As we celebrate the New Year and look forward to the things to accomplish, I wanted to reflect and share on this past term (Fall 2022), and give you a strong exhortation to guide you for this year!
“What’s the Point, Anyways?” — How It All Started.
At the end of the spring term, I was already set on leading a DG for the fall (after lots of prayer, of course), so I was pondering how exactly to lead it…
Thinking about how I have personally grown, there is a huge difference between the recent months and my early years. Early on as a dedicated Christian, I spent a lot of time reading through Christian books and listening to (admittedly, seeker-friendly) sermons. How I grew was often from hearing/reading exhortations that come from man. This definitely helped, as I really needed to lay out the basics and practical things to live out my faith.
But there comes a time when man’s words become stale. You see, my Christian book collecting started quite early, first with one or two books in a year during my middle school years. In my high school years, this multiplied by TENFOLD (my wallet also shrunk tenfold 😭), in hopes of learning more to become a better leader, year after year. On top of all of this, if I wasn’t reading some Christian book on my commute to/from school, I’d be listening to sermons/Christian podcasts (and I often listened to them at an increased speed, starting from 1.2x, and reaching all the way to 1.7x or 2x). By the time I finished high school, I’m willing to bet I had somewhere close to 40 books. This collecting and avid sermon-listening slowed down during my university years (mainly because school got much tougher and required more of my time), which prompted me to reflect on the amount of value I’m getting by going through all this material I’ve collected.
The truth is, the Christian principles and teachings are quite simple and “just make sense”, when viewed in light of the gospel. There is no large list of laws to be reminded of, and have a huge revelation and intense spiritual high as a result of it — Christ Himself mentioned that all of the laws revolve around just two things: Love God; love your neighbour as yourself (Matt. 22:34–40).
If you’ve been a Christian for even a few years, you’ll begin to notice that there aren’t as many huge revelations and massive growth spikes in your faith from just hearing man’s comment about the Scriptures. Man’s word is often very pragmatic and serves as a reminder to obey and follow Christ. I myself noticed this, especially when religiously listening to a particular pastor. The stories got repetitive, and the major points sounded like common sense to me.
So I asked myself — how should I lead in a way that is conducive to everyone’s growth?
At the end of the spring term, I picked up a book upon getting recommendations from a couple of other folks within CCF, and started to read through it. It was a book focused on what godly marriages (and in particular, what godly men in such relationships) look like. I blazed through 80% of the book within 1–2 weeks, often muttering to myself, “Well, no duh, this makes sense! Every godly man should be doing this already!”
I asked myself, “Would going through this book with the DG actually be helpful?” This book sounded like a mix of Proverbs meets James pragmatism applied in marriage relationships (of which, don’t apply to 99.9% of the people in CCF, let alone the guys I would have in my DG). But clearly, I was missing the true “meat” of this wonderful book: scripture itself.
What Scripture Is.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12, ESV)“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
(1 John 2:3–6, ESV)
As Christians, we hold the Scriptures with the utmost regard (sola scriptura) and take it as the true, reliable, and perfect word of God. How we come to that conclusion is another topic; though if you do have questions regarding this, I highly recommend searching up the evidence and reasoning for making such conclusions (gotquestions.org, and popular Christian apologetic books are a great place to start), as the bible is the basis for all Christian doctrine.
Based on these three passages, we can conclude that God’s word is powerful, as it is meant to teach the truth of the gospel, so much so that it cuts at the heart, convicting man of his sins, and prompting him to repent.
As a result of the Holy Spirit revealing the truth and convicting us of our sins, we ought to respond, adhering to Jesus’ commandments; so that the love of God is perfected in us, lest we be a hypocrite and a liar to ourselves.
Knowing that scripture must take priority has affected the church I choose to attend (at least, while in Waterloo — I’m still figuring things out for myself beyond Waterloo). And being inspired by the church’s firm desire to be rooted in, uphold, and live simply by what Scripture says, and by my growth as a result of hearing the Word preached exegetically and exposited, I knew that I must be centred around and highlight scripture as I sought to lead my DG.
DG Experience.
Of course, I will preface by saying that the outcome is never solely due to your own words/works. You can foster an environment that is conducive to growth. But it is always because of the work the Holy Spirit and the amazing gospel truth that cuts deep at our hearts (and this is something I intend on writing about in the near future 👀).
