COMMENTARY | Nate Adams
Recently my college alma mater asked me to write an endorsement letter to include in a mailing they’re sending to churches. I said yes because I believe in the school; it had a transformational and lasting effect on my life, and I’m confident it can do the same for students today. I was willing to take the mission of my college personally.
So I wrote about the Christian worldview, lasting friendships and leadership opportunities I found there. I wrote about meeting my wife there. And because I now serve as a trustee of the university, and two of our sons now attend there, I was also able to write personally from current experience about what a special, transforming place it is for students today.
Of course my letter wouldn’t have been complete without a personal invitation to action as well. So I asked the churches to display the college’s poster, and to call the phone number or explore the college’s website. And I invited them to e-mail or call me personally with any questions, assuring them that I simply wanted them to experience the same blessing I had.
As I finished my letter, I realized that I had just done for my alma mater what I too rarely do for my Lord and Savior. I too rarely am willing to take His mission personally.
Why do I not more often choose to enthusiastically but briefly communicate the wonderful way He has transformed my life? Why don’t I have on the tip of my tongue the compelling reasons someone should say yes to Jesus today? Why don’t I more urgently invite those who are far from God to take action now, and receive the same blessing I’ve enjoyed since welcoming Him into my life? Here in the darkness and lostness of Illinois, why don’t I take His mission more personally?
Of course each of us must answer that question before the Lord. But this endorsement letter for my college made me realize something else, something rather simple. I gave my testimony, and outlined the good news that’s available to others, and invited them to act – because someone asked me to.
Someone said it was important, and then formed a simple plan in which I could participate, and then asked me to do my part. Maybe there is something to learn there about our mission in Illinois.
Calling one another out of complacency and into evangelism is one of the most important things we do as an association of churches. You wouldn’t think it is necessary, any more than you would think it is necessary to ask a grateful alumnus to say a good word about his college. But often it doesn’t happen until someone asks.
This year at the IBSA Annual Meeting, we will be asking. The first priority in Mission Illinois, the “point of the plow” if you will, is renewed commitment to passionate evangelism. First and foremost, Mission Illinois must be contagious Christians from healthy churches served by effective leaders running boldly into the lostness of Illinois with the good news of Jesus Christ.
We need to say to one another that sharing Christ is important, and to form simple, reproducible plans in which church members can participate, and then to simply ask one another to do our part. So much more than the college I attended, the Gospel has had a transformational and lasting effect on my life. I’m confident it can do the same for those who are now far from God. Mission Illinois can be so much more than a theme, if we will take it personally.
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