Sufficient, Able and Adequate

My name is Matt Beyland, I served as an RA in the Dunn Hall Basement in 2011-12! I graduated last May with a degree in Biblical Studies and I currently work for a non-profit Mission organization called TEAMeffort Missions where I have the opportunity to set up and lead mission trips for youth groups.

Matt, and the TEAMeffort staff he directed last summer in Gatlinburg, TN.

Student leadership presents you with an incredible opportunity to serve your peers. It also presents you with an incredibly difficult task of leading your peers. The two have to go together; to be a leader is to be a servant. Simply put, leadership is as equally rewarding as it is tough. In my experiences throughout college and now in my full-time job, leadership is a trial. There is nothing easy about it. You are expected to be an outstanding example to those you lead and constantly put your best foot forward. There never seems to be a break for people in leadership positions and it can grow wearisome and very easily can harden your heart to those you try to lead. And that can lead to so many different feelings. I had the opportunity to be an RA in the Dunn Hall basement my sophomore year of school and the hardest thing I dealt with was feeling as if I was failing at my job. Now, granted, I had a difficult floor, and there were a lot of things that went wrong but the thing I learned the most is that we cannot place a value on our role as leaders. There is no such thing as being “good enough” or “not good enough” when it comes to leadership. You are as good as Christ makes you. There is no scale to weigh your value on. The value comes through Jesus. Seeking Him, trusting Him, and turning to Him, are the keys to being a leader. And through Christ we are made holy and blameless (Colossians 1:22). And since we have been made holy and blameless through Christ, then there is no matter of being “good enough”. Christ is more than good enough.

2 Corinthians 2:4-6 says, “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, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Isn’t that incredible! No matter what level of leadership we are in, our goal should always be to share the Gospel. In this passage Paul is writing to the people of Corinth about his ministry of sharing the Gospel and look what he says: essentially because of Jesus and his sacrifice, our sufficiency, our ability, our adequacy comes not from anything we do of our own accord, but from God who makes us sufficient, able, and adequate. 

2 Corinthians 3:12 says, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold…” 

The hope is that our sufficiency comes from God and because of the sacrifice of Christ; the Holy Spirit can bring life. When we believe that, we are able to be bold in our faith and bold in our leadership. I said earlier that leadership is a trial. And I meant it. But the trials are always worth it. 

James 1:2-4 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

So take heart in the ministry you are a part of. Be confident that God has placed you in the leadership role designed specifically for you. Choose joy with the understanding that Christ has made you holy and blameless!

Matt with friends from the Department of Religious Studies.

Matt Beyland,

Dunn Hall RA, 2011-2012