John Mott, global Christian statesman and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for developing volunteer Protestant movements, distills the essence of Christian movement-building for us.
LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED IN OVER 50 YEARS OF HELPING TO ESTABLISH NATIONAL AND WORLDWIDE MOVEMENTS
by John R. Mott
Centrality of Jesus Christ
1. Jesus Christ constitutes the only enduring foundation for a movement with objectives like ours.
Vital Processes:
Exposing people to Christ, Discipling people intensively in the Scriptures,
Practicing Prayer, Multiplying Leaders
2. The vital processes should have right of way. What are the most vital processes?
- Exposing men to Christ Himself. He will then make His own impression and if He makes the impression, it will be profound, transforming and enduring.
- The intensive and appropriate study of the original writings of the Christian faith – Bible study.
- The practice and discipline of prayer and intercessory action.
- Augmenting the leadership of the Christian forces. “He who does the work is not so profitably employed as he who multiplies the doers.” Count the day lost that you do not do something, either directly or indirectly, to multiply the number of unselfish workers.
A Huge Heroic Vision
3. It is easier to attempt and carry to success large and exacting undertakings than small ones.
- a. It is the impossible situation which brings out our own latent powers.
- If we do not have tasks that we honestly know are too difficult for our own wisdom and strength, we are by no means so likely to avail ourselves of our superhuman resources.
- The heroic appeal makes possible to heroic response. The strongest men can be inspired to accomplishment by putting before them something that is really baffling and truly significant.
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