My 10 Year Big Idea from 2016

Moses was an extraordinary leader in a sense that he wrestled with God over his call. He was clear in his mind that unless God is there with him, it is pointless going where he wanted to go with his people. In Exodus 33:12-23, we observe the incredible dialogue between God and man. Moses knew the marching order. “Lead these people.” (V.12) but God had not told him yet who He will send with him. He knew he had the favour of God over him. His desire was that God will teach him His ways rather than be dependent on his limited human understanding. God went beyond that and said this amazing line: “My Presence will go with you, and I will give your rest.”
For most of us, we would be thinking that God’s call will demand a lot of hard work and sacrifices. Why did God say that He will give Moses rest? We often misunderstand the phrase “hard work” with “strive”. Certainly, we see how much work there is in leading 600,000 adult males (Exodus 12:37), which would imply a total population of 2 to 2.5 million people, when Egypt’s population at the time was only about 3 to 4.5 million. That’s hard work! The “rest” here meant the final destination of the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. In today’s context, that rest in the spiritual realm is the rest of salvation (Hebrews 4:1). Faith in God was the key to entering that rest (Hebrews 4:2).

The Greek definition for rest is “to be refreshed, to abide, to cease and to settle down.” True rest in God allows us to live rejuvenated and be at peace with ourselves and others. The opposite of rest is restlessness, always having the feeling that there is something more to do, something else to get right, a sense of wanting to be more in control, in order to relax and have a sense of accomplishment and self-worth. Sounds like an oxymoron desire yet in this way we strive in restlessness towards an elusive rest. I resonated with an adage I came across that says “When we strive, God waits. When we rest, God acts.”


It was in such a perspective that I asked God to show me the way as I lead DUMC for the next ten years as I take on the role of the Senior Pastor mid of last year. I wanted God to be there at the end of that ten years when I pass on the baton. I wanted to learn to lead in restedness and not restless strive. I wanted to achieve the goal, not of growth, but of grace because growth is His work and not mine (1 Cor 3:6). All I need to do is provide a space for spiritual nurture, health and His Presence for God’s people and God will cause the growth.

So I asked Him, what will DUMC be like in 10 years’ time? Very clearly, He had said to me to build DUMC not for ourselves but for our children and their children. While it may seem logical that every church should do so, yet by design, we often do not as we are stuck in our old human ways and preferences. The Lord reminded me often not to harbor pride because we have “eaten more salt” and hence there’s nothing much we can learn from young people. We need the humility to sit down with them and hear what they have to say about church. We pray that church is relevant to them as much as it is to us. In being part of us, they catch on the vision and purpose that everything we do must be for the sake of the Gospel, empowered by the Holy Spirit, in a spiritual environment of prayer and worship. We must be strong in both the Word and the Spirit. We must have an encounter with God in all that we do, a deep sense of belonging to a community and given a calling higher than ourselves.


Jesus summed up for us a personal and corporate calling of the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). To “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27) is a clarion call to love God and others. This sums up the 613 laws of the Old Testament into two commandments which is a stroke of divine wisdom and brilliance of our Lord that simplify an otherwise complicated set of rules to live by. The Great Commission defines the core business of the church to make disciples and not just believers. A disciple is taught to obey everything Jesus commanded. In one stroke, we understand what it means to be a Christian and to be Church.

The one word that would describe what DUMC will be like at the end of it all is the word “Christlikeness”. Christlikeness can come in so many forms but what the Lord had impressed upon my heart are these five words or phrases that reflect what it means to be Christlike. They are “Honour, Humility, Be Real, Pass-It-On and Fun.” They are by no means exhaustive but these are the key core habits that will be spun into other characteristics of Christlikeness. I call them habits because it is something that is so much part of us that it becomes an inherent subconscious act and an automatic natural code of conduct that comes out of our being. We are not merely talking about behavioral modifications but a heart transformation that comes out as a fruit of the Spirit. When we are God and people honouring, with the humility of a servant to serve like our Lord Jesus, and being real and authentic in who we are in a non-judgmental atmosphere of acceptance, and remembering always to pass it on to others in a platform of discipleship, and while doing all that we have fun, and inner joy being evident, that would be an amazing church to be in. Would we be inspired to ask God for that?


Let me sum up in just one phrase to give us a sense of purpose and unity to what we hope to see in ten years’ time and beyond. If someone were to ask you, what is DUMC and what do you stand for? You simply need to say we are to: “Love God, Serve People, Make Disciples towards Christlikeness with the core habits of Honour, Humility, Be Real, Pass-It-On and Fun.” That’s it! It doesn’t have to be complicated but let’s have fun doing all these. I look forward to running this race with you and be awed by the Presence of God.