement consist of now? How is it different from the Christian experiences you had in college?
KEY QUESTIONS
Discuss or write answers to the following questions using the first
thoughts that come to your mind. Be real. Talk or write about
what’s really on your mind.
When you think about graduating, what are some of the first things that come to your mind?
What concerns you the most as you think about leaving the college environment?
I have heard that the financial adjustments are often bigger than one anticipates. From your experiences or observations, what do you think college graduates should know about being good stewards of their finances?
If you could recommend just one financial habit to adopt immediately out of college, what would it be and why?
How do you picture yourself serving the Lord and ministering to others after you leave college?
What temptations do you think you could encounter that might distract you in your walk with God?
From a practical standpoint, how are you preparing yourself for the transitions ahead?
Obviously this is not exhaustive, nor is it a crystal ball. There is much
we cannot know until we actually go through it, and God will of
course be going through it with us. But as we move ahead in these
workshops, we at least have a sketch—some contours—of the transition that lies ahead, enabling us to wisely begin making preparations.
These changes can sometimes take people by surprise. Not to mention that our “enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour.” Because I so want to see you “resist
him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9), I am asking you to do
a special out-of-class assignment.
At the end of this lesson you will find some interview questions.
Find a couple of people who have been out of college less than three
years and set up a coffee/lunch phone appointment with them or get
together if they’re close (leave the bill for them, as they are gainfully
employed). See what you can learn from their successes and failures.
11
OPTIONAL QUESTIONS FOR SMALL-GROUP
DISCUSSIONS
What emotions did you experience as you listed the changes
about to take place in your life?
What do you think you personally need the most in order to
prepare you for the transition ahead?
How has moving and getting a new job affected you spiritually?
What would you say are the biggest hindrances to a growing and maturing walk with God right out of college?
Have you been able to find spiritually encouraging friends or mentors? What do you think it takes to develop such
relationships, and how long should it take?
Are you serving in ministry somewhere? If so, what are you doing and how did you decide to commit to
that area of service?
What do you hope to gain from going through these workshops?
OPTIONAL PERSONAL STUDY
In the Briefcase section, read “Commuting” by Mat Weiss.
I have heard people say that you will be much busier after college than during college. Did you find that to be
true? If so, what has helped you to manage your time well?
If you could give me and my friends any piece of advice, what would it be?
12
LABOR DAY
A THEOLOGY OF WORK, OR “GOD, GET ME OUT OF BED”
BY BOB THUNE
BRIEFCASE
BRIEFCASE
BRIEFCASE
SECTION 2
SECTION 2
MAPQUEST
ON FINDING THE WILL OF GOD
BY RICK JAMES
iPOD
SINGLE LIFE IS NOT AN OXYMORON
BY SARAH GALE
CELLULAR
THE POWER OF THE NETWORK
BY WILL WALKER
SEXEGRITY
SEXUAL INTEGRITY: PURITY AS A PROCESS
BY NICK DECOLA
COMMUTING
IN TRANSITION FROM POINT A TO POINT B
BY MAT WEISS
W-4
LET ME TELL YOU HOW TO SPEND YOUR MONEY
BY STEVE POGUE
COJOURNERS
WE’RE ALL ON A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
BY KEITH DAVY
WORK, SEX, MONEY
AND OTHER MEMOS
AND BRIEFS
35
MY SPACE
EVANGELISM 2.0
BY RYAN MCREYNOLDS
WANT AD
IN SEARCH OF MEANINGFUL WORK
BY TIM HENDERSON
36
LABOR DAY//
50
A THEOLOGY OF WORK, OR GOD GET M OUT OF ED”
BY BOB THUNE
37
GODIS
CALLING
YOU
LABOR\\\
LABO
LAB////
LA//
L/////////////
DAY//
GOD
IS
CALLING
YOU
If you enjoy feeling a vague and unsettled sense of guilt for not going into
“the ministry,” you’re better off not reading this chapter. On the other hand,
if going to work each day with a sense of Christ-exalting joy sounds attractive, then maybe you ought to read on. The majority of Christians aren’t in
vocational ministry. So if God really cares about all of life, it’s about time we
developed a coherent theology of work.
A friend of mine left a well-paying job to join the staff of a Christian
ministry. She explained her decision something like this: “Working
a normal job, I had to spend 40 or 50 hours a week doing what my
employer wanted. Ministry had to come second. But now I’ll be free to
devote all my time to God and to ministry.”
I understand what my friend is trying to say. When I first heard her
say it in a room full of Christian friends, I nodded along with everyone
else. I may even have voiced a barely audible Mmmm to show that I
resonated with the point. After all, it sounds so … spiritual. And that’s
the problem.
Behind this perspective lie some deeply rooted misconceptions about
work and spirituality. Without disrespecting my friend and others
like her, I want to try and right the ship. I want to show you that
work itself is an inherently spiritual thing. And I want you to see that
glorifying God in the marketplace goes far beyond witnessing to your
coworkers or hosting a Bible study over lunch. You are fulfilling God’s
design when you do your job well, no matter what your job is.
When I was a senior in college, I spent a lot of time thinking and praying about what to do next. I spoke with lots of mentors, some who
were in “full-time ministry” and some who weren’t. One of the words
that got thrown around a lot was the word calling, as in “What is God
calling you to do?”
I had a love-hate relationship with this idea of calling. On the one
hand, I believed that God actually is a relational being, and so He
must call people into certain things. On the other hand, it seemed
like the people who were “called” were always the ones in full-time
ministry. There seemed to be two classes of Christians: those who did
regular work and those who were called into ministry.
After I joined the world of full-time ministry, this classism was reiterated. One of my mentors in campus ministry said he believed ministers
had a special calling from God that other people didn’t. I immediately
put this idea to work in raising support. I told people, “I know you
haven’t been called into vocational ministry, but God has given you
the opportunity to support people, like me, who have been!”
It wasn’t until a few years later that someone pointed out to me an
interesting fact: the root of the English word vocation is the Latin verb
voca, which means “to call.” The linguistic evidence suggests that at
some point in history people actually thought of every type of work as
a calling. This notion lodged itself in my soul and provoked a wholesale reexamination of my assumptions.
38
WORK IS
GOOD
I still believe in that personal, visceral sense of the Holy Spirit’s calling.
God definitely calls people into certain things. What else would drive
people to pass up lucrative job offers for the humbling prospect of
raising their own financial support? But I no longer agree that full-time
ministry is a unique sort of calling that transcends other vocations.
For a Christian, work is a calling. Whether you are a minister or a
mechanic, you do not work because it pays the bills, or because it’s personally fulfilling, or because it’s what you went to school for. You work
because it glorifies God.
I have a deeply theological reason for caring that you get this. It’s
rooted in two important verses in the New Testament:
“Whether … you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to
the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NASB)
“From [Christ] and through Him and to Him are all things. To
Him be the glory forever.” (Romans 11:36)
What these verses say is that God wants to be glorified in everything
and that Christ is the source and the means and the goal of everything.
Everything in life is to display the glory of God and the supremacy of
Christ. Everything. So it’s not enough that we try to honor God in how
we do our work, or that we try to be Christlike to people at work, or
that we support God’s kingdom with the money we make from work.
The glory of God must inform and transform our view of work itself.
Most non-Christians see work simply as a means to an end: it provides
beer money or a fat retirement pension or a better life for one’s kids.
And many Christians see work in exactly the same way. Perhaps we’re
pursuing holier ends: money to tithe or an opportunity to witness to a
coworker, for instance. But our view of work itself is still fundamentally
unchanged. We are still using work as a means to an end. We are putting up with work for what it gets us. So God may be glorified in the
end, but He is neglected in the means. He is honored in the results of
our work, but He is not supreme in our view of work itself.
To straighten out our malformed theology of work, we need to go all
the way back to the Garden of Eden.
LORD
LOR
39
The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east,
in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree
that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life
also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. …
Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (Genesis 2:7-9, 15).
The most important thing about this passage is that it takes place before
the Fall. Work is not a result of sin; it is part of God’s original design for
humanity! The word “cultivate” in Genesis 2:15 translates the Hebrew
word for work or service. The word “keep” carries the idea of care or
protection (compare Psalm 121, where God is called our “keeper”). God
put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and to care for it.
Let this sink in: work is what we were created for.
This truth is right there in the Bible, plain as day. God created you to
work. And that’s only the beginning of the story! Adam started out
tending a garden, but God had much bigger plans in mind.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He
created him; male and female He created them. God blessed
them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and
fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that
moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28)
God’s purpose was for Adam’s dominion over the garden to expand
into his dominion over the whole earth. By producing godly offspring
and teaching them to work, Adam and Eve were to subdue all of
creation. The language of subduing and ruling mirrors what God did
in creation, turning chaos into order. Adam and Eve were to turn the
whole earth into the Garden of Eden. And it wasn’t going to happen
by magic but by concerted effort.
Theologians call Genesis 1:27-28 the cultural mandate. God is mandating the establishment of culture. Adam and Eve will produce children.
Those children will create families, and those families will band together into cities and social networks. Those networks of human beings will
reflect all the aspects of human culture—language and art and music
and food and philosophy and theology.
It is no accident that the ultimate biblical picture of redeemed humanity
involves a city (Revelation 21:2). A city reflects human culture in its most
developed and complex forms. God’s purpose for humanity started in a
garden, but it culminates in a great cultural center. One of my seminary
professors is fond of saying, “God expected Adam and Eve to split the
atom.” He didn’t just expect them to have babies and plant trees. They
were meant to exercise dominion over all of creation, turning the entire
earth into a showcase of the glory and beauty and majesty of God—and
then working it and caring for it for all of eternity.
So work was God’s design from the beginning. And the ultimate goal was
for every aspect of life and culture to be saturated with the beauty and
glory and love of God. But when sin entered the picture, work was cursed.
Then to Adam [God] said, …
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you will eat the plants of the field;
By the sweat of your face
You will eat bread,
Till you return to the ground. (Genesis 3:17-19)
Because of the Fall, work is hard. Work involves sweat and toil and thorns
and thistles. Or, if you prefer, work involves stress and overtime and overbearing bosses and boring meetings. Not everything in the world of work
is as it should be. Work has been cursed. But work is still good.
