Discipleship: Strategic Intentionality or Ugly Manipulation?

Working to see students transformed by Jesus takes intentional, deliberate, thoughtful, strategic action. We need to prayerfully discern what a particular student, a given student community, or even a whole generation of students are passionate about/struggling with/influenced by and consider how we might challenge and motivate them in their pursuit of Jesus and his mission.  And yet, in the midst of all this strategic intentionality, I think we could, if we were not watchful, slip into ugly manipulation. (Ender’s Game comes to mind . . .)

In our day-to-day discipleship of students, there are a few things we must always remember, to guard us from losing our way:

1. It’s never about me. When we begin to act or react out of personal fear or hurt or disappointment, bad things begin happening.

2. And I’m not all-knowing, not even close. In fact, I’m pretty dim sometimes.

3. We must honor and respect people’s God-given freedom to make choices, even one’s we think are foolish or misguided.

4.  When we get too narrow a view of what transformation looks like, diversity of personality, ethnicity, giftedness and experiences can be wrongly viewed as barriers. Our view of transformation needs to be as big as the gospel.

5. God is always at work, even if and especially when we don’t see it. Oh, and he is at work in places where I’m not, that’s important, too.

6. God can use us to speak into people’s lives, but he uses others, too.  This is true personally and organizationally.

7. We first need to fearlessly love. Then we need fearlessly call people to follow Jesus. In that order only.

Eugene Peterson, in his writings on pastoral work, coined the phrase “haphazard intent.”  We work with intent, but not like machines with borg-like tendencies, crushing everyone into our mold. We have a vision of what the kingdom can look like when it comes to life in a student life and community, and we live openly into that vision. We haphazardly make our way into and through students lives prayerfully, honestly and humbly, waiting upon the God who makes all things new, in his time.