Being convicted to focus heavily on scripture, I told all of my DG members to go through EVERY scripture reference in our book study, point out one passage that stuck out to them, and select a passage as a group to memorize for the week. While there were varying degrees of success (especially in memorizing, and when we were hit with a list of 60 scripture references in just a single chapter alone — and we were going through two chapters a week!), what I can say is that we were all convicted of our sin, sanctified, and desired to be in God’s word and in prayer more and more, week by week, all because we stuck close to His Word. Never once did I have to say some special string of words as an exhortation to prompt my DG members’ growth! My only boast is in Christ, for it is He who has done this sanctifying and transformative work! All I had to do was point them to Him regularly!
“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.””
(Jeremiah 9:23–24, ESV)
The Resolve to Reflect Psalm 1.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
(Psalm 1:1–6, ESV)
The message of Psalm 1 is very clear, and the imagery, very vivid: that we ought not to become complacent in and apathetic to our sin and sinful nature, by settling for the ways of the wicked. Rather, we must be rooted like how a tree is — by streams of water so that it may produce fruit in its season — by meditating on God’s word day and night. By doing so, we will prosper and bring glory to God.
Therefore let us be resolved this year, to remain rooted in reverence to the revelation of God’s deep love for us, as revealed to us by His Word!
Praying for your growth and love for Him.
Happy New Years 🎉🍾!
An Aside.
The original article is already finished, but I wanted to include this portion as a way of immediately applying this resolve to remain rooted in His word. So I have one question for you: Do you seriously take Jesus’ final words seriously (inspiration from David Platt’s sermon: You Need Biblical Mission)?
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
(Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)
As a Christian in school, do you recognize that you have the privilege and opportunity like no one else to fulfill Jesus’ commandment and commission? I was reminded of the urgency to live out this during this term, by browsing around on our very own blog!
Please, take a moment to read through Will Schuurman’s post, 3 Exhortations for Campus Ministries From a Local Church Pastor.
To the Soon-To-Be (or Potential) (DG) Leaders.
At the start of the term, Pastor Will from Trinity Bible Chapel actually came to run a training session for leaders. He started off by pointing out Jesus’ Great Commission from Matthew 28, and said something that I never made the connection before: By gathering together, we have the opportunity to mutually minister to each other, making disciples and therefore fulfilling Matthew 28.
As you take time to discern and pray about sacrificing yourself (in time, along with many other things) to lead (not just merely serve) others, be reminded that your desire should be to glorify God by adhering to His word — and in particular in the context of DG leading (though this can definitely apply to other areas of leading, such as SG leading), by making disciples.
I have many thoughts and experiences on what it means to lead well, and what all the words I’ve bolded mean — and it may seem overwhelming and intimidating. But let me remind you of what we just focused on: sticking close to God’s word and allowing Him to work!
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
(John 3:30, ESV)
In the DG you plan to lead (and in anything, really), make His word the utmost priority! This might be practiced slightly differently across DGs, but the principle remains the same. Make space for God’s Word to work in the hearts of your DG members (recall 2 Timothy and Hebrews from above).
Here are some ideas, and things I’ve done with my DG:
- Come up with an outline of everything you plan on doing with your DG, with scripture to back up everything
- Go through a book (of the bible, or a Christian book), emphasizing a closer look at scripture and any references
- Memorize scripture together
- Hold each other accountable in doing devotionals regularly throughout the week
This, of course, is only a small list of thoughts I have, and if you’d like more support, ideas, or prayer, feel free to reach out to me personally! I’d love to share more with you (this article is already so long…).
To Those Seeking for Radical Growth in Their Faith.
Do you desire to see disciples be made? Including yourself becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ? According to Matthew 28?
In this year, make an effort to live out His Word by being discipled! This might be joining a church small group (and this is most preferable, since you can engage with other members of the church and gather wisdom (Proverbs 12:15, among many other Proverbs) and perspectives from various people), or CCF DG (this does have some perks, but your experience might vary depending on the other members and leader).
In joining a group, ensure that there is some form of:
- Focus on His Word (e.g. bible study, memorizing scripture)
- Accountability
- Mutual ministry, and therefore your active engagement (regular attendance and participation shouldn’t even be a question)
You’ll find that by sticking close to His word, you’ll grow a lot!
If you’d like to talk more about how this looks like specifically, please reach out to me! I would love to share the details of how my church (Trinity Bible Chapel) small group and DG ran, and covered these areas!
