SICM
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| A few of the boys at SICM |
We've finished out the year with our students! Many of them have returned home, excited to rest but also already excited to start a new year of ministry. At the end of the school year, we turn right around from finishing finals to going to the Student Institute of Campus Ministry (SICM) up in Bellingham, Washington. It's a week-and-a-half long trip to train up our potential new student leaders. This year, we brought over 150 students with us, the most we ever have. With many of our campuses growing, including UTD, we have had to expand our operations year after year. They come so excited to learn about ministry and how to lead others.
Leadership
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| Baptism! |
A few months ago at a wedding, I was sitting next to a missionary pastor from Lebanon. He had been traveling to and from Lebanon for over two decades, and I asked him what he would say to a young pastor. He told me, "The church needs less leaders and more servants." In a culture obsessed with leaders, we often lose sight of what good leadership actually is. In Matthew 25, James and John with their mother go to ask Jesus to give them positions at Jesus' right and left hand. They want to have the top two leadership positions in Jesus' kingdom. Jesus says they are not for him to grant. But when the other disciples hear about this exchange, they get angry and are themselves vying for those positions. Jesus responds to them, "'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'" (Matthew 20:25-28). Leadership was forever changed because of Jesus. Good leaders don't rule and exercise authority. They don't cry for others to submit to them. Real leaders serve. Because that's where real change happens. That's what we hope to develop in our leaders. Not the desire to lead. Not the accumulation of power or influence. We hope to develop in them the heart of Christ, the heart of a servant. That they may see their peers on these college campuses and see people to serve. That one day they may go out into the workforce and serve those around them. And that they would go home and continue to serve their spouses and their children joyfully, because the Son of Man showed them how, how to give his life for many.
Thank You!
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| Our final large group fellowship |
Leadership isn't about power. Being a pastor isn't about a job, being liked, or having followers. What I strive to be every day is a servant like Christ. And in doing so, be like him in setting an example that has changed the world. I know that many of you are doing that same striving daily. And there are good days and bad days, but in the end we know there is no other way to live, because all other ways lead to death. Thank you so much for all your support in what we do here. I am so grateful that you would serve these students in this way.