It’s important that we see both the goodness of work in God’s original
creation and the struggle of work under the Fall. If we see only the
good, we’ll be frustrated when things don’t go as they should. If we see
only the bad, we’ll have a hard time doing our work to the glory of God.
Work is not all good and it’s not all bad. It is part of God’s good creation,
which has been tainted by the Fall. And God is at work to redeem work.
WORK
WORK
REDEEMED
REDEEMED
WORK
REDEEMED
Redemption is not just about individual souls; it’s about the restoration
of the entire cosmos. Romans 8:20-21 says, “The creation was subjected
to frustration … in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from
its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the
children of God” (NIV). Through us, God wants to renew creation.
When God redeems us in Christ, He doesn’t just change our eternal destiny. He changes our whole worldview, our entire basis for living, the
grid through which we see the world. Redemption affects every part
of us. And through us, God’s redemption is extended into the world
around us.
So redemption in Christ must transform our view of work. No longer
is work a necessary evil; now it is a calling. Work has great spiritual
significance because it is a chance for God to be glorified. Remember
1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whether … you eat or drink or whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God.” A similar command is given in Colossians
3:17: “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” When you show
up at your job, you’re there for the glory of God. God wants to be honored in what you do and in how you do it.
What are some ways that God can be glorified in our work?
Consider these biblical ideas:
• God is glorified when we put our whole selves into our work, with a view toward pleasing God,
not people (Colossians 3:23-24).
• God is glorified when we are honest, even when it hurts us or prevents us from getting ahead
(Genesis 39; Psalm 15).
• God is glorified when we honor our superiors and submit to their authority
(Romans 13:7; 1 Timothy 6:1).
• God is glorified when we treat our work associates with kindness and respect
(Luke 6:31; Romans 12:18).
• God is glorified when we expose fraud or dishonesty or unethical behavior (Ephesians 5:11-13).
• God is glorified when we approach our work prayerfully (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
• God is glorified when we avoid complaining or grumbling, even in less than ideal work situations
(Philippians 2:14-15).
• God is glorified when we refuse to make work and money our idols
(Ecclesiastes 5:10-12; Matthew 6:24).
• God is glorified when we plan diligently for the future (Proverbs 21:5).
• God is glorified when we live simply and give generously (Proverbs 22:9; 1 Timothy 6:17-19).
• God is glorified when we trust Him to provide today what we need for today (Matthew 6:11).
• God is glorified when we rest from work (Deuteronomy 5:13-15; Psalm 46:10).
In all these ways and many more, we can do our work to the glory of God.
40
Rest is a deeply spiritual thing. And God intends it to be a regular part
of the weekly rhythm of your life. He commands it, the same way He
commands you to make disciples and worship God alone and love your
neighbor as yourself. You need to get serious about this commandment. Maybe you even need to get legalistic for a while, just to get
yourself in the habit of observing it.
NOW?
Thus far, I’ve tried to sketch a broad biblical theology of work. It’s my
prayer that as you reflect on these things, God will grip you with the
deep spirituality of work and give you a broader vision for His glory in
your vocation. On the other hand, sometimes you just need some good
practical advice. At some point (usually about now), you’re going to
ask the question “How should all this change what I do tomorrow?”
Here are my four best answers.
First, work hard. Go to work tomorrow or next month or next year and
do your absolute best. Be the best employee, the best manager, the
best associate you can be. Be known as the most honest, most humble,
most ethical, most competent person in your field. And do all that, not
to advance your own career, but to advance God’s fame.
If you desperately want to see all of your coworkers saved, but you have
a habit of not showing up to work on time, people will be annoyed and
your witness will be compromised and God will not be honored. There
are already enough people like that. Don’t be one of them.
Second, don’t expect life at work to be ‘peachy.’ We all know the
way-too-happy Christians who go to work thinking that since they love
Jesus, everything is going to work out. It’s not. You might miss your
quota. You might lose a client. You might get fired. You might have
tensions with your boss or your coworkers. These things don’t mean
that Jesus doesn’t love you or that God isn’t on your side or that God is
punishing you for that one time you got drunk when you were a freshman. Rather, they are the inevitable result of living in a fallen world.
Most of us are so used to music and TV and e-mail and social interaction and recreation and conversations and busyness that we have
forgotten the art of resting. The best thing you can do for yourself, for
your employer, for your career, and for the glory of God is to set apart
one day in your week when you can’t be reached. Turn your cell phone
off. Don’t check your e-mail. Take a really long nap. Worship with
other believers. Take a walk or watch a sunset or read a good book.
If your work obligations don’t permit a 24-hour period of rest every
week, then consider taking a personal day every month for solitude and
silence and rest. Why wouldn’t you? Your coworkers will take personal
days when a pet dies or when a girlfriend breaks up with them or when
they are hung over from a long weekend. Are you really going to feel
guilty for taking one day out of every 30 to refresh your soul through
intimate communion with the God of the universe? I hope not.
Fourth, learn to pray the Lord’s Prayer. There’s a reason Jesus taught
his disciples to “pray in this way.” Jesus, the master teacher, knew that
we become what we pray. When our prayers focus on our needs and
our agendas and the ways we want God to bless us, we become selfcentered, myopic people. To save us from this, Jesus gave us a pattern
for prayer that causes us to begin to care about the Father’s name, the
Father’s kingdom, the Father’s will. And we begin to see that work,
like all of life, is about God, not us. So get yourself into the discipline
of praying the Lord’s Prayer before work and after work and during
work, not to get God to do something for you, but to get yourself into
a God-centered rhythm of life.
My friend David left full-time ministry to become a rancher in rural
Washington. He said God was calling him to do it. At the time I didn’t
quite get it. I was still working under the assumption that God calls
people into the ministry, not out of it. In fact, I tried to talk David into
staying in vocational ministry. He was good at what he did. God was
using him. Leaving the ministry didn’t make sense.
But it does now. Being a rancher is no less glorifying to God than being a minister. If you’re going to be a rancher, I hope you approach
your work with the same sense of calling as my friend David did. Raise
cattle to the glory of God, already! If ranching isn’t your thing, then do
whatever is your thing with a God-entranced vision of vocation. As Paul
said to the Colossians, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for
the Lord rather than for men. … It is the Lord Christ whom you serve”
(Colossians 3:23-24). And that’s true whether you’re preaching sermons
or branding cattle or selling stocks.
Now, put this workbook down and get to work.
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
SO, NOW?
WHAT
WHAT
SO,WHAT
NOW?
CALLED
CALLED
OUTOUT
1. What can we learn about work from the book of Genesis?
2. What does it mean to be called? What is a calling?
3. How is work redeemed?
4. What are some ways we can glorify God in our work?
5. What makes work good and not a necessary evil?
6. What motivates you the most when you think about how you could glorify God through your job?
7. Do you think there is a difference in the call to a specific job and the call to missions? If so, why?
Bob Thune has been called by God to lead the Coram Deo Church Community in Omaha, Nebraska. In the past, he has also been
called by God to be a car wash attendant, a security guard, a recruiter, a political campaign worker, a used car salesman, a fundraiser, a campus minister, and a writer. He currently lives in Omaha with his wife, Leigh, and their three children.
Remember: thorns and thistles. Work is cursed. Work is affected by the
Fall. Work doesn’t always go the way it should. So have a God-sized
view of the holiness of work (creation). But be realistic about the Fall,
too. Jesus hasn’t come back yet.
Third, learn the Ten Commandments. I’m serious. Especially the fourth
one: the Sabbath. You’ve probably been breaking it your whole life.
Now would be a good time to stop.
41
42
MAP
QUEST
MAPQUEST
A ///
PQUEST//
482
MAPQUEST//
ON FINDING THE WILL OF GOD
417
BY RICK JAMES
I think we all wish that God would simply write out His will for our
lives, in the same way that I would rather get a prescription from
the doctor than have to change my lifestyle or have invasive surgery.
Sadly, God has other priorities for our growth and relationship with
Him than simply giving us the right answer.
In fact, giving us an immediate answer would undo many of
God’s greater purposes: learning to entrust our future to Him,
learning to rely on Him, cultivating intimacy, engaging our
hearts in search of discernment, and so forth.
A few bread crumbs each day, rather than the whole loaf of
bread, ensures our coming back to the bird feeder. And that,
it seems, is how God’s will is mediated to us—through divine
bread crumbs (or manna) of wisdom and through our hunger
to know, the embarrassingly selfish motivation for following
the trail of crumbs closer and closer to the source. And what
is truly amazing—beyond comprehension, actually—is that,
though “all things were created by him and for him,” (Colossians 1:16) He tolerates our narcissistic approach to His throne.
The idea that discerning God’s will ultimately draws us closer to
Him is fairly intuitive. So intuitive, in fact, that I’m compelled to
believe there’s much more going on in the exercise. I mean, if I
think I’ve figured out the strategy of the world’s greatest chess
player, he’s either probably not the world’s greatest chess player
or I’m missing something. But at least it’s a starting point—a
simplistic why, but a why nonetheless. And this simple why leaves
me to move on, at least momentarily, to consider the hows.
439
As people would rightly repudiate my own experience as a guide,
we can find scriptural evidence for discerning God’s will in the
following ways.
Discerned through emotions: Your feelings can be
influenced by the Spirit, and so likes and desires,
as well as strong negative feelings, can provide
clues to God’s leading.
536
Discerned through reasoning: Logic can be a valuable
tool in discerning God’s leading. A pro/con list
is an example.
Discerned through wisdom: Your accumulated
knowledge of how God works in the Bible, the
world, and your life can guide you.
545
ONFINDING
THEWILLOF
532
531
43
Discerned through circumstances: Open doors, closed
doors, or an alignment of circumstances can point
you to God’s direction.
Discerned through the counsel of others: Christians
who have a mature understanding of you and/or
the Lord can provide guidance as to what God may
be saying to you.
Discerned through the Scripture: Most importantly,
biblical principles inform our discernment of God’s will.
Discerned through the mind: The Holy Spirit is not
divorced from your mind or your distinct impressions. Dreams, thoughts, and images thus can be
informed by God to give direction, and it is most
often through prayer that we receive these.
