What does a spiritual
movement look like? How do you know when
you are seeing a spiritual movement? I
want to focus for the next several weeks on the big picture of what is a
spiritual movement. It probably is much
more simple than you have imagined.
One of the main focuses of a
spiritual movement is Looking for the
People God has Prepared among the lost. Obviously
this means that you are involved in evangelism, both “initiative evangelism” and relational evangelism. (“Initiative evangelism” means that you are
taking the initiative to initiate/being intentional about sharing the gospel
with people you don’t know to invite them to hear the gospel.) Last week I wrote about the idea of ‘Precision
Harvesting’ which is part of looking for those who He has prepared among the
lost who are ready to turn their lives to Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Another element of Looking for the People God has Prepared
is to look for believers who God has already called with a similar
vision to the one He gave you. You
sometimes will come across believers as you are sharing the gospel. You can also find the believers God has
prepared through targeted strategies (see last week’s blog, Reaping where you did not sow, for ideas). Of course, if anyone comes to Christ as you
are sharing the gospel, share your vision with them about how you want others
to experience God’s love and forgiveness just as this person has received that
love and forgiveness which only comes from God.
They may be the most motivated person to join you as they understand the
need for believing students on campus to share with those who don’t know God.
I believe that the Lord has
placed someone else on your campus or in your city with a similar desire to see
Him work on your campus. If you are the
only believer with a heart to see God move among students, continue to pray
that He would raise up a ‘teammate’ to join you in His cause. Share the vision God has given you with every
believer you meet and ask them if they would like to join you in trusting God
to work through you in building a spiritual movement for Him at your
school.
If you are part of a team of
believers asking God to move among the students on your campuses, continue to
share the gospel with each and every student in your city! Ask God to connect you with more believers
who He has called to join you in building a spiritual movement on your campus
which will bring Him much glory among the lost.
Seek to take the gospel to every corner of the student world in your
city and ask God to build movements in each of those areas. I know He is already preparing those people
for you!
To summarize the first part
of a spiritual movement is:
Looking for the People God has Prepared (Evangelism)
Among
the lost – as you are involved in
evangelism, through BOTH:
-initiative, and
-relational as well as
Among
believers – searching for those He
has raised up to join you:
-when students
on campus become believers,
-when you come across believers as you are sharing the
gospel, and
-through targeted
strategies to find believers. 