You are currently browsing the monthly archive for April, 2008.
If you’re reading this, it means that at some point in your life, you were following Jesus and when He asked you to be a light on this campus and serve as a leader at AACF. I do not dare assume or assert that leadership or ministry is what God calls you to do or what it means to follow Jesus. I cannot do that, only God can tell you that. However I do know that Jesus calls us to follow him and He has commissioned us to “make disciples of all nations.” And I know that for many of you, as you follow Jesus, He will ask you to serve and commit to what He started long ago, what He’s doing now, and what He will do at NYU.
I guess I’m writing this to you because I want you to know that what Jesus calls you to do will so often be what you cannot bear to hear, think you cannot handle, or even want to do. And sometimes (and for me about every time), Jesus will ask you to do what seems so unreasonable, so illogical, even reckless. Coming on to leadership was one of the biggest steps of faith that I took during my sophomore year. It didn’t make sense – I didn’t think I was qualified, and the time commitment it took would take away from studying, and if I said yes to leadership, it would mean saying no to so many other opportunities I had in front of me. Most of all, I wish I could promise all of you success or greatness as you obey and follow Jesus, but I can’t. To be honest, the only thing that really wooed me into coming on to leadership was when the Holy Spirit asked me, “Do you trust me? Do you trust me with your life?”
I do believe that God has called each of you to do great things, to advance his Kingdom, and become great people. I am writing to you because I don’t want any of you walk away like the rich man. The Bible doesn’t talk about what this guy was thinking about, but I’d bet there was so much fear, that maybe there was an unhealthy addiction or attachment to the things and comforts of this world, and that there was even a logical and reasonable thought process that convinced him that it would be too crazy to give up everything and follow this Jesus, just because He said to.
I have a feeling that Jesus will look into some of your eyes and see into your souls and ask you some tough questions. He might ask you to do unreasonable things. He might ask you to put your dreams on hold. He might ask you to give up some your time. But above all else, I hope that you will seek what Jesus has to say about your life, and I pray that as he asks you tough questions, that you will trust in Him with your life. But don’t take my words for it though. “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – and with them persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.”-Jesus (Mark 10)
I can’t promise you success or greatness when you follow Jesus. But what Jesus promises are eternal rewards. And as you follow Jesus, your relationship with the God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will become more intimate and “rivers of living water will flow from you” (John 7). Jesus calls us to radical living and loving, and I charge you as one of Shane’s professors did to him, ”All around you people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don’t tiptoe.”
My first semester at NYU was terrible. I was miserable. None of my friends went to school anywhere remotely close to NYC and although I had “friends” here, I never felt like I connected with anyone (except one). I didn’t have the close relationship I now have with my mom, dad, or even Christine. And God? God was a Sunday thing that I did some weeks, some not. My life was about two things: living the “high life” (some of you may not get that one) and my dream of becoming a doctor, of making something of myself.
…and then in an instant, I stood a chance of expulsion. I know it seems stupid, but to me, it was as though all of my hopes and dreams were destroyed. Not only that, but I felt a deep shame for messing up, probably like how the prodigal son felt when he realized how he squandered his father’s inheritance. To me, everything was gone. I remember breaking down on 10th St. & 3rd Ave., and keenly being aware of the presence of God on me. In the midst of overwhelming worry and tears, I heard God saying, “I’ve been calling out for you for so long. I’m here. I’m here.”
What a wake-up call. Right there on the street, I made a decision to trust God and go back to God. To be honest, it wasn’t that hard of a step of faith to take. (I mean what other choice did I have?) But as I came back to God, He welcomed me with open arms like the father did as he ran after his prodigal son, and I experienced the cross as a place of scandalous grace – love expressed at the cost of his son’s life for someone depraved like me. That winter break, as I began praying and seeking God, I realized (or really God just showed me) that although the cross is the place of scandalous grace it’s also a place that calls for dangerous and reckless abandonment to follow Jesus in response to His love, grace and truth.
“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Jesus said this to a rich man, but these words mess me up. [Luke 18] The point of this story isn’t that riches are evil. Jesus looks into the soul of this guy and he saw the very thing that would prevent him from following him completely, the very thing that would prevent the rich man from being the person that God called him to be and doing the things that God created him to do. I was beginning to learn that following Jesus wasn’t so safe after all.
Yankee Stadium. Bronx, New York.
[where players become legends]
Since they finally started construction in Washington Sq. Park this year, NYU will be having its graduation at Yankee Stadium! For die-hard Yankee fans like me, it’s a dream. I send my condolences to Boston fans.
Where else would YOU have your graduation?
Shane Claiborne is one of my most ‘favorite-ist’ authors. In his book, The Irresistible Revolution, he tells the story of one of his experiences as a youth leader at church, “One of the high school students who had ‘given his life to Jesus’ got busted only a few weeks later for having acid in school. I remember asking in disappointment, ‘What happened, bro? What went wrong?’ He just shrugged his shoulder and said, ‘I got bored.’ Bored? God forgive us for all those we have lost because we made the gospel boring. I am convinced that if we lose kids to the culture of drugs and materialism, of violence and war, it’s because we don’t dare them, not because we don’t entertain them. It’s because we make the gospel too easy, not because we make it too difficult.”