551
44
If you were here and we were good friends, then I, having been a Christian for a long time, would suggest that we paint together. We could
talk through and analyze your situation, and I could make sure you
didn’t kick over the bucket of paint or coat the walls with an atrocious
shade of violet. But you’re not here, and so we’ll have to settle for a
basic-level course in painting or color theory: we’ll take a closer look at
the different genres of God’s discourse with us.
But first a disclaimer. To understand something, we need to analyze
it—take it apart. But analysis is by nature atomistic and reductionistic:
in the process, that which is being studied becomes less than what it
is. And so the disclaimer is this: God’s will is as dynamic, and at times
as mysterious, as the wind. Our color palette is a watery medium for
capturing the true color of God’s speech, and our empowerment by
the Spirit is a necessary prerequisite for perceiving it. Anyway, I just
thought we ought to stare into the glorious and blinding light of God’s
will before refracting it into the rainbow of bands that comprise it.
EMOTIONS
EMOTIONS
EMOTIONS
As in every area of life, our emotions have an important voice in discerning God’s will. What we have to be careful of, however, is that emotions
have a really loud and obnoxious voice. Emotions like to sit in the middle
of a crowded room of other factors, screaming, crying, and manipulating
all other faculties of judgment until they get their way. Fine, have it your
way, you spoiled brat.
It’s the power, passion, and subjectivity of emotions that lead many
Christians to disregard their input on discerning God’s will. While that
perspective is understandable, I think we miss something by banishing
emotions from the discussion. God speaks to us as humans and, like it
or not, emotions are a large part of what it means to be human. Yet we
can’t be ignorant or be an enabler, and if we are to invite emotions to
the table of discernment, we need some ground rules: we must force
the barbarian to put on a tie and act civilized.
The voice of our emotions is usually a chorus, and so it’s also helpful to
isolate the voices. This is one of the reasons that decisions concerning
marriage and vocation are so difficult: there are conflicting emotions.
“I don’t know if I want to marry you” can reflect such thoughts as I
don’t know if I like your family, I was planning on going to grad school, I
don’t want to have kids in the near future, and I find your presence generally repulsive. You must try to isolate the voices. I’ve talked to dozens
of young people over the years about their confusion over going into
the ministry. Ultimately I ask, “If you were independently wealthy and
had no friends or family, what would you do with your life?” What I’m
trying to do is help them separate out their different emotions—feelings for ministry from feelings about peer pressure, school loans, family
approval, and financial support.
To listen solely to emotions in discerning God’s will is to court disaster,
but to exclude it is to handicap ourselves, blindfolding one of our senses.
LOGIC REASONING,
LOGIC
REASONING
AND SOUND
MIND
SOUND MIND
Logic is the duct tape we need to put together the pieces of our confusing and disparate universe. Unlike our other discerning senses, logic is as
tangible as a piece of produce, allowing us to sniff, squeeze, and weigh
options.
Logic is our default sense—our eyes—that we rely on hundreds of
times a day. You don’t need to pray about whether to step out onto
the freeway when a car is coming. Logic, in a microsecond, does the
math: squishy humans plus heavy steel equals bad. (Logic has a limited
vocabulary, as language is elsewhere in the brain.)
Because reason is a sense that we are most familiar with, it is highly advisable for young Christians to rely heavily upon it in discerning God’s
45
will. Young Christians do not yet have a biblically informed mind or
years of wisdom in walking with the Lord, and as a result, their palette
of colors is more limited. It’s often best for a young Christian (and not a
bad idea for a mature Christians as well) to prayerfully make a pro/con
list and weigh all factors bearing upon the decision. This is not unspiritual but only simplistic, and its only danger is that by relying upon it
too much, we may never learn to use our other senses. In Scripture,
Christians are clearly exhorted to be led and directed by the Spirit of
God, and “the Spirit’s leading” is not a euphemism for logic, however
uncomfortable that may make us.
Wisdom is practical, applied knowledge. It
is our pool of knowledge about how life
works, how God works, how people work, and
how we work. Discerning God’s will through
wisdom is similar to geometry. You have a
problem that is best approached through a
specific truth, truism, or principle (theorem).
Wisdom is the number of theorems you know,
how well you know them, and whether you
know which type of problem to use them on.
If you scan the Bible’s wisdom literature, such
as the book of Proverbs, you’ll find a list of
such theorems: truisms about God, the world,
people, and ourselves. (Some of them can
almost seem contradictory, underscoring that
the heart of wisdom is in knowing when to
apply which truth.)
Let’s say you don’t have enough money to pay
your bills. This is a problem. But what principle
should you apply? Is this a time to wait and
trust God to supply, a time to ask for a raise, a
time to change jobs, or a time to rethink your
lifestyle? Is God telling you to budget, save,
resign, repent, tithe, work, pray, or trust? Or
is this a spiritual attack? Living wisely is the
practice of applying practical experience to
sniff out the difference and, at the very least,
narrow the options.
But this is not all the Bible has to say about
wisdom, for it is not simply a formula of intellect plus experience equals wisdom, but the
equation also factors in the heart and experiential knowledge of God. The book of Proverbs puts it this way: “The fear of the LORD is
the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of
the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10,
NIV). The attitude of the heart being described
is one of humility and submission: a heart that
acknowledges the supremacy of God’s ways
above our own, that contritely recognizes the
folly of our own motives and will, and that
submits itself to God’s sovereign workings—
disciplines, blessings, provisions, and direction.
Such a heart attitude leads to a deep and vital
relationship and experience of God and to
wisdom far beyond proverbs of His activities.
Perhaps this example will make the distinction
clear. When I was about three, my mother told
me not to walk across the street without looking. I learned dozens of these safety proverbs.
But as I grew up and grew in my relationship
with her, I understood that the heart behind
the proverb was love for me and concern for
my safety—I understood the person behind
the proverb. I think one of the things the
author of Proverb is trying to communicate is
that knowing the person behind the Proverbs
(God) is a whole lot more effective (wise) than
memorizing a thousand proverbs of His activities without such intimate knowledge.
The problem new believers have with wisdom
is that they don’t really have any. Not intimate
experiential wisdom about how God works,
anyway. Not yet. They do, however, have helpful applied knowledge about life and themselves that can aid in decision making. But if
they are going to make use of godly wisdom
(which they should), they’ll need to seek it
outside themselves.
This wisdom is dispensed in one of two sources. First, mature believers are trained detectives in discerning God’s will. Having tracked
Him for years, they can recognize His footprints in the muddy swamps of apparent chaos
and randomness, discerning which direction
He seems to be headed. The second source of
wisdom is God Himself: “If any of you lacks
wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be
given to him” (James 1:5).
Although we have no basis to know which
choice is best, God can help us discern.
Therefore, an answer cannot come from our
past experience (our own wisdom); it must be
mediated by one of the other venues, such as
impressions, circumstances, or reasoning. In
such cases God is not implanting experiential
wisdom (memories we never had) in our minds
but communicating His wisdom to us. This is
“wisdom that comes from heaven” (James
3:17). Thus, even as young Christians, we are
not cut off from wisdom’s counsel, though we
do not possess much of it ourselves.
CIRCUMCIRCUMSTANCES
STANCES
CI
R
CU
M
ST
A
NC
E
S
In discerning God’s will, some of those ground rules are as follows. We
should not make decisions based on emotions alone. Emotions need
an objective chaperone to keep them in line, such as the counsel of
others or strong circumstantial support. If you’re feeling something,
but no one else is, there’s a good chance it’s just indigestion, and you
court folly by moving forward without ratification from other people,
other facts, other revelation.
WISDOM
WISDOM
WISDOM
These different vehicles of God’s communication give us a palette of
colors that, if mixed skillfully by a mature Christian, can yield a beautiful portrait of where God is leading. And therein, as they say, lies the
rub—“if mixed skillfully.” An immature Christian will have a tendency
to use only one color (say, emotions) and create a rather disturbing selfportrait (a reflection of his or her own wants and desires perhaps).
Like notes in a song, the arrangement of circumstances can betray the
mind and intent of the songwriter (God). Patterns of circumstances can
be clustered in various ways: how God has spoken to you in the past,
strings of open doors, redundancy in how God has used you, repetition of advice leaning determinatively toward one alternative, and so
on. This isn’t a bad steering wheel by which to navigate the future,
but never underestimate the ability of God’s children to wreck their
Father’s car. This method of discernment can go off the track in one of
two ways.
The search for patterns within circumstances can become a search
for a sign. Hey, this burn mark on my grilled cheese sandwich looks like
the boot of Italy. I guess I’m supposed to go there as a missionary. Of the
variegated ways God could speak to you, I’d guess your grilled cheese
sandwich is way down the list. While God could inscribe His commandments on a piece of sourdough bread as easily as on a slab of stone,
He typically does not use such “signs,” because it instigates superstition and irresponsibility within us and it ignores the fact that Satan
can cook a mean grilled cheese sandwich himself.
The other problem with “signs,” as opposed to legitimate patterns of
circumstances, is that we tend to see what we want to see. Have you ever
thought something like this? If the traffic light turns green in the next five
seconds, I should ask her out on a date. Typically, if we really want to ask
the person out, when the light turns green, we’ll see it as confirmation.
And if it doesn’t, we’ll ignore it. This was a silly exercise that means absolutely nothing.
Ideally, the circumstances that you look to should be organically related
to the issue at hand. If you have been presented with a ministry opportunity, for example, you could ask whether God has used you in
this way in the past. And the pattern should be observed over a large
swatch of time as well as witnessed by others. “Yeah, God does seem to
use you in that way.”
With that said, if a 200-foot-high flaming grilled cheese sandwich
appears over the person you were thinking of asking out, you
might, well, ask her out.
46
SCRIP
SCRIPTURE
TURE
SCRIPTURE
As the worker opened the cash register at Starbucks today, I immediately began to pray, “Oh God, lead me. Is it Your will for me to club
the cashier and stuff the wad of $20’s in my pocket?” No, that didn’t
happen. But do you see the point? General principles concerning God’s
will abound in Scripture, and discernment is superfluous where God’s
will has been made explicit.
