I remember that sinking feeling in my gut like it was yesterday. Through all of the hustle and chaos of us getting there I had not had time to really process what was happening. Leading up to the trip, opportunities and challenges had been put before us, and following the training that I received from “Mama Dot,” they had been accepted as requests from God. We talked about having faith and prayed fervently for God to use us in this city with a great expectation to be witnesses to his power. However, as our translator walked away and I stood there looking out at the smog-enveloped city through our screened-in porch … my vision zoomed out, my stomach sank and it felt like my shoulders gained 100 pounds as I realized the enormity of the situation. At that moment, I realized this wasn’t Harding anymore. I didn’t speak this language, didn’t have money or transportation, there was no U.S. Embassy to run to and I had just been handed what turned out to be a duplicate key to an apartment that school and government officials alike would be able to come into at their pleasure. I was overwhelmed to say the least.
Looking back, I could easily write a book about God’s faithfulness through our time in Changsha, China and the journey that he brought us on. However, what I have been thinking about is the journey itself and how we had to step out on what faith we had in order for God to have room to show his faithfulness, therefore emboldening us to continue to step out even farther. We use terms like “Christian” and “people of faith” to describe ourselves, but what has always convicted me in Acts 11:26 is that those Christians did not hold a meeting or vote to determine what their movement would be called. They didn’t have church stickers or signage made to let the world know who they were. They weren’t defined as a tribe or by a set of traditions… others knew who they were because of their actions. Others looked at these believers and called them “Christians” because they heard them talking about Jesus and the Good News, but more than that, they saw them following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Despite persecution or the enormity of the situation, these early believers walked by faith in a way that got them branded as “Christians”.
As I look around at the challenges I face in life and ministry, both from within and without, I know I would be tempted to shrink back into what is comfortable and safe if I was alone in this journey. Yet even now, as I think about what is comfortable, I can’t help but acknowledge that it feels that way because at one time I was willing to step out on faith and God proved faithful to sustain me. We sing songs about how our hope, protection, and very lives start and end in God, but are we walking that way? Are we looking at His will and following His lead even though we don’t have all the answers? Are we talking to people and living among them in such a way that gets us labeled as Christians without having to have that awkward “big reveal” that they never saw coming? Lately I’ve been convicted to process my discipleship and I know my time at Harding under the tutelage of men like Monte Cox, Bill Richardson and Evertt Huffard played a huge role in jumpstarting this journey, and for that I am so very grateful. So, I want to challenge you as well. As you flash back and think about what has happened during your time at Harding, take some time to look at what God is calling you to do and how you can step out on faith today and begin the journey that God has in store for you. He can take you farther and do more through you than you ever imagined possible.
Written by: Harding alumnus Jay Cline