And I think to myself, “Isn’t that so true?” Like some of you, I grew up in the Church and I remember the exciting time when I “gave my life to Christ” in the summer before 8th grade. Now I love my church - it’s where I met Jesus and received tons of love and it’s where a lot of the foundations of my faith were laid down. But there was so much emphasis on becoming a ”believer” or accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, that I missed out on what it meant to “follow” Jesus. I mean I understood that becoming Christian means “giving your life” to Christ, but what I didn’t know is what happens after you give your life to Him. The cross had become a place to drop my sins off, to lay down addictions, to putt off my “old self.” The cross was safe and it vended out “cheap grace.”
By the time I came to NYU, I think it’s safe to say that I had abandoned my faith. It’s not that I didn’t truly believe in God or that I didn’t pray to Him. Christianity was stale. To me, what ”walking” with God really meant practically was going to church on Sundays, not drinking and keeping your pants on. And I was doing two out of the three, kind of. But God was onto me.
[to be continued...]
7 days till my last AACF large group
8 more days of class as an NYU undergraduate
21 days till NYU graduation at Yankee Stadium!
32 days till I visit Korea and China for the first time
48 days till Little Lights, Camp Heaven (Summer camp) craziness
Thank God for amazing grace in times of transition
NYU InterVarsity AACF, Servant Team 2007-2008
(From left to right: me, Eric, Karen, Vivian)
The past year, I’ve had the privilege of serving with Eric, Karen, and Vivian as “servant leaders” at NYU InterVarsity AACF. They have been an immense blessing in my life and it has been an absolute joy working alongside them for the sake of the gospel. Next year, Eric and Vivian will continue to faithfully serve as servant leaders while Karen moves on to the working world! Let’s honor their commitment, their passion, and their faithfulness and obedience to God … let’s take a moment to send them off in prayer.
Ashley Jung - Volunteer Staffworker Extraodinaire
After three years with us as our volunteer staff worker, Ashley is going on to serve as “Associate Director for MetroKids” at Metro Community Church (http://www.emetro.org). (It’s a great church, check them out! It’s also where one of my mentors, and Ashley’s fiancee, Abe Kim is a Pastoral Intern.)
For the past three years, Ashley has been a mentor, friend and sister who’s been there to guide and see me through the best years of my life. Although it’s sad to see her go, she’s been such a blessing to the fellowship and we send her off, excited to see what God is going to do in her life.
+ Drop a comment and share a story about how you’ve been encouraged or blessed by them …or just share a funny story. [warning: they read this blog]
After I graduate this May, I’ll be heading down to Washington D.C. to serve with Little Lights Urban Ministry [for at least a year]. They’re an organization “dedicated to showing the love of Jesus Christ to the inner city community of Southeast Washington, DC.” They have an incredible legacy of faith, obedience, and love and I’m thankful for the opportunity to join them in this work. Check them out here: http://www.littlelights.org.
Someone asked me today what I’d be doing down there. I wanted to be careful about my answer because I didn’t want to be dismissed so easily. Here’s what I mean. When you tell people you’re involved in “ministry” and especially if it involves working with the “disenfranchised,” the “under-served,” “at-risk,” “inner city, urban, kids in the projects,” you get dismissed too easily as a saint.
I can say this cause I’ve done it. I grew up in the Church, but we never talked too much about the poor or what it means to be a follower of Jesus and what that says about your responsibility in this world. I’d heard about people like Mother Theresa and I knew that there were groups of Christians who cared for the poor (I guess like Little Lights) - but never understood or even questioned why they were doing the things they were doing.
To me, they were just “super Christians,” just ”really, really good people.” They were on a different level, they were people I couldn’t relate to. But in the past three years, I’ve quietly discovered that they aren’t so different from me. And probably, they aren’t so different from you. And that the things that they do are not so extraordinary. [One of my favorite-est authors, Shane Claiborne captures the essence of this idea in the title of his first book, The Irresistable Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical.]
So what am I’m going to be doing down there? It’s sounds too …christiany, and maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I said, “loving.”
But here’s what “loving” might look like next year:
1. Filing stuff, stuffing envelopes, licking envelopes, and shampooing the carpet at the office. Doing stuff.
2. Playing basketball and tag two hours a day in the blistering heat and the notoriously smothering DC humidity. And going to Six Flags once a week.
3. Sitting down to read a picture book.
4. Dancing. Lots of dancing. Singing, too.
5. Telling them about Jesus. Instilling the fear of God [I've heard stories about you John Jou]. sharing Bible stories. And lots of discipline.
6. Making sure they’re doing their work [and homework] at school. Finding creative ways to engage them in math and reading.
7. Visiting them and their parents at their homes. Sharing meals.
8. Listening to them. Crying with them. Praying with them. Praying for them.
9. Letting them be kids.
10. And whatever else I need to do.
I am not a saint. But if you called me a lover, I wouldn’t be too offended.
“We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don’t get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We won’t solve all mysteries and our hearts will certainly break in such a vulnerable life, but it is the best way. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home.” [Jamie Tworkowski]
Dear blogging world,
I need help figuring out WordPress! Anyone have good resources (hints, tips, tricks, how to add pages, manage “widgets”, etc.) to customize WordPress? Hit me up with a comment…thanks!
Because I like lists. Why I’m here (a list in progress):
1. To process my own thoughts.
2. To record my journey.
3. To connect with friends, family, and you.
…Why do you blog? drop a comment!