But I’m not just talking about explicit scriptural statements, as important as they are. Over time, over years, as our minds marinate in the
Scriptures, we grow in our understanding of God to the extent that we
are able to discern His will on issues far from explicit in the Bible. Just
like in my marriage, I could project with a great deal of accuracy what
my wife would say to questions I’ve never heard her answer. I just know
her very well.
It is in this way, through both the explicit and the implicit, that God’s
Word leads us in His will. As opposed to the other way: randomly opening to any page in the Bible prompted by the question “Is my roommate the Antichrist?” This confuses the Bible for a fortune cookie or
magic eight ball. To such a question, I can only respond, “I’m seeing a
dark cloud of confusion shrouding your future.”
MIND
DREAMS
MIND,
DREAMS,
AND IMPRESSIONS
MIND,
DREAMS
AND IMPRESSIONS
IMPRESSIONS
In some ways, I’d prefer for God not speak to me in these ways because
it kind of creeps me out. And perhaps He never will, as God often
relates to us in ways we are comfortable being related to. But the Bible
contains all manner of visions, dreams, and prophecies, and we’d be
silly mortals if we attempted to limit God or doubt His ability to use
such methods today.
I’m no expert on metaphysics, but the giving of dreams and visions
bespeaks God’s ability to bypass our normal “knowing” faculties and
relate information directly to our minds. The fact that He could, but
often doesn’t, underscores that His primary goal is not simply to give us
the right answer but rather to grow us in our knowledge and relationship with Him through the process. But rest assured, if getting you information becomes mission critical—like if you were the parents of the
Messiah and a king was sending his soldiers to massacre every child in
town—He could arouse you from sleep and dispatch you with marching
orders at a moment’s notice.
Impressions, which seem less spooky and perhaps more common, can
only be described as an inaudible whisper in the ear from the Spirit of
God. If it is an important decision, I would not act on these without
corroboration from some of the other senses mentioned. An interview
with a non-Christian artist, musician, or writer would explain why. The
intuitive or creative muse is a human faculty, almost indistinguishable from a spiritual impression. In fact, God’s impressions may come
mediated through this intuitive faculty. Thus an intuitive whisper is no
different than a thought, dream, emotion, or circumstance: it can be
endowed with spiritual significance by the Spirit of God … or not.
An admittedly bizarre illustration, but I hope it makes the point. The
different vehicles by which God communicates to us are like senses, and
my goal is to use as many as possible, seeking with each to affirm and
corroborate what the other senses are telling me. I’m looking for alignment in the data. I’m looking to be a good detective assembling all the
clues. I’m looking for all my senses to be telling me the same thing.
PRIMARY COLORS
As I’ve already noted, there really is a God’s Will 101 and a God’s Will
301. Young Christians are the most prone to dabble in the more miraculous and subjective of the modes of communication (they’re sexier),
while crustier old Christians tend to default to the safer venues of wisdom and reasoning. The order should be switched. Young Christians,
not familiar with the spiritual terrain, should stick with the primary
colors of God’s communication, while mature Christians should desire
to experience God in new ways, challenging their traditions, and taste
new wine.
And yet all of this work—all of it—is worthless if our heart is unaligned
and unsubmitted to Christ’s lordship. Whatever data I’ve collected
becomes irrelevant because I can always make it say what I want it to
say; I can always fudge the numbers. If I make a pro/con list, I’ll weight
the side I want to win; I’ll see only those circumstances that affirm
the direction in which I want to head. With my flesh sabotaging the
investigation, I will suppress important evidence and manufacture false
testimony. The only way to get at the truth is to put myself under oath.
That oath is the willful submission to do God’s will above all things.
In the following verses from Romans, the apostle Paul firmly establishes
the relationship between submitting ourselves unreservedly to Christ
and knowing God’s will— “his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is
your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to
the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what
God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans
12:1-2)
If you desire to do God’s will above all else—above all selfish desires—
you can rest with complete and utter confidence in the conviction that
God will direct you. He may use any number of the ways we looked at
to communicate to you, but communicate He will.
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
REFLECTION
If there is one drawback to the counsel of mature believers, it is that
often they seem less biased than they really are. This doesn’t mean
they don’t have godly wisdom—they do. It only means that you should
factor in a potential bias. I wouldn’t, however, say this is a weakness.
Others in your life care about you and want what’s best for you; it’s just
that their picture of what’s best is to some degree biased. They (whoever “they” are) are not God. That’s all I’m saying. And so you would be
wise to bring in the advise of several trusted, mature friends, not just
one, and perhaps the greatest criteria for a wise counselor is how the
Apostle Paul describes Timothy: “I have no one else like him, who takes
a genuine interest in your welfare” (Philippians 2:20). That’s what you
want; someone whose agenda is you.
Okay, let’s say you tied me up, blindfolded me, clogged my nostrils with
carrots, gagged me with my own socks, and put mittens on my ears.
Now, as part of your sick experiment, you told me to find the local 7-11.
Untying myself, I can at least feel my way well enough to get out the
door. Ripping the mittens off my ears, I can now hear cars and traffic and make my way to the road. Removing the carrot corks from my
nose, I can smell hot dogs that have been grilling since last Thursday—
I’m getting close. In fact, the more senses I use, the easier it becomes to
locate the object of my desire: the 7-11.
PALETTE
PRIMARY COLORS
THE COUNSEL
I have already sung the praise and extolled the wisdom of mature believers as sounding boards and experienced detectives of God’s will. In fact, I
have praised them so much that it has no doubt made them prideful and
arrogant and perhaps no longer useful. But I should follow such words of
praise with a caveat (this is going to really sound cynical): everybody has
a bias.
USING A FULL PALETTE
THE
COUNSEL
THE COUNSEL OF OTHERS
OF OTHERS
USING A
USING
A FULL
FULL PALETTE
1. In what ways have you experienced God’s leading in the past?
2. Of all of the different ways God communicates His will, how does He most often lead you?
3. What decision(s) are you currently wrestling with, and what clues have you observed so far?
4. Can you honestly say that you desire God’s will above all things?
5. If God were simply to tell you what you should do next, how might this negatively affect your spiritual life?
6. Why do you think that waiting is such a significant part of God’s will?
7. Who are the wise people in your life with whom you can process God’s will and leading?
8. To get at your heart, ask yourself, if there were no financial or relational barriers—no expectations to deal with—what would I
really want to do?
Rick James works with Campus Crusade for Christ and currently functions as the publisher of Crupress, producing ministry resources for the Campus Ministry. Rick and his wife, Katie, live in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with their three teenage children: Avery, Whitney, and Will.
47
48
iPOD///
SINGLE LIFE IS NOT AN OXYMORON
BY SARAH GALE
iPOD
iPOD
iPOD
49
But you’re only 21. Or 22. Or 23. If you’ve made it this far, standing on
the edge of graduation, about to take that big leap into the realm of
adulthood (salary, car payment, rent/mortgage), then you look at my
life and maybe dread becoming me: 31 and single. Perhaps your secret
prayer is something along the lines of “O Lord, anything but that!”
But you could get stuck with a whole lot worse than singleness. Really.
You could be married and wishing you were single! That’s not as rare
as you might like to think. And—who knows?—maybe within a year or
five you will be married. But for now you’re as singular as I.
It hasn’t been as hard or scary as you might think. In fact, I have a great
life—lots of fun, lots of travel, lots of learning, lots of friends, lots of
life. And isn’t that what Jesus came to give us— abundant life? I think
so. And so I try to live like that. Here are my thoughts on singleness and
living out your life with meaning for as long as you find yourself happily single.
ATTITUDE AND
PERSPECTIVE
ATTITUDE AND
PERSPECTIVE
ATTITUDE AND PERSPECTIVE
iP
iPO
iPOD
How do you respond when someone asks you to write an article on singleness? “My life’s goal! Of course I will! This is my purpose!” Is receiving such
a request acknowledgement and affirmation? I’m not sure what it is, but
here I am. Single. Sitting in the kitchen with my laptop, dinner dishes pushed
aside, while wearing an ex-boyfriend’s sweatshirt. Apparently I’m an “expert”
in being single. I’ve been single for 31 years. So, yeah, I guess I have some
experience in this arena.
A lot of this journey is in your attitude. I mean, if you think living as a
nonmarried person is torture, then it will be. But the apostle Paul talks
about singleness as a “gift,” (1 Corinthians 7:7) and I think we downplay and disrespect that gift by wishing it away. Is it a temporary gift?
I hope so, since I test positively for it on some spiritual gifts tests. But I
see a purpose for my singleness right now. I’m single today. God has a
plan for my single life today.
In The Secret of Loving, author Josh McDowell talks about that very
thing. (Spoiler alert: The secret of loving is you.) He says that we should
think about what kind of person we want to be with and then take
time to incrementally grow into the kind of person whom he or she
would want. Makes sense. While I can’t control how others react to me,
I can live life to become the kind of person whom the kind of man I
want would want.
Granted, I haven’t always seen this life as a gift, and honestly, I would
like to be married one day. But I can’t control that. Bonnie Raitt sings,
**CAUTION: Beware of trying to become someone else. God created
you for a purpose, with a plan. Don’t try to become less than you are
for someone else. Grow to become all that God has purposed for your
life and character. Dream of partnering with someone who is a good
match with who you are.
I can’t make you love me if you don’t...
I can’t make your heart feel something it won’t....
So while my heart waits to feel something for someone whose heart
feels the same for me, there’s a lot of life to explore and experience. I
don’t want to waste this life by pining away for something different.
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MAKING
MAKING
A LIST,
CHECKING
CHECKING IT TWICE
MAKING
A LIST,
CHECKING IT TWICE
A LIST
IT TWICE
Make a list of your dreams and goals. Go ahead! Put marriage and family on your list if they are important to you. But you’ll notice that those
aren’t your only goals, right? Maybe you want to go somewhere to
see breathtaking sights. Or pick up a new hobby. Earn another degree.
Learn a language, an instrument. Visit all the pro baseball fields. See as
many U2 concerts as you can. There are lots of adventures waiting for
you.
