Who Dares - To Serve God - Wins

Being A"Salty" On-Campus Christian

(Matthew 5:13-16 NKJV) "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. {14} "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. {15} "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. {16} "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

We are called to be lights in a dark world even in the moral and spiritual darkness of a secular University. We are called to be the salt of the earth. We are to have "bite", to be "salty" to flavor and preserve our environment in powerful ways. If we lose our saltiness we are useless and worthless. This involves courage. Daniel and his three friends dared to be godly in the University of Babylon where they were being trained for service with Nebuchadnezzar. They dared, God backed them, they won. Even this year in CU when you have dared to share the gospel you have won. When you went around the churches people got saved. Now people are doing Christianity Explained because you dared to proclaim Christ a few weeks ago. As you dare to be salt and light - you win. In I Samuel 2:30 God enunciates a principle "Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." Every Christian on campus who wants to be honored by God needs to honor God as a "salty" on-campus Christian.

Every year when CU elections come up I hear "I haven't got the time". I'll tell you a spiritual not-so-secret. God is the Lord of Time. When you serve God you have an infinite amount of time. You never "run out of time" when you are doing God's will. Jesus never hurried or ran out of time. Joshua got an extra day to beat the Amalekites. Paul finished his race completely. Contrast this with the "yuppies in a hurry" with their diaries who always complain about "running out of time". The self-centered never have enough time, the godly have plenty. Get rid of self-centered pursuits and worldly ambitions and settle into God's agenda and you will be surprised at how much time you have.(see James 3:14-18 for a contrast here). You will get your studies and your ministry done. God is the Lord of Time and can give you all the time you need in most marvelous ways. When you serve God sometimes you can do more in ten minutes than in many hours.

Like in a car accident you think more clearly and "time" changes so it is when you serve God. Things get done differently. He will give you the time and ability you need if you serve Him. God will make you more efficient than you could ever have dreamed of. He will cause things to work out for you. He is BIG and can, and will, take care of you. In 1984 and 1985 I saw this happen in miraculous ways that I still marvel at. God clearly called me to do full-time theological study at two separate institutions and run a church that grew from 150 to 400 and had an active evangelistic ministry. This was way beyond my natural ability. God got me through my exams. I can tell you of miraculous ways that I passed. I got 85% in an exam I studied only 1 hr for! That 1 hours study "coincidentally" was on the four essays that appeared on the exam - God guided my study. Cheating? No, blessing! God can make my time bear fruit! Serve God and watch Him make every minute fruitful.

Two areas we need courage in on campus are when we face the disapproval of others or financial sacrifice for the Kingdom of God. These challenges have been around since the gospel was first proclaimed and Jesus did not make light of them when He said:

(Matthew 5:10-12 NKJV) Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {11} "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. {12} "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

When everyone from the footballers to the feminists and the on-campus Satanists are arrayed against you - rejoice! You are doing the right thing, you are convicting them of their sin and some may turn to God. You are exercising the "prophetic function" of the body of Christ. It is a function that is unpopular on earth but greatly commended in Heaven.

Now for the money bit. There are two versions to this: Panic Myth No.1) You are a broke University student working as a pizza delivery boy to make ends meet. You think that if you take a night off a week to go to Bible study or evangelize on campus that you will end up dying of starvation. This is alarmist. You will not die of starvation. At worst you will eat a lot of instant noodles. Hey, half the Western world is trying to lose weight and you can do that and serve God at the same time. That may seem flippant, cruel and hard-hearted. You know me well. So now for some theology...

(Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV) "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' {32} "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. {33} "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. {34} "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

This translates as God will supply coffee, pizza, joggers, t-shirts and jeans to obedient University students in ways you do not expect - so get on with it.

Panic myth No.2... The "if I don't study all the time then I won't get all credits and distinctions and no-one will employ me and I will end up on the garbage heap of life" story. I have heard this, or something close to it from innumerable University students. Hey, wake up, there is a GOD out there - and He will take care of you!(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him.

God takes care of us. He is good. He is powerful. He knows your needs and is interested in meeting them. He honors those who honor Him. Don't be spooked out of glory - go and do God's will.

Scripture speaks of "the interests of Christ Jesus". His plans, purposes and agenda. Jesus Christ's interests at University should be our interests while we are at JCU. We should all strive to be like Timothy who put the interests of Jesus Christ first "

(Philippians 2:19-21 NKJV) But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. {20} For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. {21} For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus."

Timothy was highly commended because he stood out from the rest by putting Jesus interests above his own interests. I would like to exhort you to be like Timothy and to put Jesus first and God's agenda first when considering whether or not to serve on the CU executive. Who dares - to serve God - wins!

 

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