Movements Everywhere

Change

I assume you have heard that there are some changes in the wind for our ministry. It’s true, and I would like to invest this month’s article in sharing some with you about it.

Let me start from the beginning. Our ministry received a special calling from God to help fulfill the Great Commission. As Bill Bright elaborated on our part in that massive task, he clarified that our emphasis was spiritual multiplication – winning, building, and sending in the power of the Holy Spirit. Second Timothy 2:2 was our theme verse in that regard.

So our calling and mission are basically fulfilled at the local level. Whether on campus, in the executive board room or in a home in the inner city, we encourage teams of like-hearted, Christ-centered, multiplying disciples to “reach their worlds” for Christ.

In 2002 God gave the vision for movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus. That just reconfirmed that our most critical point of success is “local.”

The reason I am reviewing these familiar facts is to say that our main reason for any changes is simply to do those even better.

Over a period of many years, we have begun to suffer from what happens to most Christian organizations:

• • Some drifting of direction
  • Slowing of growth
  • Decreasing flexibility to respond to changes in the marketplace

There are a number of places in Campus Crusade for Christ where this isn’t true. But on the average these trends are present.

Now, we could ignore that we need to sharpen what we do and eventually decline severely. Or we can deal squarely with the issues and fully redeem the opportunities I believe God has prepared beforehand for us.

To the leaders of the ministry the choice was clear: Let’s prayerfully plan and take action to do even better. You have and will continue to hear more from your ministry’s leaders, but let me summarize a few broad strokes of what we sense God has led us to do:

• 1. Call us to renewed, extreme dependence on God. I have started to fast one meal a day to begin to prepare my own heart for what that might mean. If Bill Bright were here, I feel certain he would call us to be sure our hearts are filled with our “first love” for God.
  2. Make certain we have an organizational culture in our ministry that features our values (faith, growth and fruitfulness), ownership of movement building at the local level and a learning environment (to help us keep creating improved or new strategies, training and materials as the marketplace shifts). There are a few other culture change elements as well.  (For more information see the Call for Culture Change article at www.shapingourfuture.me/callforculturechange.)
  3. Plan with boldness to take full advantage of the way God is providing opportunities today. We want to make the most of the next 10 years, in cooperation with others in the Body of Christ who are sensing that same urgency.
  4. Change our structure as needed to maximize our focus on local success and to support these points above. We have always had that in mind, but we are working with area and country leadership to find ways to do that better.

As I mentioned earlier, from the beginning our desire was to motivate, train and support people around the world to help fulfill the Great Commission. We must develop more models of how to do that well. Those models will give vision and provide training for others. Our dream is self-sustaining, viral multiplication.  (For more on the rationale for these changes and on the details of the structural change watch the video at www.mygcx.org/OrganizationalChange.)

What I have just shared with you is an overview. It was the result of many months of praying, seeking input and discussing. But, no doubt, more time will be needed to move in that direction.

So what can you do in light of all this? Pray. Pray for wisdom as ministry leaders work out how this applies in their situations. Pray that God will give supernatural wisdom. Pray that God will also give peace. Change is uncomfortable for most of us. There is therefore a normal process of adjustment.

Finally, pray for yourself and the team with which you work. Ask God to show you things in your own walk with him which need to improve. Ask Him if there is anything in your personal ministry that could benefit from the culture change we are seeking. For example, could your disciples “own” more of the ministry in their spheres of influence?

Pray for God to infuse in you and those around you even more faith and creativity, to take advantage of the unusual opportunities God is giving around the world today.

Know this: We are not seeking to change anything which does not need to change. However, we do think there are things we can do to greatly accelerate the accomplishment of what God has called us to do.

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