Last year around this time, I wrote about the spring student impact trip (lovingly referred to as SSI) in which I had the privilege of participating. This year, the same opportunity presents itself. In light of this, I begin now the telling of the tale of this year's SSI trip to Idaho State University.
Different Campus, Different Work
Some of you faithful readers will remember that last year's SSI blog was full of story after story of seemingly crazy, miraculous, other-wordly phenomena. Don't expect the same from this post. I can't decide whether or not I'm disappointed that I don't have more miraculous stories to share. The more I think on this, however, the more I realize that God is simply trying to prove a point. Of course I don't have more miraculous stories to share this year. To paraphrase, the work of God did in Stanislaus is what ISU deserves, but it's not the work it needs right now.
Some explanation is in order. One word could describe the climate of ISU's campus, oppressive. Much of this has to do with the pervasive judgment which exists on campus. ISU's population is 68% Mormon, and they feel the most judged of all. This perceived judgment comes both from stereotypes about Mormonism, and from the character of the faith itself (more on that in a bit). On the other hand, everyone else feels judged by the Mormon majority. Basically, the entire campus is constantly on edge to a certain extent, unwilling to engage for fear of being smacked down by someone.
It would be great to see God do oodles of miraculous works on ISU's campus. The problem is, an important foundation is missing in order for those works to occur. That foundation, simply put, is love. Now of course God can do whatever He wants whenever He wants to do it. However, from what I have seen the miraculous has much less verging on no impact when it is carried out without love. To paraphrase Scripture, we can perform all the miracles we want, but if we lack love, all we will be is a clanging, annoying gong which looks anything but attractive.
Though this sounds rather defeatist, I assure you our work at ISU was anything but. On a campus where judgment reigns, the pure unadulterated love of God for His people comes like a bucket of cold water to a sleeper. It's shocking, but it awakens a person to a reality they never knew existed; a reality in which they are cared for more deeply than they could imagine, in which their lives have a purpose of which they could only dream. This was our goal at ISU, to proclaim (in no uncertain terms) the true love of God for His people.
All's (not) Fair in Love...
Establishing this foundation of love is anything but easy. Sometimes, maybe most times, the difficulty of loving as God loves is not inspired by any opposition to God, but rather by the people who choose to follow Him. Tragically, I fell into this herd of the unloving in the beginning portion of our trip.
As I mentioned, there is a substantial Mormon majority on ISU's campus. In brief, Mormonism made me very angry. The teachings of Mormonism twists the gospel in a way that hobbles the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, requiring people to spend this life and all of eternity paying off a debt which Jesus already payed for them. I hate (and I do not use that word lightly) that an institution would pervert something so beautiful, turning into an oppressive burden. Because of this hatred, part of me was very excited to go to ISU, but for all the wrong reasons. I wanted to go and prove Mormonism wrong, to definitively demonstrate the ridiculousness of this cult so that the world might be free from it. I wanted to give Mormonism a rather irate piece of my mind, and quite honestly I thought they deserved it.
Thankfully, I am not in charge of dictating God's plan. Thankfully, God's love completely overlooks that which we may or may not deserve. Thankfully, God works in spite of me, and chooses to make His love unfair.
As soon as we arrived at ISU, the campus ministry there made something very clear; we were not there to argue with Mormons. We were there to love them. This came as a shock to many on our team, including myself. How could I love a group I hated so? As Daniel (the campus pastor at ISU) shared, however, my understanding of Mormonism began to change. Those who identify as Mormon are not villains, but rather victims. Most Mormons are born into a Mormon family, and thus have grown up in a lie for the entirety of their lives. Even those who convert to Mormonism have simply been deceived. Go to a Mormon temple, walk through their visitor center, and see how close to the truth of Jesus the message of this cult comes. See if you don't have a hard time weeding out the lies from the truth.
