Irreducible minimums, part 2

Last week, in Irreducible minimums, part 1, I explained to you the necessity of developing a set of irreducible minimums that would guide your ministry.

These irreducible minimums are the key outcomes that you want to see emerge in your students’ lives.

As I said, yours must be shaped by God and specific to your campus, not just a list that you throw together by looking at other people’s lists.

That being said, I thought it would be helpful for you to see my current irreducible minimums:

Devotion to Jesus

They are falling deeper and deeper in love with Jesus.

They don’t just know about Him, they know Him and have a vibrant, abiding relationship with Him that permeates every area of their life.

Advancing the Gospel

Our students are grasping 1 Thessalonians 2:8 and the idea of sharing not just the gospel, but their lives as well.

They will understand how to present the gospel with a form/forms, but they will also have learned how to read the Bible with non-believing friends, and how to hang out intentionally with them.

Grasping the Need for the Church

Students have developed a healthy view of the church and the importance of their involvement.

They have intergenerational relationships within the body of Christ.

They are understanding their role in the local church and what their contribution could look like for the rest of their lives.

They see themselves not merely as consumers, but rather as contributors to the church.

Identity

This irreducible minimum is twofold:

Understanding and living out of a strong grasp of the finished work of Christ and favor of God

This includes knowing how to repent in a biblical, effective manner.

It also includes an understanding of all that I am and have in Christ (I’m forgiven, I’m loved unconditionally, He lives in me, I have a new heart, etc.)

Gender identity

A basic understanding of the fall, the curse, and what I am called to be and to do as a man or woman of God.

Prayer

Students are growing in a heart for and the discipline of prayer.

They will have a regular plan for praying that works for them.

They have begun to cultivate a life of “prayer on the go” as they live out their faith.

They are also grasping the need for and the how-to of spending regular extended time with the Father.

Spiritual Reproduction

They have caught the vision of reproducing reproducers.

They feel confident in discipling a younger believer and have ideally mentored several students by the time they graduate and have hopefully seen spiritual generations from their life.

Authority and Sufficiency of the Word

Students are developing a high view of God’s Word and a low view of man’s opinion.

They have the confidence and know-how to study the Scriptures on their own.

They are relating over the Word together both in and outside of Bible study.

They have developed a true love for and regular saturation with the Bible.

Servanthood

Students have developed a heart for and willingness to serve.

They see themselves as servants of God and are choosing to look not only to their own interests, but to the interests of others.

They proactively look for opportunities to serve.

Scripture Memory

By the time they graduate, they have a commitment to memorizing and reviewing for the long haul and a plan that will help them do so.

Heart for the Nations

They are developing a world vision mindset.

Their thinking includes the world and they are praying for and seeking to reach the nations in whatever capacity God leads.

Money & Stuff

Students are growing in Lordship regarding their money.

They are learning to make wise and godly choices with their money and seeing themselves as God’s stewards of the monies entrusted to them.

They are developing a heart for, love of, and the practice of giving.

By the time they graduate, they feel comfortable with a personal budget and have a plan for and commitment to not accruing debt in the future.

They have begun to learn to “use the things of the world as though not engrossed in them.”

Devotional Life

Students have developed the habit of spending daily time in the Word and prayer.

By the time they graduate, they’ve moved beyond having quiet times out of duty to doing so more out of desire.

They are deepening in an awareness of and dependence upon the Holy Spirit throughout the day.