Proud People vs. Broken People

I just finished re-reading Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives. There are few books that I have found as convicting as this one. She goes into great detail about what makes a person's heart proud and how brokenness before God and others is a necessary reality in order to truly experience personal revival.

DeMoss recounts the story of the revival that happened among Campus Crusade staff out at staff training in the summer of 1995. I didn't join the staff of Campus Crusade until a few months after this happened so I wasn't there, but DeMoss shares about how God met all those present in a deep way. Sincere awakening happened among those present as many people confessed their sins. And trust me, those of us that are missionaries struggle with all the sins everybody else does... we just attempt to do a better job of acting like we've got it all together.

DeMoss provides a list of the different characteristics of "Proud People vs. Broken People." There are over thirty areas on the list so I won't list them all, but here is a sampling:

• Proud people focus on the failures of others; broken people are overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need.
• Proud people have a critical, fault-finding spirit and look at everyone else's faults with a microscope, but their own with a telescople; broken people are compassionate and can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven.
• Proud people are self-righteous and look down on others; broken people esteem all others better than themselves.
• Proud people have to prove that they are right; broken people are willing to yield the right to be right.
• Proud people desire to be served; broken people are motivated to serve others.
• Proud people desire self-advancement; broken people desire to promote others.
• Proud people have a drive to be recognized and appreciated; broken people have a sense of their own unworthiness and are thrilled that God would use them at all.
• Proud people feel confident in how much they know; broken people are humbled by how very much they have to learn.
• Proud people are concerned about the consequences of their sin; broken people are grieved over the cause, the root of their sin.
• Proud people compare themselves with others and feel worthy of honor; broken people compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for His mercy.
• Proud people don't think they need revival, but that everyone else does; broken people continually sense their need for a fresh encounter with God and for a fresh filling of His Holy Spirit.

I don't know about you, but after reading this list, I'm confronted with the fact of how filled with pride I am. I frequently blame others instead of accepting my own wrongs. I want to be served instead of serving others. I want to be recognized above others. I justify my own sin, but want to bring others' sins out into the light. I tell myself how much better I am than others, but fail the test when compared with God.
After reading through this book, I've begun again to pray more consistently that God would root out the pride and sin in my heart and replace it with brokenness, humility and grace. If you'd like to order a copy of this book you can follow this link.
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Asian Americans on Campus

The influence of Asian American students continues to grow across America. Christianity Today recently had an article focusing on the growing number of Asian Americans at our top colleges and universities and how this is translating to increased numbers involved in evangelical ministries. The Epic Movement is mentioned and friends Dennis Chen and Tommy Dyo are both interviewed in the article. You can read it here.

And Jaeson Ma, a great young leader that a number of our leaders in Epic and the Campus Ministry have become familiar with in recent months, was featured in an interview on The 700 Club. You can read the transcript of the interview here and you can learn more about Jaeson's ministry at his website, www.campuschurch.net.



Religious Affiliation of History's 100 Most Influential People

I came across this ranking of not only history's most influential people, but also their religious affiliation. The list comes from Michael H. Hart, whose book, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, is what the list is based on. His top five, in this order, are:

1) Muhammad
2) Isaac Newton
3) Jesus Christ
4) Buddha
5) Confucious

Here is the explanation on why Jesus Christ was not ranked first,

"It is not uncommon for people to wonder why Jesus is not ranked first on this list. As far as the way the list appears on this web page, the answer is simple: We have reproduced Hart's list in exactly the order he wrote it. But it is true that many people, both Christians and secular historians, would have ranked Jesus first on a list of the world's most influential people. Hart said that he himself would have ranked Jesus first, if all the people who today identify themselves as Christians actually followed Jesus's teachings more substantially. He considers contemporary Muslims more influenced by Muhammad than contemporary Christians are by Jesus.

Also, Hart's outlook was essentially secular in outlook. He did consider the doctrinal role of Jesus in human salvation as taught by Christianity. Muhammad, on the other hand, carved out an actual, geographic empire during his lifetime. Christians as well as historians agree that Jesus himself conquered no lands and led no armies during his lifetime."

Did you catch that? If people who identified themselves as Christians actually followed the teachings of Christ more substantially, then Jesus would be considered more influential. Of course, this list means nothing in the whole scheme of things. It is merely one man's opinion, but it does get you thinking.