Have you ever thought about how small we actually are? I love astronomy. I have a very nice telescope that I take out and survey the night sky. I am by no means an expert in astronomy, but it is a growing passion of mine. I am overwhelmed by the immensity of our universe. Planets and stars to numerous to count fill our sky and here we stand on this little planet. It would be depressing if I did not know the creator and sustainer of it all. I mention all of this because there was a time in history where we believed our planet was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it. It was a very arrogant belief that was strongly protected by leaders of the day. It was not until Galileo and his telescope that started showing we were not the center of it all. People started to discover how we are only a small part of something greater than any of us alone.

Today I would like to act like a telescope of sorts and show that we are a small part of something so much greater than each of us. We often fall into a trap in ministry and in life. We begin to believe we are the only ones doing anything and that it is up to us to make the difference. We get locked in by traditions, experiences, theology, and doctrines. None of these things are bad. In fact they are necessary to keep us on the correct path and to keep us from straying into realms that are more cultish than Christ like. The problem happens when we lock God into these boundaries and refuse to believe God can use others and other things to promote His kingdom. God is so much bigger than our theologies, our experiences, and our churches. God must be bigger, because the need for Him is so vast and overwhelming. If it was left to each of us individuals we would quit before we began. God is bigger than the need and and honestly does not need any of us to accomplish His will. He invites us, enables us, and leads us to change the world.

Youth ministry is a huge task. Nearly 8 out of 10 people make the decision to follow Christ before they are 18 years old. Our campuses are overpopulated with students and underpopulated with Christ followers. In the area in Florida where I live there are over 24,000 middle and high school students in the public schools. There are maybe 2,000 involved with anything spiritual in their lives. There are literally a hundred or more churches in the area. This story could be told of countless other areas as well. It seems overwhelming and hopeless doesn’t it? At least it would if we did not know that God is bigger than the need and that none of us are in this alone. I believe youth ministry needs a new perspective.

In Romans 12 and again in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the diversity of gifts given us, but we are all part of the same body. We belong to the largest most powerful family this world has ever seen with God as the father of it all. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Corinthians 12: 12-14) As individuals we have little impact, but together it is beyond our imagination as to what is possible. We need to look beyond our limits and limitations and see what is possible when we attack the need as a body. We are not talking about building churches or programs here. We are talking about building the kingdom and in a kingdom the king always leads the way.

I recently had the opportunity to speak at a week long camp in Jamaica. The theme of the camp was “Stand Out”. Students were challenged to allow God set them apart and stand up and out for their faith. Let me ask you who do you think stood out the most in a camp with about 120 Jamaican students and leaders? Maybe it was the pudgy white guy from Florida. (Actually it was my daughter. She has red hair.) I was concerned at first with the differences in culture and church backgrounds, but then God did something amazing. He showed himself bigger than all of us and our preconceived notions. When it was all done, 20 students gave their life to Christ and many more rededicated their life to Him. God made it very clear that His kingdom was made up of all sorts of people with all sorts of backgrounds. The common thread was our brokenness and His grace and love. We came together as one body and He moved in our midst.

Isn’t this what you want in your ministry? Isn’t this what we all want? For God to show up and move beyond our limitations and change our communities. You may have a ministry to 10 or you may have a ministry to 1000, either way that is what God has set for you to do and it matters just as much for the 10 as it does for the 1000. I want to challenge you to stop looking at minding your own kingdoms and become kingdom minded. By ourselves our impact will be limited, but together we can reach the need and change our world. We can do this by celebrating each others ministries, praying for each other, and looking for ways to lock arms and join together in ministry. We will never reach this generation on our own. God’s kingdom is so much bigger than any one of us and He wants to raise this generation up. It will take all of us putting aside our differences and some of our preferences. We must come together based on God’s truth, standing together to reach this generation. We need to let go of our plans and self posturing and grab on to God’s kingdom plan. It is not about us after all or how successful we are. It is about the kingdom and how God wants it to grow. Let’s be kingdom minded.

Have you ever seen the movie “What About Bob”? Bill Murray plays a man named Bob with a lot of problems who seeks help from a psychologist played by Richard Dreyfuss. The movie is hilarious and one of my favorites. In the movie, the psychologist writes a book called “Baby Steps” and uses this to treat Bob. The premise of this treatment is to take small baby steps as you move towards recovery. It is all about being cautious and taking as little risk as necessary. I like the idea of baby steps. It is safe. The problem is that none of us were created to play it always safe. Following Christ is not a safe venture, just read Foxes Book of Martyrs if you don’t agree. God asks us to do risky things at times. To take big steps. No, it is not always safe, but it is always secure.

When I think of big steps, I think of Abraham. Abraham was called to leave home and family to go to a new land he had never seen before. God promised that through him the nations would be blessed and that he would be the father of a nation of priests. I can imagine his first step on that journey. It was a step of faith and it was probably a big one. Later in life Abraham was asked to take another huge step of faith. God had fulfilled his promise and gave Abraham a son. God then commanded Abraham to take his son up a mountain to sacrifice him. What kind of step did he take that day as he reached the mountain and began to climb it with his son? Abraham had seen God keep His promise by bringing him to this new land and giving him a son. Abraham knew of God’s provision and protection. Abraham knew God had the plan and so I believe that step was yet another huge step of faith.

I think we often approach life and ministry with the “Baby Step” mentality. It is scary to take risk and in an economy gone crazy it seems prudent to take it easy and play it safe. I understand all to well the struggle of resources versus need. This past week I have been confronted with the immensity of the need to reach students in my area. There are over 24,000 of them and everyone is busy trying to run their own programs and keep their ministries going with limited resources. It seems overwhelming, but then we pause and think about the God of Abraham. The God that has the plan. I was once challenged to dream a dream so big, that it would fail if God was not in it. What if we approached ministry and life this way? I am not saying be crazy and just spend everything on a whim. What if we allowed God to give us the dream? What if we truly believe God is as big as we know He is and trusted Him to provide?

I know for certain that God is bigger than any dream or need I have. I believe that God is calling us to dream big and trust Him. We can reach our entire communities because God is that big. We can change our world because God is the one who gives us the dreams and makes them possible. I know that worldly logic today screams at us to take it easy and be cautious, but I say the day of taking baby steps are long gone. We need to take some huge steps. We need to step out in faith.

There is so much ministry out there to be done. We need to seek God for His dream for our communities and ministries and then be quick to follow. Each step we take is a step of faith. We do not know what the future holds, but we do know who holds the future. If it is a dream that God is in, how can it fail? God wants to do a work and He will do it with or without us. He does not need us to fulfill His plans, but he does invite us to join. We need only to take the step.

The first step is always the scariest, but we follow God who knows the road ahead and what’s waiting at the end of the journey. Abraham took his steps and God provided a ram at the top of that mountain to replace his son. May we be people who dream big dreams about changing our world that God has given us, because we follow a big God. May we be bold and take big steps of faith, because we follow a God who is faithful. May we leave the baby steps to Bob.