I think we are too quick to look at the one thing we don’t have and
accuse God of not caring about us or not loving us. My pouting heart
will say, “God, if You really loved me, You’d give me a husband!” But
what does that do to my theology? The test of God’s love for me then
becomes getting a husband. But really, the ultimate test of God’s love
for me is the cross.
God gave His only Son; He gave me Jesus! Of course God loves me. But
just as Eve fixed her eyes on the one thing God said no to, so I, too,
often fix my eyes on what God has said no to, or at least “not yet.”
And that thing then becomes an idol. I long for it, love it, and throw
tantrums when things don’t work out the way I want. Hmm… Jesus
died for my sins and rose victorious over death so I could have a hissy fit
about sleeping alone in my bed each night? I don’t think so. I think God
has a higher purpose for Christ’s resurrected life—and for His life lived
in me!
Your attitude is the key. Do you trust God? Do you trust that He’s good,
that His intentions toward you are kind, that He has a plan to prosper
you and not to harm you, to give you a future with a hope? (A spouse
named Hope?) If you do trust Him, then relax. Take a deep breath. And
live life. God is big, and He’s in control. He can make miracles happen.
He turned water into wine, and He gave me three dates in one week.
(Yes, three dates in a row!) So even if you’re living in Small Town, USA,
you are not without hope! Miracles happen every day.
I see life as an adventure, so I’ve viewed my singleness as an adventure.
I’ve traveled the world, crashed a party of gourmet food and wine makers at Epcot Center, learned a few languages, earned my scuba certification and motorcycle license, taken guitar lessons, rented a convertible
and driven with the top down on a gorgeous day, taken a few painting
classes. … Life is an adventure, and when your tax filing status is single,
you don’t have to check with anyone before signing up for a course in
something that interests you.
There is a great amount of freedom in life when you are both unmarried and kidless. If you doubt me, try making spontaneous plans with
a married friend. There’s checking in with the spouse, coordinating
schedules, perhaps arranging child care—lots of details.
The grass isn’t greener on the other side; it’s just a different blend of
seed. And it seems like every yard has some weeds mixed in with the
Kentucky bluegrass.
We live in a fallen world. Sin started destroying the world, so now
everyone has to learn to deal with disappointment and disillusionment,
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regardless of life stage. The good news of the gospel is that we are no
longer slaves to sin and doomed to hopeless destruction, isolation, and
death. Rather, we can experience life now—the life of the resurrected
Christ lived out within us. And we get to be a redemptive presence in
the world.
Singleness and marriage were tainted by the Fall. But what does it look
like to redeem singleness—to live a single life with the hope of Christ?
It means I don’t have to go to bars and get drunk to meet people. It
means I can use my life-stage freedoms to help others, volunteer, be
a blessing, enjoy God. I can focus on others rather than being self-absorbed like so many in our culture. It means I don’t have to give in to
sexual temptation and lust, defrauding myself and others. I can walk in
self-control (a fruit of the Spirit).
And what does it look like to grieve a broken relationship? We don’t
“grieve like [non-Christians], who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13,
NIV). While I have yet to find a verse that promises I will be married, I
do have a gracious God who is merciful, slow to anger, abounding in
steadfast love, and relenting in disaster (Jonah 4:2; Joel 2:13). Is the
disaster a bad relationship? Maybe. But God is still faithful.
We don’t have to wear a happy-go-lucky mask when our hearts are sad
within. We can walk through sadness and disappointment in an honest
way. Like the psalmists, we can be frank with God about our broken
dreams and hopes.
So look at your list of goals or dreams. (Remember, you wrote them
down earlier.) What can you do now? Do you want to learn an instrument? Look online to find someone who gives lessons. Jen wanted to
meet people, so she went to craiglist.com and found a book club to
join. Susan took French classes from an adult continuing education
program that her local school district offered. Bill joined a volleyball
league he found on Yahoo! Groups. Be resourceful. Don’t waste this
time you have. You can become whomever you want, but you have to
do something. You won’t grow if you sit at home and watch TV every
night.
**CAUTION: Beware of eating your dinner in front of the TV and staying on the sofa all night, every night. What a rut! Get a few people
from work to go out together. Invite yourself over to eat with a
coworker’s family. Meet some people at church and spend an evening
with a retired couple. People enrich our lives, and connecting with
people who are at different life stages will help you connect with others. And you’ll feel more normal.
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY
Leaving the safety net of college and arriving in the “real world” can
be a shock to your system. Your friends from Campus Crusade are
strewn all across the U.S. and you find yourself in unfamiliar territory—a new town or at least a new stage of life. Staying connected
to your friends will be a great comfort, but there is also something to
be said for creating new connections and friendships. Community is a
great thing.
But community takes effort. No longer are you surrounded by thousands of people in your same age bracket, experiencing the same pressures you were with classes and commitments. To experience community, you’ll have to expend effort and initiate conversations. As a summer
intern, I started a weekly “happy hour” to hang out with coworkers in
the evenings. At my first assignment, I invited two women from church
to take kickboxing lessons with me at a karate dojo so we could work
out and develop a friendship. Eight years (and four job relocations)
later, the three of us have annual reunions.
Now my friends have potluck dinners and dance parties. We go swing
dancing, take day trips to the beach, and attend intelligent design lectures. I’m in a Bible study with the women in my friendship circle. I go
to concerts and shows, and we’re planning camping trips. But someone
has to initiate all these gatherings. And if people aren’t responding as
I’d hope, I don’t give up!
CHURCH
CHURCH
CHURCH
I’ll admit it. Some of my loneliest times have been at church. I go alone.
I find a spot in the pew alone. And throughout the sermon I watch
families sitting together and couples with their arms wrapped around
each other (sometimes touching each other a bit too much, if you ask
me). It can be distracting and disheartening. I know.
In one place I lived, I discovered a few older couples who liked me. So
I’d invite myself into their pew, crawling over other people to sit near
these sweet couples. But in another place I lived, I had to set goals for
myself to engage at church: Okay, Sarah, you have to say hi to two people
before you can go home. And sometimes I didn’t even hit that goal!
If you go to church, just sit in the pew, and then split after the service, I
promise you won’t enjoy that church for long. Or any church. You’ll be
bored and lonely and you’ll blame the church. I did.
So, how do you get plugged in? Join something. Call the church office
and let them know you want to plug in. Go to a Sunday school class
and talk to the people there. Volunteer in the nursery—that’s a great
place to meet people. Teach a class. I help teach the junior high girls’
Sunday school class, and I’m surprised at how much I enjoy them. And
now I’m starting to meet their families too. Of course, you can volunteer with the youth group—a classic single thing to do. Join a Bible
study and sign up for a mentor. Meet with the pastor or the head of
women’s ministries and let this person know you want to plug in. But
don’t wait for others to come to you; you go after them.
It’s tempting to find the other singles in church and then create a postcollege Cru (Campus Crusade) environment. But by doing so, you miss
out on the holistic life of the church—all that the body of Christ has to
offer.
How will you learn about healthy marriages if you don’t spend time
with marrieds? Or how to raise kids in the church if you aren’t around
families? And what about dealing with the pressures of your career in
a Christian manner? I’m sure there is someone else with a similar job in
your church. Try to connect with older people, too. The small group I
joined at church has a healthy mix of people, including a retired couple
in their in 80s. They have walked with God for decades, nearly three
times as long as I’ve been alive. I have so much to learn from the different people in my small group.
Yes, a good single life requires some initiative and effort. You don’t
have someone else to lean on or to introduce you. And sometimes
people just don’t know how to interact with singles. They can make
awkward comments, and sometimes I don’t know what to say in response. “What’s a nice gal like you doing single?” “Just don’t want to
settle down, do you?”
These people are really just trying to figure out how to connect with
me. So I can offer common ground by asking about their life (what
they do, what they like about the church, how long they’ve lived in the
area), and that can get the focus off me.
52
But eHarmony isn’t the only one I get to thank. I asked my friends and work associates to pray for “M&Ms” for me: money and men. I needed financial support
(I’m on staff with Campus Crusade) and I wanted dates. So people all over the
country were praying for me, asking how it was going, and setting me up on
dates. And I ended that year with a boyfriend. Not bad, eh?
WALKING
WITH
GOD
GOD
The single life doesn’t have to be some humdrum holding pattern. No,
it’s an adventure, full of possibilities and potential. Life doesn’t start
when you’re married; this is life. Right now. Part of enjoying and experiencing life is to enjoy and experience God, the author of life. Jesus
said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).
Our life with God is vital. How are you doing with that? Do you know
God? Know what’s on His heart? Are you reading the Bible? When you
do, are you reading it to get through your “duty,” or do you read it
with an eye toward how your life needs to change in light of truth and
how God is portrayed in each book of the Bible?
Who are you hanging out with? Is there anyone who encourages you
to walk with God, or are all the influences in your life pointing you
away from God? You may not be able to do much about that, but you
can monitor how much time you spend with people and what kinds of
activities you engage in. Garbage in, garbage out. This is the time to
make wise choices, because every choice matters. Unfortunately, many
Christians stumble in their walk after college, giving in to temptation,
busyness, laziness, and distraction.
53
Seriously, plug into a church and commit to the basics of prayer and
Bible study as you walk through this transitional stage. Perhaps there’s
a lot of uncertainty in your life now. But God isn’t an uncertainty. Go
online or to a local Christian bookstore and buy a Bible study to do on
your own. Or ask friends how they connect with God. Get some spiritual accountability. Try taking the Perspectives on the World Christian
Movement class (www.godsperspective.org) and learn about missions.
Take your walk with God seriously; don’t neglect it.
At this time, being single, we have incredible freedom to travel and
serve God anywhere, anytime. Remember the tsunami that hit Southeast Asia at the end of 2004? Within the next few months, I not only
gave money to aid the relief work, but I also went over to Thailand
twice to help rebuild homes and lives. I didn’t have to check in with
anyone, ask for permission, or arrange meals or child care. I knew
there was a huge need, and I knew I could help. So I went. After Hurricane Katrina, I knew I wanted to go and help, so some people from
work got together and we made plans to go down to the destruction
area. We can pick up at a moment’s notice and go. We are unencumbered in the pursuit to help fulfill the Great Commission.
