By Sam Trizza
Several quotes from our Capital Fellows leaders have cemented in my mind this year. Each will impact me far beyond Fellows and deserve a blog post of their own. This one, relevant to our current station in the year, has been coming back to me lately: “A church will never pay more attention to a group of fourteen people – you – like they do in Fellows.”
How incredibly true! I feel ridiculously blessed by a church that doesn’t owe me anything and invests a wild amount of time, resources, and wisdom in our group. Sound like a church being the body of Christ? That’s how Fellows is designed.
Yet with this design comes a lot of responsibility. As a fellow, this investment leads me to want to compound it; to also combat a maximum-utilization complex.
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. – 2 Corinthians 9:6
This semester, all the fellows are doing peer counseling, where groups of three or four meet once a week and “counsel” one member. Before one of my sessions, I asked my two peer counselors, Hunter and Holly, to think over and point out my blind spots. I love this idea. The wounds of a friend get at some of the best stuff of friendship! Dan Allender reiterates my point in To Be Told: “If you will listen to the words of others’ experience of you, I guarantee you will be surprised and humbled.”
One answer particularly stuck with me. They pointed out that I have a prove-it mentality. I've never subscribed to this much for myself, but sitting with those words I realized that a lot of the things I say and do may come off that way. I responded: “I don't feel I have anything to prove but know I have everything to use.” At this point in our year, I am feeling this internal pressure to use the time I have left to soak up Capital Fellows for all it’s worth.
In Fellows and in life, the blessings that God gives us should not be squandered, but cared for, multiplied, and shared. While our motives are never pure in this endeavor, my hope is that we all feel we have nothing to prove. God has given us Jesus to prove the fact that without him, we aren't sufficient – only he is, thereby making us so. A glaring reminder of my Christ-endowed sufficiency is a community and a church that loves me. I know I'm loved regardless of my doings and this frees me up to use what I have for God's glory and a well-lived life.
I want to use it all to the max, which can play out like having a prove-it, go-getter, achiever mentality. Using all gifts to the max simply isn’t possible – that’s where grace and Christ-endowed sufficiency comes in. I am driven to be a good steward of God’s generosity, but also forgiven and covered by Jesus’ all-sufficiency for the times that I miss the mark.
As Fellows closes out and I feel the need to suck out all the marrow and soak up the last drop, Christ’s sufficiency reminds me that the onus is not all on me. I have a responsibility to “use it”, and that he’ll take care of the rest.
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. – 2 Corinthians 3:4-5
Picture from the Week
At Caboose, a Capital Fellows hot-spot, celebrating our Cole Cooper – Happy Birthday!
Become A Capital Fellow in 2021-22
We are now receiving applications for Season 15 of the Capital Fellows program!
We are specifically looking for fellows interested in working in church ministry. We have two specific jobs available, one on the worship team and one with the children's ministry teams. These are special Capital Fellows opportunities because McLean Presbyterian not only pays your salary, but also pays your Capital Fellows program fees!!
The next program year runs from late August 2021 through mid-May 2022. If you are a college senior or recent college graduate - or know someone that is - we would love to hear from you!
Pray for the Capital Fellows
Thank you for praying for the Capital Fellows each week!
There are, roughly 8 weeks of the Capital Fellows program left for this year. In spite of COVID and all of its related problems, this year has flown by. In the coming weeks, the fellows will be solidifying their plans for jobs, housing, and roommates. Please pray for the fellows during this season that can suddenly feel like choosing teams in junior high school. Pray for wisdom, patience, others-orientation, and generosity. As we have asked in the past, please pray that their care for one another will bear fruit in obvious and subtle ways.
Want to pray for the Capital Fellows throughout the year? Download this handy prayer guide for your phone or tablet.
Benefits of The Fellows Initiative
You probably already know that Capital Fellows is one of 30 fellows programs in The Fellows Initiative network. But, did you know that the sponsors of TFI offer great benefits to Capital Fellows alumni? For example, Reformed Theological Seminary offers a 33% tuition discount for 5 years. You can learn more about TFI's sponsors by clicking here. TFI is also sponsored by The Budd Group, the Gordon College Master of Financial Analysis Program, and Regent College in Vancouver.
If you know of a graduate school, seminary, employer, or other organization that would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact TFI by clicking here. Thanks!
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