RTS Washington 2014 Commencement: Presidential Charge

The text of my charge was posted on the RTS Washington site, but I have also reprinted it here.

The Apostle Paul speaks of how the work of the Spirit within a person always affects the way the person responds to situations in life.

There are two major influences or entities with which you will have to contend in this life: God and the world, and the success of your ministry will be marked by faithful and right responses. This charge assumes your faith, but it engages the realities of human experience.

Respond to God

Respond to God’s providence with surrender;
Respond to God’s redemption with repentance;
Respond to God’s holiness with reverence;
Respond to God’s glory with worship;
Respond to God’s call with faith;
Respond to God’s revelation with pursuit;
Respond to God’s discipline with affection;
Respond to God’s blessing with gratitude;
Respond to God’s good news with proclamation.

Respond to the World

Respond to the world’s trials with perseverance;
Respond to the world’s sorrows with honest grief;
Respond to the world’s opposition with fortitude;
Respond to the world’s beauty with celebration;
Respond to the world’s complexity with trust in God;
Respond to the world’s darkness with hope;
Respond to the world’s brokenness with compassion ;
Respond to the world’s lost-ness with the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Respond to all things with the humility and covenant faithfulness that give glory to the living God.