Fruitfulness Comes From Faithfulness

Seventy-five years ago, the first commercial jet airliner had not taken off, there were no digital computers, and only two years had passed since the end of the Second World War. 

This was the world in which ten national student movements met together to establish the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. They came from North America, Europe, the South Pacific, and Asia, the places where student ministry was strongest at that time. They had a vision to see students around the world come to faith and be nurtured in their walk with the Lord.  

IFES was their strategy, their planned way of working towards this dream. It was not formed as a centralised global organisation. Instead it was a worldwide fellowship of independent national ministries with a shared calling and set of core beliefs. Each student movement retained its autonomy and would join freely “in fellowship, interchange and discussion with its fellows according to its own special nature, genius and potential energies.”1  

Thus began a community working together to equip every student to share the gospel, and asking God to fill them with his power, so they could go and share the good news with their peers.  

It is now 2022, and both the world and IFES have changed. We have grown remarkably and now have 160 member movements, with student work in a further 20 countries. In the last few weeks I have had the joy of joining IFES leaders in Francophone Africa and Latin America. Together we have celebrated and given thanks to God for his grace and faithfulness to IFES over 75 years of ministry. This special anniversary has also prompted me to reflect on the approach of those early IFES leaders, and the ministry distinctives that continue to be the DNA of IFES.   

From the beginning, IFES movements put an emphasis on student initiative and “students reaching students”. They prioritised the role of students in evangelism and leadership of the student groups. My own first (and most terrifying) experience of public evangelism was to host a lunchtime evangelistic event in a busy area of the university I was attending. Although sometimes daunting, such experiences were stepping stones in my growth as a Christian and a leader. It’s amazing how many pastors and Christian leaders in the church and society came to faith during their university years and had their first experience of leadership in their Christian student group. 

From the beginning, IFES movements also shared a commitment to the truth and power of the Bible. Still today a distinctive of IFES movements is the central place given to Scripture in evangelism and discipleship. We believe God speaks into our context through his dynamic Word. That’s why our national movements encourage personal devotion, small group Bible study, and Bible exposition. 

I have already mentioned the decentralised structure of IFES: instead of being a one-size-fits-all franchise, IFES movements are encouraged to be rooted in their local context. This is another key distinctive of IFES approach. One outworking of this is that many of our national movements have launched their own publishing houses. These have encouraged many theologians and leaders around the world to publish materials to help the local church engage with issues in their context. Also, their work has been made available to the global church.  

You can read more about some shining examples of this in A Look at IFES Publishing on the  IFES Conexión Blog. 

All these things have been important emphases in IFES, and remain distinctives that I am committed to pursuing. But as I look back, look around, and look forward, there is one key distinctive of IFES ministry which I would want to underscore. I believe this will be key if we are to continue to thrive and be fruitful for the next 75 years. It’s highlighted by Jesus in John 15 when he says, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me”  

Fruitfulness comes from faithfulness, from remaining in him. When I think of the IFES leaders who have helped shaped my life, I see leadership shaped by a personal priority to know Christ more and more.  

Today, the digital world we live in means that there are constant competing demands for our attention. I see that this core aspect of our Christian faith is under attack. We should not dismiss the opportunities and possibilities our changing world offers us: connections and partnerships are possible in ways that could hardly have been imagined when IFES began. But we need to focus on self-leadership. We need to make sure that, in the midst of all the noise and distraction, we prioritise what matters: remaining in him.  

So, my friends, let’s make a commitment to one another to spend time in personal and corporate prayer. Let us listen to God speak through his Word, meditate on Christ, and worship as were created to do. As we thank God for his faithfulness over 75 years of IFES, let us also look ahead. Let us look to another 75 years with a renewed focus on our walk with the Lord, a renewed commitment to one another and a global resolve to remain in him.  

“Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1