As I thought on this, I wondered, what does hating Mormons accomplish? All I do is increase an oppressive burden which these people already feel. The Mormon version of Jesus acts (to use crude terms) as a lone shark, taking on our debt, but still demanding that we pay him off. Rather than money, however, Mormonism demands a perfect life, measured out in good deeds. This is completely impossible, and many Mormons feel this burden everyday. How am I reflecting the love of God by enforcing this oppression?
Through this reflection, God pointed out that I have no right to be an agent of hate. If I want to see Mormonism eradicated from this world, I can't do it with a sword, be it one of steel or of speech. All I can do is invite people to know the true Jesus, the one who sacrificed Himself to that we might be free from the burden of our sin and embrace the most loving relationship imaginable. Praise the Lord that His love is infinitely more powerful than any hatred I can muster.
...and War
If one is to minister at ISU, they must first recognize that it is a very spiritually dark place. In fact, when the area was first settled by Mormons, the entire valley was dedicated to the "angel" Moroni. Basically, this chunk of Idaho was handed over to demonic powers, who were told "Here, do whatever you want, make this place terrible." This might sound like weird language, so I'll take some time to explain.
Scripture tells us that our battle "is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12)." C.S. Lewis likens becoming a Christian to suddenly realizing that you have woken up in the middle of a war, and you are behind enemy lines. Christianity is not some passive, boring faith. It's located in the middle of a war zone, and anyone who would follow after God must acknowledge this. In fact, whether or not someone recognizes God, the reality of this spiritual war is still present. In recognizing our place in this battle, it is pivotal to remember that God's power is infinitely greater than all that comes against Him. In God, we have nothing to fear from this fight. Jesus already won the war on a cross a couple thousand years ago. The struggles we see today are simply closing skirmishes.
These skirmishes do have casualties, however, and the pain they inspire is very real. We experienced much of this on our trip. Our team was afflicted with persistent health problems, physical weariness, depression, as well as constant fear and doubt. These were new experiences for many on our team. In short, this was their introduction to the battle they had been adjacent to their whole lives. Why did they suddenly experience this hardship? Because they had finally taken hold of their role as soldiers on the front line, declaring the love of God to a world which desperately needs to hear it.
Yes, we experienced much spiritual oppression, but as I said, the power of God is infinitely greater than any opposition. I do have one story to share that I think illustrates this well. On Thursday night (the night after our last full day of ministry on campus), I was relaxing at the house I was staying in. I received a call from one of the interns at ISU, informing me that one of our students was experiencing severe abdominal pain and was having difficulty breathing. Her host was taking her and another member of our team to the ER. Quickly getting dressed, I rushed upstairs where I ran into Daniel who decided to come with me.
As we left the house, I began praying that God would heal my teammate. I suddenly felt a peace I can only describe as transcendent, and I knew our team member was going to be absolutely fine. I arrived at the hospital with this assurance in mind, and as our team gathered around this girl and prayed, the peace only grew. Within twenty minutes, she was completely asymptomatic. We spent the next hour watching the Shawshank Redemption as we waited for some blood work, which came back completely clean. Praying more on this, I've come to realize that this was Satan trying to scare our team, to get us to think not on all the victory which had come over ISU's campus in God's name, but rather this one scary thing which happened late on a Thursday night. How refreshing to see that, indeed, God's power trumps anything which comes against it.
I understand that not all of what I have written makes sense. I also understand that it may seem scary. If you like, I would love to talk on the reality of spiritual warfare more. Just let me know.
We're Gone, God's Not
One day on campus, some of our students sprayed (with permission) the word "epic" onto the sidewalk around campus. This word, while also acting as the focus of conversation for our outreach at ISU, accurately describes the trip. We had the chance to be a part of an epic story, which in which lives were changed, especially our own. As I walked around campus late Thursday, I saw that many of the chalk sprays had begun to fade. At first, this saddened me, as it seemed as though our mark on campus was already being forgotten. What reassured me, however, is that fact that the work which God carries out in people's hearts does not fade so readily. We have simply started a process. We have only planted a seed. I look forward with hopeful expectation to the faithful work which God will continue at ISU. Lord knows it's going to be amazing.
With His love and grace,
Taylor
