Sheep rustling or building the kingdom?

I've just had the first of what will no doubt be a number of emails from student/youth/assistant pastors asking me that if we were sending any students to university in their town/city we would direct them towards their church.  I always have mixed feelings when I receive such emails.  Whilst in one sense its great to know that there are churches to direct students towards I almost want to vet those churches.  To email back and ask if they will be sending those students back to us (or any other church) three years hence better equipped and trained, more in love with Jesus and more aware of the need and more determined to see God's kingdom grow in the United Kingdom.  Or whether their students usually stay on with them after graduation, thus growing their church at the cost of churches in non-university towns.

Last year I posted some questions I'd love to ask them but haven't yet dared to:

1. What percentage of students who come to you do you encourage to engage in the work of mission on campus through the CU because you recognise the unique strategic opportunity it presents?  How practically do you encourage and facilitate that?


2. How do you help students gain a vision of God's kingdom that encompasses more than just your church or city or town, but a passion for the gospel to be known across the UK?


3. How do you equip, train and release those students who come to you to serve the kingdom across the world?

4. What percentage of your students stay with you on graduation and why do they stay?

5.  What percentage of your graduates leave to go to gospel deprived areas of the town or city or to serve in gospel work in other UK towns or cities?

There are others but they are the principle five.  Because here's my concern the cost to small evangelical churches of sending their young people to university is staggeringly high because most do not return.  It means that nationally churches outside of university towns are ageing, lose the next generation of leaders, and will eventually die out.

I'm almost tempted to add one last question to those above.  'Imagine, that over the next 5 years every one of your young people left to move to another city and did not return and were not replaced by other young people, how would that impact your church?  How would it effect it's budget, it's children's work, it's bible study, it's pastoral care, it's ability to reach out with the gospel, it's leadership?  What values would you ask the churches where those young people went to instil in them?'

The Psalmists Perspective (Psalm 2)

The Psalmist looks at the situation (opposition and conspiracy to revolt and rebel) and asks (1)“Why do the nations conspire, and the people plot in vain?” Why do they bother is the Psalmists cry, their plotting to live life without God is futile.

Do you see the Psalmist worldview? Firstly the nations are plotting against God; any plot to overthrow God’s king, his anointed, his people is a plot against God. Is that how we think of the world; are the nations against God? Is the legislation being passed in Parliament against God? This Psalm would lead us to conclude yes it is. Refusing to recognise his rule and wanting freedom to determine how to live for themselves has been man’s story since Adam and Eve. It is swallowing the lie of Satan that we can do so with no consequences. But Psalm 2 teaches us to view the nations and the world differently, but why is their opposition futile?

Because very simply God rules and his promise is sure. Is my perspective right? Too often we have a wrong view of the world; man is big and God is small, the Psalmist calls God's people to get it right; God is big, man is small.