In an effort to make more space in my life, I’m trying to clean out a few rather old boxes that have moved with me since the previous millennium. I have enjoyed opening up these little time capsules to remind myself about what was important to me back then. Among my priorities was my participation in the campus ministry known (in those days, at least) as the Baptist Student Union, or “BSU.”
My years in BSU were a time of very rapid growth in maturity and commitment. What nurtured the growth were two distinct, related trajectories of action and reflection. The first was an outward journey. My campus ministry group was deeply committed to ministry and service to the university and wider communities in Jesus’ name. I spent many hours calling bingo at retirement homes, tutoring in afterschool programs, building Habitat for Humanity homes and taking out of town mission trips on Winter and Spring breaks. Just as importantly, there was an inward journey. BSU took time for serious study of the Scriptures, engagement of new ideas, and a deepening of my prayer life, all attuning my inward self to the work of the Holy Spirit.
These two emphases were not accidental. The vision of the BSU was to help students, anchored in local churches, to walk two paths simultaneously: an inward journey of spiritual formation and an outward journey on mission. The symbol we used in those days projected five strong arrows outward, representing our call to mission. Look, though, at the five inward-pointing arrows created in the negative white space of the image. See them? These represent the inward journey of spiritual formation. I found this symbol a helpful way to understand how a Christian walks in two directions at once. For those growing in relationship with Jesus, every higher step outward has a corresponding deeper step inward.
Some will say a church should just get out and be about God’s mission. Others maintain that a church should be the place to gather and grow more deeply connected to God. It is possible for these two roads to take us very different places. Those on outbound and inbound paths risk passing like ships in the night without ever recognizing the other’s vital significance to a well-formed, mature faith.
Yates presents an alternative to this. Look back over the last month and think of all the ways worship has held our inward and outward paths together. We were called to renewed evangelism by our Women’s Ministry, watched our Operation Inasmuch video (170 volunteers!), were led by the Sonshine class in praise, heard the witness of a community member touched by this ministry, were challenged by sermons from Duke and Campbell seminarians, commissioned student summer missionaries, and much more. All these outward expressions of mission were brought into the worship house in an act of celebration, consecration, new commitment and enhanced capacity to hear and respond to God’s call. What strikes me is that this is more the rule than the exception here. Every week holds its own celebrations and challenges for members to reach farther and go deeper. At Yates, worship is where it all comes together. I can’t wait until the next time we can come together…and worship!
Grace and Peace, Christopher