Crying Kids and Summer Project: Why your decisions now mean something
Picture this: It’s Sunday morning and your alarm goes off for the third time because you’re an avid snoozer on the weekend. Your spouse rolls over to greet you with a mouth full of morning breath. Noises downstairs allude to the reality that all three of the kids are wrecking havoc on the kitchen and each other. Your spouse enthusiastically exclaims, “It’s your turn to wrangle the kids and get them ready for church.” Your eyes roll back into your head because you have to face the reality that getting the family to church is no easy task.
Have you ever stopped to think about what your life and relationship with God will look like when you’re living the “American dream”; descent-but-not-thrilling-job, bills to pay, and mouths to feed? Yeah, chances are you haven’t — that’s okay. My hope is that after this quick read you’ll at least start seeking God about decisions now that may have significant bearing on your future… and maybe a few other people along the way.
If you have been around SLO Crusade for some amount of time, you may have heard this phrase: “We desire to give every student at Cal Poly and Cuesta an opportunity to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.” You also may have heard another saying that goes along with it: living incarnationaly. In simple terms, it means that you live in such a way that others around you (no matter the setting) are intrigued about the Jesus you follow and start wrestling with the reality of their need for Christ. For the staff team of SLO Crusade, this is our ultimate hope — that we could help you in whatever way possible to walk closely with Jesus yourself and be a missionary in whatever context God has placed you. But honestly, it’s much more than just your four or five years in SLO.
“Well, what do you mean?” you may ask. Great question. Thanks for asking.
Cru (our official name starting in 2012) is a missions organization. We desire to make Jesus known among college students who are going to live passionately for something or someone. We focus much of our time on evangelism and discipleship on campuses so that everyone could hear the life-changing message of freedom in Christ in a relevant and compelling way. But here’s a reality about us: we are NOT a church.
Your time with SLO Crusade will end when you graduate. I know; it’s very sad, isn’t it? But with that reality in mind, we want to equip you during your 5 years here to walk closely with God for the next 50 years of your life. Stick with me — I’m about to put some meat on the bones.
“The real lesson learned in those few, precious weeks is the reward that comes when we die to ourselves and live to Christ.”
When I think back to my time on Virginia Beach Summer Project as a student, two things come to mind. One, the community of fellow believers those 8 weeks impacted me so deeply that I will never look at the body of Christ in the same way. To watch each person kill their pride and serve the community was the catalyst to a life-altering shift of my worldview. Psalm 133 says, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity… the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.” Which brings along my next point.
The joy that came from experiencing that community was even more real. I had never experienced grace from others and from God in such a tangible way. I finally felt free to confess my sin to brothers; I was able to take lots of risks without fear of failure or being ridiculed; heaven was never more real than during that time.
The challenge since then has been learning how to translate what I learned and experienced in those 8 weeks to my every day life now. But my time amidst an almost heavenly community formed an incredible foundation that has allowed me to move forward with confidence in my walk with God one step at a time. Has life been difficult since then? Absolutely. Have I felt like my faith has been weaker since then? You bet. But there is something unique that happens when you trust God to take a step of faith and go on a state-side summer project.
You die to yourself.
And that’s exactly where you experience life in spiritual 3-D. Jesus said in John 12, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” The real lesson learned in those few, precious weeks is the reward that comes when we die to ourselves and live to Christ. When else will you have a full summer to intentionally blow up your whole worldview and allow God, who knows you better than yourself, to rebuild it around his own heart?
I realize there are many concerns to spending a whole summer serving God in a strange location with people whom you have never met. Maybe you don’t feel spiritual enough, or you don’t know the Bible well enough. To be quite honest with you, those things ultimately don’t matter. Those hesitant feelings will fade away when you experience God in a way that can’t be explained. There are so many great stories and resources at gosummerproject.com. Set aside some time to look through all the possibilities and then lay the whole decision at the feet of Jesus — where he may do with it what he will.
It may just be a decision that deeply alters the way you live life and find joy 30 years from now. Shoot, it might even allow you to tackle those future kiddos with love, passion, and gentleness. We all know that good parents are hard to find these days.
Seeking your joy in Christ with you,
Matt (SLO Crusade full-time staff)
This summer join us in SLO for a time of getting to know others and growing deeper with the Lord! There will also be women’s and men’s Bible Studies, and some fun social events throughout the summer! Stay tuned for more info!
