We are an authentic community being transformed by Jesus, called and committed to renewing IIT.
This is the vision statement of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is who God calls us to be and transcends time, ability, culture and conflict. Every thing that we do is in line with the vision so that we can fulfill what God has for us.
authentic community
As we exist as an authentic community, we exist as a fellowship: friends who share a common purpose and value. This is in midst of an American society that promotes individualism, where self is the individual's ultimate priority, and where participation in community is seen not only as optional, but needed only for the sake of the individual's personal self-realization or self-fulfillment. But look at the result of this: we live in a society littered with empty relationships, rampant depression, and overwhelming loneliness. Look at how individualism, a characteristic that has persisted from modernity to postmodernity, has had its effect on our campus. We have many classmates who come to class only for what they can get out of it but not also for what they can contribute to the class. We have many professors who are fully wrapped up in their research, regarding the classes that they teach us as hindrances to getting their own work done. If you think about it, is it even possible to say that we have a society because we are so individualistic?
Going back to the idea of community, just as a potato cannot deny the fact that it is a potato, it would be against our nature as social human beings to deny our relational needs. As Christians we are not called to walk alone but have the support of Christian brothers and sisters who share in the journey with us. We serve, worship, pray and play together, seeking to live out the unity depicted in the book of John where Jesus says, just as he is one with God so he wants us be one with Him. When one member of our community is hurting, the entire community hurts. When one rejoices the entire community rejoices. We're building each other up, sometimes even dragging each other up. Over and over again, back into the presence of Jesus. We're here helping each other persevere to the end.
being transformed
Just as we meet as an authentic community that loves and supports each other, we also exist to meet with Jesus and be transformed by him. Getting a vaccination is a forgettable thing. After the initial twinge of pain when receiving a shot we move on to the next thing in life. Nearly all of us received tetanus shots in our arms when we were children. As an adults nearly two decades later, we don't look down at our arms to verify that they are still there. That's absurd: we expect that the vaccination did it's job and we no longer need to worry about it.
There is a tendency among Christians to treat God as a vaccination. We "get saved" and once that is over we move on to the next thing. Biblically, becoming a Christian is not a one-time thing, rather it is a lifelong journey. After an initial commitment, we allow God to work in our lives and change us to become more like Him. We deeply desire a relationship with God and spend time with Him on order to cultivate that relationship.
called and committed to renewing IIT
God is transforming us for a purpose. And, out of His sovereignty, God has brought specific people to our campus so that they could be transformed and His purposes would be accomplished. As Christians living in a broken world, we have each been ordained by Jesus to share his message with those around us. He said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-16).
God routinely blows us away with how much He has done and is currently doing--right now--on our campus. A few years ago a kid named Andy showed up on campus and saw that there weren't any Christian groups or ways where Christians were encouraging each other, so he got a couple of other guys together and started a regular prayer meeting. God began using that group on our campus and through what they did people around them began to experience freedom for the first time. Over the years since Andy was here, God has been transforming lives to the point where students come out of college completely different than going in. As followers of Christ, we are here to join in the work that God is already doing on this campus.
It is our desire, just as it is God's, that brokenness be removed from our campus. That IIT would not be a place where people come in, are ripped up, and eventually spit out, but a place where every person can discover what their purpose is in life and why they have been created. Renewing IIT includes fighting a culture of burnout where many students get overwhelmed with their work and the torturous pressures of life. Renewing IIT means having relationships that are real and genuine, especially where men and women have relationships with each other that are not just for the sake of having sex. Renewing IIT means breaking addictions that many on this campus struggle with, including addictions to pornography, alcohol, drugs, or success. Renewing IIT means breaking through racial tensions and social barriers, so that we see others as created persons loved by God, not as a skin color.
In all, we want IIT to become a place where God is universally honored and glorified. A place where going to class brings honor to God and doing our homework brings honor to God and serving others brings honor to God and worshiping Jesus brings honor to God. Therefore, InterVarsity is not here just to support ourselves. Yes, we have a community which is critical in encouraging each other and pointing each other to God, but our vision is to see God reform this entire campus, which is much greater than selfishly asking God to "feed me" so that one can sit on their butt and get fat.
What does that mean for us? How can we as individuals join in with something that seems so big? One thing that is critically important to understand, and on the surface this may even seem to contradict everything I have said tonight although I assure you that all logical discontinuities have been settled, is that there is no InterVarsity. The thing that we call InterVarsity is nothing more than a group of people. InterVarsity is about people. And as we join in with the vision and the calling that God has given us, we do so alongside our friends and peers. The vision of our chapter emphasizes all of IIT, but on an individual level we seek to transform the specific areas that God has called us to, be it a Greek house, dormitory, academic department, or sports team.
Think about the implications of what we are doing. We have a significant number of students at our school who come from all parts of the world, many of whom will go on to become the next leaders of their companies or nations. If we, here at IIT, can introduce them to a life of freedom and show them the redemptive purposes of God, and they take that back home, then we have the opportunity to transform the world right here at IIT. The implications of that are almost mind boggling, but it is exciting to recognize the potential impact that we will have.
We are not here just to go fishing, but we want to change the pond as well.
A former InterVarsity president once used an analogy to illustrate our purpose. Equating a university to a pond, he noted that some ministries seem only concerned about pulling fish (students) out of the polluted system. We, as InterVarsity, exist not only to go fishing, but we want to change the entire pond as well. Being a Christian is not "one day I'm going to go to heaven and leave this forsaken place behind," instead it is actively joining in the redemptive purposes of God.
There is a better future out there for IIT, a clean pond, where our campus is no longer a place of burnout, depression, alcohol addiction, sexual promiscuity, or a place that promotes bondage to the fleeting promise of prosperity. Right now our campus still struggles with those things, but the future that God has for us is out there and it is our believe that in God's power and by His strength we can move there. Imagine the day when there is life on this campus. When we can see people being delivered from burnout, because Jesus is giving them life. When every person on this campus can see true freedom that comes from Jesus alone.
The InterVarsity chapter at IIT is a part of a much larger movement, and so we aim to follow the purpose put forth by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA's purpose statement:
In response to God's love, grace and truth:
The Purpose of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is
to establish and advance at colleges and universities
witnessing communities of students and faculty
who follow Jesus as Savior and Lord:
growing in love for God,
God's Word,
God's people of every ethnicity and culture
and God's purposes in the world.
We have a variety of core commitments that we follow: