Movements Everywhere

In the summer of 2005 Campus Crusade president, Steve Douglass gave a clarion call…a vision for the direction of Campus Crusade going forward. It was inspiring and inspired. This was the phrase God gave him as he was seeking direction–”Movements every so that everyone knows someone who truly folows Jesus…it all counts…it all matters.” I think all of us who heard Steve assumed that this vision was simply an extension of what Campus Crusade has always been about and that “movements” were groups of committed Christ-followers gathering all over the world to pray, study the Bible and share their faith with others. These would be “Jesus movements.”

But what if the vision was right but out interpretation was faulty? What if “movements everywhere” meant that every movement would be led by Christ-followers who didn’t merel want to start another Bible study but wanted to change the world. So some movements would be centered around orphan care…other movements would be centered around clean water…other movements would be centered on ending underage sex trafficking, etc. Every movement would be led by passionate missional people who sense that what they are doing is central to what God wants to redeem in our broken world. And they would gather around themselves (people of good faith and people of good will) and help lead people who also believe their cause is central to the missional work of God in the world. They become, in Seth Godin’s words, ”tribal leaders” Watch: Seth Godin on The tribes we Lead: 18 minutes
(http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html )

Every movement may have a different cause as the tip of the arrow but every arrow is launched by Jesus. In answer to the question, “How did you get involved in this?” They would answer something like, “As a follower of Jesus Christ, I ask myself the question, ‘What would Jesus do if he were here?’ It’s not right that this village has no clean water to drink. This is what he wants us to do–to partner with him in his redemptive mission in the world–to help restore all that is broken in the world–our relationship with God, with each other and even the earth itself” (Colossians 1:19-20).

N.T. Wright in Simply Christian writes how every person on earth hears four echoes of the voice of God that remind every person that something is broken and flawed; that things are not the way God created them to be. The four echoes are the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty. If we limit “movements” to “quest for spirituality” movements we’ll never be able to launch movements everywhere. But if God’s missional people can  also launch justice movements, relationship movements, and beauty movements–and attract others…of all / no religious stripe, (who also hear the echoes) then it is possible that we can launch movements everywhere so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus. It all counts… it all matters.