In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul talks about the freedom we singles have right
now. He says married people are anxious about worldly things, such as
how to please their spouse, but single people are anxious for the things
of the Lord, how to please the Lord. This is so true! What a gift we’ve
been given through singleness. It’s not a holding pattern, with us waiting
for clearance to land at the altar and start life. No! This is the journey.
Truly, truly, I say unto you, though you may want to be married, don’t
waste this time in your life. Don’t miss out on all that God has for you.
Don’t wish it away or accuse Him of not loving you. Take advantage
of all the opportunities and privileges you can. Enjoy God, becoming
captivated by His character. Enjoy life, love, and service to others. And
as Donald Miller, in Blue Like Jazz, suggests, “Enjoy people the way you
enjoy a good novel,” soaking in the details and reveling in the discoveries of each new chapter.
RE
REFERRALS
FERRALS
Now, I know that everyone tells you to “read this book” or “read that
book,” and, like, who has the time? It’s like a verse citation at the end
of an e-mail: if I don’t happen to know it, I’m not looking it up. Well,
I’m sorry, but whether you read them or not, I simply must suggest a
few books: Every Man’s Battle by Stephen Arterburn; Sex and the Soul of a
Woman by Paula Reinhart; Twenty Someone: Finding Yourself in a Decade
of Transition by Craig Dunham and Doug Serven; Twenty-Something: Surviving and Thriving in the Real World by Margaret Feinberg; Boundaries in
Dating by Henry Cloud; and Changes That Heal by Henry Cloud and John
Townsend. If you read even one, I’ll be happy.
REFLECTION
RE
FL
EC
TI
O
N
M&Ms
My sister gave me her rules for meeting an online date for the first time:
1. Don’t give out your address, meet at your house, or go back to your
home with your date. Let your home remain anonymous.
2. Don’t kiss on the first date. As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman,
“Kissing is too personal.”
3. Don’t buy any new clothes for the date. Your blind date hasn’t seen
your wardrobe yet, so don’t waste time and money on anything new.
4. Bonus: Ask one of your friends to meet the date too—at the movie
theater, at the bookstore—so that your date knows you have backup
and so that your friends can check out your date. It’s a safety thing. I’m
a safety girl!
And God, in His wisdom and kindness, has chosen to use singleness in your
life (and in mine) to conform you to the image of Christ (Romans 8:2829). Will you let God transform and conform you, or will you fight Him
every step of the journey?
REFLECTION
I know. Online dating. Well, I did it. And I had a good time. I viewed it as discipleship. See, a disciple is a learner, and I want to learn how to have healthy
interactions with men, learn how to cultivate a relationship, learn what I want
in a mate, and learn how to communicate (what questions to ask and so forth).
And in the process, I had a great time.
You can connect with ministries like Here’s Life Inner City, Priority
Associates, or even Campus Ministry to volunteer your time and serve
others. You could start a campus ministry at the college near you, or
lead a Bible study there, or disciple a college student. What about helping with high school ministries like Student Venture? What ministries
is your church involved in? How can you serve the church? What about
short-term missions projects?
REFERRALS
THE
DATING
GAME
AND
M&Ms
Last year was my best dating year ever, hands down. The best out of all my dating years combined even. A few dates were from eHarmony.
1. Write out some personal goals you have for the next few years.
2. If you were to be married five years from now, what would you wish you had accomplished or done during the next five years?
3. Make a list of some of the blessings and opportunities of being single? How is it a “gift”?
4. Who do you know who is single and modeling a godly life? What is it about this person’s life that’s attractive?
5. In what areas do you need to grow in order to become the kind of person that the kind of man or woman you want would want?
6. In what areas do you need to repent of wrong attitudes or beliefs as they relate to God and being single?
7. In what ways can you initiate more in life, church, friendships, and relationships?
Sarah Gale has been on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for ten years and currently serves as mid-Atlantic regional director. Sarah drinks lots of coffee
with old and new friends as she listens to their stories, and she likes traveling to exotic places, such as the Middle East and New Jersey. Currently living in Delaware, the small Wonder State, Sarah is happy to be in Wilmington, whose city slogan is “The Place to Be Somebody.”
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SECTION
THREE
A Year with a Purpose;
Options and Opportunities
Vary, Vary, Not the Contrary! Don’t think everything
you do has to be neatly related to your background
and future goals. Having a diverse array of experiences
can be even more impressive than a perfectly coordinated résumé. The earlier you diversify and dabble in a
number of areas and jobs, the quicker you will find your
way to what you really love. Once there, your previous
stints will come in handy. You might bring to the table
expertise that no one else in your venue can provide.
Just. Do. It. Could that sound any simpler? Yet it’s by far
the hardest step: actually carrying out those plans that
seem too good to be true. Things have a tendency to
fall in place once you take the first leap of faith. Moving
abroad, for example, seems like such a drastic life decision that we want to have everything perfectly in place
before buying the ticket. However, many young adventurers said that it didn’t so much matter what they set
up but that they went ahead and made the move.
Blessed Are the Adventurous, They Will Stay That Way
(and Then Inherit the Earth!). Don’t underestimate the
power of momentum. One pattern I’ve noticed among
peers is that people who start off their twenties doing
interesting things usually keep right on doing them.
Redefine Real. In one way or another, every contributor
to this book expressed that their adventures exposed
them to a world more real than any fluorescentlighted cubicle could have. They all swear by the
value of what they pursued and insist they are fuller,
more knowledgeable, worldlier people for doing
something “a little different” than their peers. And
lastly—the best test of a good decision—none of
them have a regret to speak of. Neither will you.
If Money Is Standing in Your Way, Plow It Down. You
will notice that many young dreamers face serious
financial difficulties. There are plenty of cool jobs,
internships, and volunteer programs that offer loan
deferment and financial aid. Don’t let money be your
excuse to be lame; take it as a challenge.
If It Seems Like a Long Shot, Shoot Long. One of the
most remarkable things about success stories is that
many of them came about through a move that seemed
impossibly ambitious at first, then all too easy when it
actually worked.
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–-From Colleen Kinder,
“The Ten Pillars of Delaying the Real World,”
in Delaying the Real World
100
DETOUR
CREATIVE CAREER PATHS
BY LARRY STEPHENS
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord
wants you to do. –Ephesians 5:17, NLT
So you graduate this year. You’ve been on the educational path ever since
you can remember, and now suddenly that’s all about to change. You’ve got
all the freedom in the world, so how will you start the next chapter? Will
you move right into your planned career, or will you decide to do something
radically different?
Have you even given it much thought?
I didn’t. I graduated in May and started my career in June working for a
software company in Dallas. My friend Melissa chose a different path. She
traveled across the globe to Turkey and immersed herself in the adventure
of living and sharing in another culture. Another friend, Rob, graduated
from Yale and road-tripped across the country with his college roomies in a
Volkswagen van. What experiences they must have shared together!
Here’s some advice. Before you become prisoner to a cubical from eight to
five, and mortgaged up to your eyebrows, do something unconventional
and experimental. Try things you might never have the chance to do
again—and I can assure you, the chance is not likely to come
again.
But remember one thing: You are not your own.
You were bought with a price.
The apostle Paul reminds us where we came
from: “Remember that at that time you
were separate from Christ … But now in
Christ Jesus you who once were far away
have been brought near through the
blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13). So
as you review your options, then, remember that you belong to God. Adventure is great, but adventure for the sake
of adventure will always feel hollow.
Remember that He has transformed you
from your past and that He will continue
to transform you in your future. So, as
you ponder what you want to do next, ask
yourself, Are my desires and dreams aligned
with the desires of God’s heart?
When else in life will you have such freedom
to do something for Christ? I mean, we’re
not talking about being a missionary for life,
but simply having a year of adventure, a
year with a purpose.
The Jesus film is the most influential
evangelistic tool of our age. This film on
the life of Christ—shown in towns, villages
and cities all over the world—has exposed
more than five billion people to the gospel.
Maybe you’re among the few who could
handle a year of rugged travel around the
world recording the Jesus film in new languages and showing it in locations where
the gospel has never been. Or maybe you’d
prefer crossing the ocean on a Mercy Ship
101
Take the global road
delivering humanitarian aid to war-torn villages or disaster victims. Or
maybe you’d like to return to your campus as a ministry intern to disciple students as somebody discipled you. From working at Yellowstone
National Park on a summer project to living in Paris for a year building
relationships with other international students, you have such a rich
variety of options that you won’t know where to start.
Options and opportunities go far and wide of Campus Crusade for
Christ. The stories and opportunities I mention will often be from
Campus Crusade for the simple reason that this is the organization I
am most familiar with, but research for yourself, and research broadly.
THERE’S NO RUSH
Even though you may be nervous about “taking a year off” while your
friends dive into the “real world,” you will find that you didn’t miss
a thing. In fact, did you know that it looks better on your résumé to
show a diverse array of experiences? Being able to include the year
you spent helping inner-city children in New York City certainly makes
your résumé stand out. Here’s what Colleen Kinder, author of Delaying the Real World, has to say: “If you apply for a job on MonsterTrak there are hundreds of other people applying for the
same job and they all look exactly the same on paper.
You want to look different.”
Some companies will even extend their job
offers for a year. When Herman Yau graduated from Cornell, he took a job with
Oracle. Herman wanted to take a year
off and do something for the Lord, so
he asked Oracle if they would consider
extending his job offer a year. Apparently Oracle liked what they saw
in Herman, because they said yes.
Herman spent the next year traveling with the Jesus film. I admire his
boldness.
Though later in life you may have
many commitments—marriage, children, a house, a career—your future,
right now, is wide open. You have the
freedom to try something nontraditional
without the worry of being tied down.
You can serve the Lord right now in a way
that might not be possible further down
the road.
If you’ve never gone abroad, now is the time. You may never get the
chance again to live in a foreign country. Imagine yourself sitting in a café
in Florence, walking the streets of Argentina, or perusing a city market
in the Middle East while getting to know university students and talking
with them about your relationship with Christ. You have the opportunity
to take the life-changing message of Christ to students around the world.
You’ll be amazed at the similarities you find with others as you engage in
conversation about your lives and become gripped by the spiritual need of
the students you meet.
