Tom Lin

Last week, I was in Orlando giving a talk to the CEOs and emerging leaders of the Forum of Bible Agencies – North America, a group that included executives from Wycliffe Canada, American Bible Society, The JESUS Film, the International Forum of Bible Agencies, and many other organizations concerned about engaging this millennial generation with the Scriptures.  Statistics show that even with an average of 3 Bibles per household, 66% of Americans read the Bible less than once/month.  (For college students, that percentage might be much closer to 80% or 90%).

I brought my InterVarsity Kansas Area Director, Tim Lin, to come with me and network with these other leaders, reminding us that we have amazing partners in Kingdom work all around us.  We were inspired by the vision of many of these organizations, such as Book of Hope USA which has the vision of reaching every student in the U.S. with God’s Word.

It also reminded me of just how critical the work of InterVarsity is in our work with university students.  I was encouraged to hear about cultural shifts going on in some of these organizations in order to reach the next generation, such as the One Verse campaign at the Seed Company, La Biblia es mi Guia at the American Bible Society, and a creative movie documentary on AIDS called “Miss HIV” that is being piloted on some college campuses, produced by the makers of the movie “End of the Spear.”  InterVarsity’s work is critical in not only transforming students’ lives, but renewing campuses with the gospel and developing world-changers, thereby influencing the wider landscape of American culture and society tomorrow.

During my devotional address, I mentioned 4 reflections on Caleb & Joshua’s leadership in Numbers 13-14 that set them apart from other leaders among the Israelites.  Usually, I don’t share material from my talks on my blog, but I thought I’d give it a try this time around:

1.  Place their full dependence and eyes on God (vs. depending on human bodies, human ingenuity, human military equipment).  They don’t place their eyes on their “grasshopper” selves, but on God.  “The Lord will lead us” “The Lord is with us” is repeated – it’s about what God will do!…

“As many of us think about Vision 2025 — seeing a Bible translation program in progress in every language still needing one by the year 2025, it is humanly impossible.  Bob Creson always reminds me of this, that moving from a 2150 pace (in 1999) to a 2025 pace, this type of acceleration can ONLY be accomplished by the Lord.”

2.  Gain Confidence in the Lord by looking back.  Although not explicit in the text, I believe that they have confidence by remembering or looking back at what God has done in the last 2 years.  Caleb didn’t forget what God did:

• Provided manna and quail to eat in the desert.
• Water when they needed it from very unlikely places.
• Laws written by His finger on tablets of stone
• Pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.
• Destroyed the entire army of Egypt

“If we look back at our own history, what God has done in our lives, what God has done in our own ministries, we gain confidence in the Lord.  There’s probably not one Board meeting where I don’t hear ‘The path of our future runs through our past.’  Many of our ministry organizations have rich histories of God’s faithfulness, and we can lead our ministries toward greater faith in God by looking back.

3.  Have Extraordinary Vision (vs. ordinary sight).  Joshua & Caleb’s eyes see differently than the other 10 leaders’ eyes.  How can we be leaders who lead with extraordinary vision, see like Joshua & Caleb instead of ordinary sight?

“I lead InterVarsity’s Central Region which has struggled with ordinary sight; in fact, we self-confess that we sometimes feel like ‘grasshoppers’…A few weeks ago, I brought my leadership team here (Orlando) to see with new eyes – as they interacted with Bob and the senior VPs, Vision 2025, this office, saw Campus Crusade and Jesus Film across the way, they were inspired.  They walked away from Orlando with a new sense of what God sees, and all committed to a new vision to accelerate our own pace of planting and growth, to see the greatest growth in history in our own campus ministry.  Extraordinary vision is inspiring!

4.  “Whatever it takes” mentality / Courageous leadership.  What sets Caleb apart is his passion and courage.  Num 14:24 – Caleb has a “different spirit” and follows wholeheartedly.  Josh 14:7-12 – Hebron is fortified and occupied by Anakites.  But Caleb takes on difficult assignments and says “Bring it on!”… Caleb is passionate and courageous even at 85!  He can’t stand the fact that the Israelites haven’t gone in yet!

“For us, for the extraordinary vision that God has called us to, how can we lead courageously like Caleb?  For emerging leaders, I encourage you to take on COURAGEOUS assignments, esp. when you’re young (but don’t stop until you’re over 85).  “Whatever your Mongolia is, take it on!”  For those of us who lead emerging leaders, how can we give our young leaders courageous assignments?”

Your thoughts?  Comments?

Warmly,
Tom