(1) Save the World, (2) Look Glamorous (but humble) whilst Doing So, (3) Earn Enough to Pay the Bills. So ran my list as I pondered what to do after university. It sounded simple. The only problem was figuring out how to go about it.
Then along came my friend Kate who told me she’d come across the Leadership Programme. ‘Looks fascinating but not my cup of tea – too Christian – you should take a look’. Immediately I knew I wanted to apply. My post-university plan needed fleshing out and I desperately wanted to grapple with my faith on a deeper intellectual level.
I joined the Programme in the September. I was to spend Monday to Thursday volunteering with a charity working with people in prostitution whilst Fridays would be dedicated to exploring what it means to live out a ‘Christian worldview’. Perfect.
From the start of the year it felt like a crash course in the call to trust God. Rather than feeling more ‘sorted’ and thought-through I felt as if God was pulling me further apart. Responding to, and not simply ‘dealing with’, the brokenness and complexity I was encountering appeared to involve the high probability of being a wreck. And surely that wasn’t conducive to all the things I was supposed to be doing and learning, right?
But brokenness, I began to understand, is not something which we need to be afraid of. It’s central in a Christian worldview and is the place where Christ calls us both to meet him and serve him. Conceptual knowledge is essential but it turns out that developing a Christian worldview is about so much more.
I discovered that it’s a call to live in the confidence of God’s sovereignty and the promise of his presence. A call that is painful and thrilling all at once. It is almost impossible to do alone. And this, I discovered, is the beauty of the Leadership Programme: I had one whole year to step out of my comfort zone, to challenge my presuppositions, to bear witness to God’s sovereignty in the public sphere, to learn alongside others and to dare to trust God.
As for the looking glamorous, well, that depended on whether I hit the snooze button or not!
Author Profile
Hi, I’m Katie McAvoy, the Associate Director of the Institute for Faith and Culture run by CARE. I’ve been involved with the CARE Leadership Programme since 2008.
The Programme equips the rising generation of Christians (that’s you and me!) to be leaders in the world of public policy and wider culture. If what I’ve been talking about excites you then you can find out more about the Programme by visitingwww.care.org.uk/leadershipprogramme.
The application process for the 2012-13 intake is now open and the application form can be accessed online.