I befriended several students from Saudi Arabia this summer. After hearing about their home in Jidda, a port city near the Red Sea, I now have
the itch to go. So I’ve thought, What’s holding me back? Well, probably
getting a visa. But why not try?
What’s holding you back? Don’t go alone. Join a group of others and go.
You’ll eat food you didn’t know existed, visit sights you have seen only
on postcards, and make friends you will never forget. You’re just a ticket
away from traveling anywhere.
I recommend traveling with a purpose. When I say purpose, what I
mean is that you should find a reason to visit a country beyond just to
see some exciting place. Get a job teaching English, take some classes,
be an au pair, pick grapes off the vine—anything that gives you the
opportunity to weave your way into the local fabric.
Roger Loughney 24 taught English in China
and worked as a white water rafting guide
Every so often I stand in Red Square and think to myself, Wow, this is
where I live! But it’s more than the location that makes me love being
here. I love the interaction with students—having coffee or tea and
discussing the gospel. Holding an English Club where we ponder deep
and difficult things rarely discussed in their culture. Meeting students
who welcome our arrival to their city and cry at our departure. This
year I’ve experienced personal growth and dependence on God that is
nothing short of life altering.
Michael Swanson 25 traveled to Moscow
Go back to your old
stomping ground
Are you leaving a thriving ministry back on your campus? Perhaps you’re a
resident assistant in a dorm leading a Bible study. Maybe you’re an athlete
still trusting God for your teammates. Or you’re a member of a sorority or
fraternity who’s seen God move in incredible ways. So, why leave it? Why
not stay and hang with your friends? Interning on your campus might be
the right thing for you. Classes won’t be in the way. You can pour all your
time and energy into your ministry.
Your options are limitless
If you’ve wondered about serving in the States but not on a campus, there are a ton of organizations, ministries, and missions you
could sign up with. Within Campus Crusade for Christ, you could put
your professional skills to use at Lake Hart (Campus Crusade’s world
headquarters) or you could help to meet the needs of the inner-city
community with Here’s Life Inner City. Another option is to reach
government, military, and diplomatic leaders for Christ through the
Christian Embassy in D.C. The opportunities are vast and the harvest is
plentiful.
I spent the summer in New York City with Here’s Life Inner City.
The Lord gave me a heart for the poor. He taught me that you
don’t just pray about people in need, but you go and you help
them. God humbled my prideful heart and crushed my stereotypes; I have learned that everyone is truly equal in His eyes.
Alissa Pelphrey 21
I was planning on getting a job in business but decided to be
open to the possibility of doing ministry. I was fearful of letting
go of my career plans but couldn’t ignore God, so I signed up for
a one-year internship with Student Venture. Immediately, I had
opportunities to see high school students radically changed for
eternity. Now I’m leading a movement to reach 1,200 teenagers
at the local high school. My experience with Student Venture
exceeded my expectations; the year I thought I was sacrificing
ended up being a blessing.
Chris McClelland 25
Take the first step
It’s a big decision and a lot to think about. It will change not only your
life but also the lives of people you will meet and build relationships
with.
We have been “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10, NIV). The Scriptures
affirm that God has a plan for you.
Read over the following stories and experiences of recent graduates,
begin praying about where the Lord may want you to go after graduation, and take steps of faith to discover His amazing plan for your
future. Each moment of the day is a gift from God. It’s up to us to
choose how we use it.
This article was inspired by Colleen Kinder’s book Delaying the Real
World and by the lessons I learned from not going for it after I
graduated. I had no idea there were so many opportunities there
for the taking. Larry Stephens gives leadership to evangelism for the
Campus Ministry and lives in Orlando.
I really felt that Campus Crusade invested so much in my life that I
wanted to take some time before going to the real world and invest
back into the ministry that changed my life. As an intern, I just gained
such a great perspective on what it looks like to serve the Lord.
Rachael Heald 23 interned at Ohio University
As a student, I never could throw myself completely into discipling
my girls. So after graduation I decided to take a year aside and jump
in and try ministry full time back on my campus and see where God
would direct me. I spent the year discipling and developing my
evangelism skills.
Jen Cameron 25 interned at Kent State
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Experiences
Here’s a small sample of the experiences, options, and open doors that await
you after graduation, should you decide to “delay the real world.”
Sarah—East Asia
Texas A&M University
Before my senior year of college, I never wanted to go on a mission trip. In
November of my senior year, I heard a man speak who was a missionary in
Central Asia, and God used him to open my eyes to the needs of people
around the world. Since then, I knew that the Lord had plans for me to
spend time overseas. In the world of campus ministry, taking a year to
minister internationally is referred to as a STINT, which stands for a short-term
international mission. Deciding to take a year and go on STINT wasn’t an easy
decision for me, but once I decided that I would make my life available to the
Lord, He began to make clear what His desires were for my life.
I lived in an unbelievably beautiful city in East Asia. There was an amazing
lake in the center of the city that was a perfect place to take walks with
students I met, to sit and read, or to take pictures. There were so many
cultural and historic places to see and to visit in the city. We took trips to tea
fields, museums, and temples. There were some challenging smells, but the
food was delicious and cheap! We were language students and went to class
on weekday mornings. In our classes were students from all over the world:
Korea, Japan, Australia, Yemen, Norway, Canada, and so on. After class, we
spent time on campus meeting with students. They wanted to practice
English so badly that it was easy to make friends. Some days we held
evangelistic meetings, some days we had Bible studies, and some days we
just hung out with the students. I made so many memorable friendships—
East Asian students are so warm and hospitable.
Beth—St. Louis, Missouri
Virginia Tech
During my years in college I grew confident that God was calling me
to full-time inner-city ministry. As a student I participated in a few
short-term ministry experiences, and through them, and through
prayer, I felt the Lord’s calling to do ministry when I graduated.
I had spent a summer with Here’s Life Inner City, and although it
was a great experience for me, because of my financial situation,
I needed to find a job the next summer that would pay me. I did a
little research online and found many organizations that minister
to inner-city kids, but the one that stood out was World Impact.
I applied and served at a summer camp for inner-city kids in L.A.
It was at this summer camp that I really got to know the staff of
World Impact and grew to embrace the organization. To me, it
seemed that inner-city ministry was often overlooked, and I liked
being part of a church planting effort. I was sold. After
graduaing I went to work with World Impact.
I recently moved to St. Louis. The transition has not been easy,
and for the first months I’ve spent most of my time observing and adjusting to the new culture and people I find myself
living among. This past summer I helped run a summer camp
and was the arts and crafts teacher. Not only do these times
provide a fun outlet for creativity; they also connect us to
the kids on a much deeper level. Recently we had a teenage
boy ring our doorbell at the center. I immediately recognized
him as one of the youth I had worked with several summers
ago. Shortly after the summer ended he had moved out of
the city with his mom. He was back in our neighborhood,
visiting other family members, when he and his uncle had
gotten into a fight. When the situation got out of control,
he ran to our doorstep. He knew—as so many of the kids
have learned—that this is a safe place, full of people who
really care and are willing to help at any time. Our doors
are always open for them.
Doing ministry relationally was a great way to show students that you
cared about them and what was going on in their lives. I met one girl
whom I nicknamed Star. She was a very bright, hardworking student. So
much so that it was difficult to pull her away from her studies to spend
time together. She spoke English very well and loved to laugh and talk
about differences in our backgrounds and cultures. Star and I got to
spend more time together toward the end of my year there. One day we
were sitting on a bench outside at the university, and we were talking
about some deep issues. I got a chance to share with her how I dealt
with these issues by trusting in God and His promises. I felt like it was a
good opportunity to share Christ with her. As I went through the
gospel, her eyes were big and her expression was one of amazement.
She said, “So all of this about Jesus is true? It’s not just a story? I never
knew that.” She was not ready to trust Christ that day, but she
promised me that she would think about the decision and she
understood it was a very important thing that would change her life.
There will not be many STINTers in our city this next year. It is very
unfortunate, because at the end of this year there were over 50
students who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and it will be
difficult for the remaining missionaries to disciple all of the people
who made decisions. But I am praying that these students will spur one
another on, and I am praying that the Lord will raise up more workers
to be a part of what He is doing in East Asia right now. I am also
praying that in a couple of years the Lord will use these baby
Christians to impact all of East Asia for Jesus Christ.
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SECTION
FOUR
THE OFFICE
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Spiritual Impact in the Marketplace
A study of Daniel
There is a distinction between church work and the work of the church. Church work is what you do for the organized institution
of the church. The work of the church is what is done between Sundays when the church is scattered all over the metropolitan
area where it is located—in homes, schools, offices, on construction jobs, in market places.
—Dick Halverson, chaplain of the U.S. Senate
It is an error to think that those who flee worldly affairs and engage in contemplation are leading an angelic life. … We know
that men were created to busy themselves with labor and that no sacrifice is more pleasing to God than when each one attends
to his calling and studies well to live for the common good.
—John Calvin
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Introduction
The prophetic book of Daniel is the record of four
Hebrews who were taken into captivity in Babylon
after Nebuchadnezzar attacked Israel in 598 B.C. No
older than college students at the beginning of their
captivity, they were trained to serve in the palace of
the king. “Ten times better than all the rest,” (Daniel
1:20) these four set themselves apart as different
from the other captives and palace officials. Because
of their walks with the Lord, their relationships with
others in the palace, and their excellent work, they
were able to draw praise to God—so much so that the
wicked king of a pagan nation exclaimed, “How great
are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom
is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from
generation to generation” (Daniel 4:3, NIV).
The book of Daniel was written to be a testimony
to the sovereign, enduring glory of God. Since our
lives are to be that too, there is much here we should
learn. Since Daniel and his friends were able to make
that glory known in an entirely secular environment,
there is also much that those in the marketplace
should be able to emulate.
Now, there are three ways you can make use of this
material. The first is as a small-group Bible study. Let
me suggest that you grab some other seniors who are
headed for the marketplace and study it as a small
group. You couldn’t find content more appropriate for
your last semester. If this is how you choose to use it,
then the article that follows will serve as the leader’s
guide for the group’s facilitator. The Bible study questions follow the article; just make photocopies for everyone in the group. In addition to the leader’s guide,
you’ll find an answer key in the “References” section
in the back of this Groupzine.
You could also use it as a personal Bible study or
devotional. Read the chapter in Daniel and answer the
study questions yourself. When you’re done, read over
the notes for that chapter in the Daniel article.
Or, last, simply read the article and ignore the questions.
But if you really want to get the most out of it, when the
article asks you to read the chapter in Daniel, read the
chapter in Daniel.
It doesn’t matter how you choose to study about this
amazing man from history, as long as you do, for his
life and ministry provide a template for the spiritual
impact we all desire in our place of work.
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Daniel
ss
ry succoenment
t
is
in
m
Wild cular envir
in a se
By Tim Henderson
Daniel 1: Qualified to serve
The book opens with a brief account of the Babylonian captivity.
If you’d like to get a slightly broader context, read 2 Chronicles
36. The important thing to understand is that God was judging Judah, and allowing a wicked nation to subdue them, in
response to years of sin and idolatry. This was warned of by the
prophets repeatedly. Jeremiah predicted this coming judgment,
and he also foretold that it would last for 70 years, at which
time God would restore His people. It would be helpful for you
to read Jeremiah 25:1-14 and 29:1-14 to see this.
Walk with God. It was the custom of Babylon to take the best
young men from conquered nations and train them to serve in
the palace. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among
those chosen. As part of the training process, the Babylonians
attempted to give them each a new name, language, culture,
and diet. All of this they submitted to except for one element—
the diet.
It’s curious why the diet, of all things, would be unacceptable
to Daniel and his friends. The reason is this: the food from the
king’s table would have been offered to pagan idols. To eat
this food would be to participate in idol worship—something a
faithful Jew could not do. You could change Daniel’s name, you
could take away his language and make him read your books,
but he would not participate in the worship of anyone but the
one true God. His walk with God was preeminent.
Relationships. So, what did he do when informed of this unholy
diet? Did he spit the wine in the king’s face and call him an
idolater? No. Tactfully, he asked for permission to not eat this
food. He said, “Please.” Daniel was building relationships. He
was thinking long term. He was behaving in a way that would
help him win favor with the people for whom, and with whom,
he worked.
Then he made a proposition. “Please test your servants for ten
days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.
Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who
eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with
what you see.” Daniel was making a pledge. He was saying in
effect, “If you will allow us to obey God, we won’t let you down.
We will be the best servants in the entire palace.” Because of
the grace that God showed them, and because of their civility,
the request was granted.
Excellence. At the conclusion of the trial, the verdict came in:
“At the end of the ten days, they looked healthier and better
nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.”
Not only were they better in health and appearance; they
were also superior in wisdom and understanding. At the end
of the three-year training cycle, they were found to be ten
times better than anyone else. For three years they devoted
themselves to learning a new language, studying new literature, and absorbing a new culture. They were the best workers in the palace. By virtue of the grace of God, and their own
diligence, they were building a platform for ministry.
Notice that there was no easily identifiable ministry taking
place—not yet, anyway. Daniel was laying a foundation for
a lifetime of ministry. He had read the prophecies; he knew
they would be there for 70 years. And so he was living out
the three basic realities upon which his ministry would be
built. (1) He was committed to walking with God. (2) He was
committed to building relationships. (3) He was committed to
excellence in all that was asked of him.
For the rest of the book, those three themes will come up
over and over again. Together, they converged to form a
foundation for ministry, but first, they were valuable by
themselves:
We walk with God because He is worthy of our lives. We were
made for Him.
We pursue relationships because all people were made in His
image and bear His glory. God made us for relationships with
other people.
We work hard because all work has dignity and was part of
the created order before the Fall. We are to work “unto the
Lord.”
As we’d expect, obedience to God produces a host of benefits
and blessings, not the least of which are opportunities to
spread His glory far and wide. The focus of Daniel’s ministry was to see the praises of God declared throughout the
earth. As we will see, through patient incremental steps, this
was achieved at a level Daniel couldn’t have dreamed of or
imagined.
The same goal ought to be in your heart and mine, for we are
“a people belonging to Him, that we may declare the praises
of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
In your workplace, as you commit to (1) walking with God, (2)
building relationships, and (3) pursuing excellence in all that is
asked of you, opportunities will arise to make His praises known.
In this chapter and in the next five, I hope you’ll be able
to see those three elements in the life of Daniel and think
through how to develop them in your own life as well.
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COMMENCEMENT
ADDRESSES FROM ALUMNI
I don’t think there’s anything more unseemly
than the sight of a rock star in academic robes.
It’s a bit like when people put their King
Charles spaniels in little tartan sweats and hats.
It’s not natural and it doesn’t make the dog
any smarter.
Doctor of laws, wow! I know it’s an honor, and
it really is an honor, but are you sure? Doctor
of law—all I can think about is the laws I’ve
broken. … I’ve broken a lot of laws, and the
ones I haven’t, I’ve certainly thought about. I
have sinned in thought, word, and deed, and
God forgive me. Actually, God forgave me. But
why would you?
So my question, I suppose, is: What’s the big
idea? What’s your big idea? What are you
willing to spend your moral capital, your intellectual capital, your cash, your sweat equity in
pursuing outside of the walls of the university?
—Bono, “That’s not a cause. That’s an
emergency,” commencement address
at the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
May 17, 2004
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Joe Torres — career
Graduate of SUNY, Brockport, 1985
B.S. in communications/broadcast journalism
What was the transition from college into the
workforce like for you?
Not too difficult, because the NBC pages were all roughly the same
age, had the same business interests, and were all at the same starting
points in their careers. It was like a new fraternity.
Challenges as a Christian?
The atmosphere at NBC often presented a challenge. The fraternity
feel came with everything you’d expect at a frat house: parties,
alcohol, and late nights. Maintaining a spiritual focus wasn’t easy, and
most of the time I failed.
Coming out of college is a time of many challenges. It is easy to get
immersed in work and distracted by friends, and without a concentrated effort on your relationship with God, many, if not most, believers
fall away. I think that Satan clasps his hands around you. Because you
are so focused on making good on your four-year college commitment, faith can become a sloppy second. God gets put on the back
burner.
INTRODUCTION
If you were to do only one thing to spiritually prepare for the transition from college to the
working world, interviewing a committed Christian who has successfully (or not so successfully) navigated the journey might be that one thing. But knowing that you might not get
around to this preemptive measure until your own children are graduating college, we’ve
scheduled some interviews for you.
We talked to alumni who varied widely in their jobs, age, and transition experience. We
asked them (as I’m sure you would have) what was most difficult in the transition as well
as what was most instrumental in keeping them on track with God. Depending on the
interview and interviewee, we tended to focus on a specific aspect of their transition. You’ll
note, for example, that one interview deals almost entirely with sexual purity. But common to all the interviews were pearls of wisdom formed from experiences good, bad, and
ugly. And we give each of the alumni an “open mic” to share with you what has been most
significant to them and what they think is most critical for you to know going into this new
stage of life.
While we hope this is helpful, we also hope this will not substitute for your conducting your
own interviews with Christians you admire—Christians who have maintained a powerful
witness for Christ in their chosen fields and vocations. And we hope you are able to learn
from their experience, both their successes and their failures.
—Kelly Hansard, Crupress
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Can you describe how you came to be a
news journalist?
I wanted to be a reporter since high school. My first job out of college
was in New York as an NBC page, giving tours at the studios. I didn’t
make a lot of money but bartered with friends: “If you take me to dinner, I will take you to Letterman.”
I spent a lot of time networking in the early days; it was a very competitive environment. One day I walked in to the affiliate relations office and said to the guy in there, “I want to be a reporter and I know
you don’t start here.” He asked, “Where do you want to be?” I told
him that I wanted to go somewhere warm.
He made some calls for me, and my first job offer was from Savannah,
Georgia, as a cameraman. I told the station I would take the job as
long as they knew upfront that I wanted to be in front of the camera,
not behind it.
How did you wind up in New York?
It was really funny, actually. There I was in Georgia as a New York
Puerto Rican news anchor. My plan was always to get back to New
York, so I sent out tapes to other newsrooms up north, and my next job
was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is a blue-collar, coal-mining town.
From there I started looking again, and I landed a job in Philly. This was
my big break, and I took a job as the Jersey Shore correspondent for
Channel 6, which had a huge viewing audience. I sent a résumé and
a tape to New York in late 1996 and I got a job as a reporter. At this
point I was married and had a baby boy, and my wife and I were very
happy in Philly, but you just don’t turn down a job like that. From there
I became the weekend anchor for the WABC morning news.
Did it happen to me? Yes, definitely. And what happens is that you
do not go to God first; you start going to God second, or afterward,
or not at all, as you are making the kinds of decisions that have the
potential to shape the rest of your life. Satan is waiting for you with
wide-open arms, saying, “Come to Papa.” If you don’t resist that, making a conscious effort to stay spiritually grounded, it could take years
to catch up again. It is just too easy to get caught up in making money
and advancing.
What got you through?
Steady prayer and a constant clinging to the promise that no matter
what happens, God loves you and forgives you.
Do you have examples of that in your own life?
After college, when I was a page at NBC, I made a new friend who
would eventually become my future wife. She wasn’t a Christian at
the time. She saw me and how I was living, and I was not always a
very good example of a follower of Christ. We fell in love. I made it
clear to her at one point where my faith stood even though my life
didn’t reflect it all the time. I set down the “rules” for our relationship
and that really caused dissension. It was rough, and it got to the point
that I had to say to her, “I love you, but frankly I love God more.” I
was trying to get her to make a decision for Christ. It was a tough time
because the life I was living wasn’t biblical living. Who was I to ask her
to make this kind of commitment when I wasn’t really following Christ
myself?
Words of wisdom?
Find a good church and attend it. You need spiritual nourishment
and Bible study at least once a week. I say that because I am in one
now, but I wasn’t during my first years out of college. Seek out a small
group with the opportunity to be intimate in sharing and where you
can be encouraged and held accountable by others who will love you
and stick by you through everything. And be that kind of friend to
those who are that support system for you. We are all going to slip
and we are all going to fall, and it’s a whole lot easier to get up if
there are ten people there to pick you up.
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