Photos by Ralph Freso/Slideshow/Livestream
Grand Canyon University President Brian Mueller, in his opening talk of the fall Chapel season, addressed the anxiety crisis creeping into 250 years of freedom in the United States.
But it is that freedom that can lead to great opportunity in the decisions we make – decisions that should move us closer to God.
“Freedom and anxiety are inextricably linked because absolute freedom forces you to bear total responsibility for your choices, leading to existential dread or anxiety,” Mueller said Monday before a packed Global Credit Union Arena during Chapel, whose theme this year is "Jesus Stories From the Gospels." “A lot of people in the world view it that way. But there are answers to this.”
Mueller cited Matthew 4:18-22, when Jesus asked ordinary people to make a choice to leave their lives behind and serve Him. Mueller said he is inspired by those passages as he, too, makes major university decisions that can bring anxiety. He asks himself this:
- First, is it going to help students come closer to God, and therefore be better prepared when Jesus comes back?
- Second, is it going to help students be more productive? Are they going to be able to contribute more to the world and to the building of God's kingdom?
- Finally, is it going to impact the least of these?
Mueller explained that Jesus built His ministry at the Sea of Galilee by asking Peter and Andrew to give up their fishing business to follow Him, and James and John join later. The list of disciples grows to 12 as they cover 3,100 miles, mostly by foot, to heal and teach people over a three-year span.
Toward the end of their journey, the disciples are getting anxious at the thought of making their decisions without Jesus, who replies in John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
During Holy Week, Jesus emphasizes to the disciples at the Mount of Olives, outside Jerusalem, about needing a structure before making a decision.
One of the parables of Matthew 25, the Parable of the 10 Virgins, involves 10 young ladies who take their lamps and await the arrival of a bridegroom for a wedding.
Five bring extra oil to keep the lamps burning. However, the bridegroom is tardy, and all the ladies fall asleep waiting for him.
When a cry at midnight announces the bridegroom is finally coming, the five ladies who did not possess oil asked to borrow from the other five ladies but were denied. They run into town to get extra oil. The other ladies who were prepared enter the wedding banquet, but by the time the unprepared ladies return with oil for their lamps, the door is shut and they are denied entrance, too late to enter the banquet.
The parable teaches believers to be spiritually ready and watchful for Jesus' return.
“We don't know when He's coming back,” Mueller said. “The timetable hasn't been laid out. All we've been told is it's going to be a surprise. And what Jesus is telling the disciples is the No. 1 consideration, always, when you're making important decisions is: Does this move me closer to God, or does this move me away from God? Because the No. 1 consideration always is (that) He's coming back, and He's saying to His disciples, No. 1, be prepared. Guard your soul.
“That is always the first question to ask when you're making a big decision: Does this move me closer to God, or does this move me away from God? Because if it moves me closer to God, I'm closer to being prepared when He comes back.”
In becoming more productive and contributing to God’s Kingdom, Jesus shared a story with His disciples about a man who gathered his three employees before embarking on a long trip. He gave one employee 10 talents (large units of money), another employee two talents and one talent to the third.
When the boss returns, he’s elated to see that the first employee doubled his talents to 10, and that second servant increased his talent total to four.
However, the third employee became nervous and buried his lone talent, upsetting his boss.
“I can imagine the apostles hearing this story, and they're thinking, "OK, No. 1, Jesus is saying, 'Be prepared, I'm coming back.’“ Mueller said.
But the story also illustrates the question of whether it will make you more productive.
“Can I be more helpful in terms of building God's kingdom?” Mueller asked. “My career as an engineer, computer scientist, an entrepreneur, a teacher or a nurse – whatever God has blessed me with, whatever talent I have been given – the second thing to ask when you have to make a big decision is: Is this going to make me more productive?”
In Matthew 25:31-46, Mueller describes the Parable of the Sheep and Goats, in which Jesus implores His followers to take action on behalf of those in need.
Jesus likens the final judgement of the world to a shepherd separating the sheep from the goats, telling the sheep, "You're going to be with me for eternity.”
When curious for a reason, Jesus replied: "When I was hungry, you gave Me something to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. When I was in prison, you visited Me. When I was a stranger, you took Me in.
“… When you did that to the least of these, you did it to me. And they're going with Jesus forever.”
As for the unruly goats, "When you saw the least of these, and it didn't matter to you, it didn't matter if it would have been Me.“
In assessing the remarkable growth of GCU, Mueller reflected on his first Chapel in 2008, when less than 1,000 students attended the service, then held at Ethington Theatre. Optimism swelled despite skeptics telling him not to invest $2 billion in a neighborhood where 72 different languages spoken within 10 square miles.
“Students ask me all the time about going on international mission trips. I support them 100%,” Mueller said. “But for whatever reason, God is bringing the world to us. They're coming from Asia. They're coming from the Middle East. They're coming from Latin America, from South America, and they’re settling around us, and in many places, it's the least of these.
“It's people without resources. It's people without knowledge of the language. It's people without knowledge of the culture. They are the strangers that Jesus is talking about in His last story. I absolutely believe that all this has happened because Jesus wanted us to bless the strangers. He wanted us to welcome the strangers. He wanted us to pour into the strangers.”
Mueller said data indicates that members of the church, those who pour into those strangers, have far less difficulty with anxiety.
(Renowned author) Arthur Brooks said it this way: 'The world and social media will tell you to use people, love things and worship yourself. The church that you're going to go to will tell you to use things, love people and worship only God.' THAT's the difference.
Brian Mueller, president, GCU
“It doesn't mean that they're not going to get anxious. We all get anxious, but it doesn't creep over into debilitating depression for people in our churches.”
Mueller relayed that when he thinks about the choices made in building GCU – the decision to stay here in west Phoenix and pour into strangers, decisions that move us closer to God, that anxiety diminishes.
“America can do something about freedom and anxiety, but it can only be done with Jesus," he said, then thought back to the talk on Friday by happiness expert Dr. Arthur C. Brooks during GCU's first Canyon Civic Conference.
Brooks spoke about the world's anxieties and the way to happiness.
“(Renowned author) Arthur Brooks said it this way: “The world and social media will tell you to use people, love things, and worship yourself. The church that you're going to go to will tell you to use things, love people and worship only God. That's the difference.”
GCU News senior writer Mark Gonzales can be reached at [email protected]
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Next Chapel speaker: Dr. Tim Griffin, GCU dean of students/university pastor, 11 a.m. Sept. 21, Global Credit Union Arena.
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