Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Hello, this is Grace in Focus from the Grace Evangelical Society. We come to you weekdays, we’re glad you’re joining us today as Bob Wilkin and Philippe Sterling talk about how their lives were shaped by the ministry of Campus Crusade or known now as Cru. It will be interesting to hear and they’ll be along in just a few seconds. The Grace Evangelical Society has a website, faithalone.org, where you can find out more about us, many points of information there about our seminary, our magazine, and our conference ministry. We also have a bookstore where you can find Bob Wilkin’s latest book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege. That’s faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s conversation, here are Bob Wilkin and Philippe Sterling. 

BOB: So, Philippe, I thought we’d finish up with talking about what we learned during our time with Campus Crusade for Christ or Cru. And the last time we talked about how we became uncomfortable with the booklet, well, what are some of the things in the four spiritual laws booklet that are potentially confusing for a person? And by the way, I know many of our listeners may have come to faith through the ministry of of Campus Crusade for Christ like you and I did. So, we’re not trying to diss the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, but what we’re trying to say is everyone needs to be discerning. And when it comes to that four spiritual laws booklet, it’s not inspired. 

I remember when I interviewed for staff with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was given a questionnaire and one of the questions was name all inspired writings today. And I said, the Bible, the four spiritual laws, the Holy Spirit booklet, the ten transferable concepts. And when I came to talk with them, they said, “Now you understand your answer here is not correct.” I said, “Really?” They said, “Yeah, they said, look, Dr. Bright was inspired by God to write the four spiritual laws and the ten transferable concepts. But that’s not like the inspiration of the Bible.” I said, “Oh, okay, I get it.” Well, I didn’t get it. I mean, if God inspired Bill Bright to write the four spiritual laws and God inspired the writings of the New Testament, what’s the difference? Well, somehow they were saying the four laws and the ten transferable concepts weren’t without error. And yet we were told read the booklet as is. 

PHILIPPE: And that’s why I began to understand eventually that because of Bill Bright’s background, I think, first of all, as a businessman. 

BOB: Yeah, he was involved with selling chocolates and things like he was very successful. 

PHILIPPE: Right. 

BOB: And he started Campus Crusade for Christ. I think in 1952, the year I was born, while he was a successful businessman. Campus Crusade for Christ is set up as kind of a businessman. 

PHILIPPE: It was a salesman friend of Bill Bright’s, that encouraged him to put together his sales message. I’ve been involved in sales, even in work in selling books and everything. And we have to memorize our sales pitches and different responses we will give to different objections that people will give and [unintelligible] all the memorized sales approach. Campus Crusade, Bill Bright ended up modeling it along those lines. And that’s part of the requirement to use the four laws because it was basically his sales pitch as it came to what he perceived to be the good news message. 

BOB: Okay, so what does a good sales pitch need? You’ve got to establish a need right at the beginning. 

PHILIPPE: You’re trying to develop a need and that’s how the four spiritual law says, you know, God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life. 

BOB: So the need is, I need that wonderful plan. So tell me about that plan. 

PHILIPPE: Right. And that begins well because John 3:16 God so loved us and all of that. But immediately jump to John 10, then, you know, “I have come that you might have life and and that you might have it abundantly.”  And so the focus begins in on how to experience that abundant life. 

BOB: As though, if you’re born again, you automatically have this abundant life.  And so that can be a bit confusing. And by the way, sales pitches always have some sort of a thing called a close, right? What’s a close?

PHILIPPE: The close becomes then the three circles, you know, these three circles represent three kinds of lives. 

BOB: What are the three circles? 

PHILIPPE: The first circle is self-controlled life, you know, right, crisis outside of the life. And everything is out of balance and messed up. 

BOB: And I’m on the throne of my own life. 

PHILIPPE: And I’m on the throne of my own life. Right. 

BOB: And what’s the second circle? 

PHILIPPE: The second circle is a Christ-controlled life where then you invite him to come and sit on the throne of your life. So who’s on everything? Who’s on the throne? 

BOB: It’s him on the throne. 

PHILIPPE: And everything becomes ordered and abundant and everything. So that’s that’s the close which circle would you like to represent your life? 

BOB: What’s the third circle?

PHILIPPE: Well, the third circle is, that will come with the blue book. 

BOB: So that’s not in the four laws itself. But the third one is the carnal Christian where he has Christ in his life, but not on the throne. Yeah, I would often tell people when I was evangelizing, by the way, this isn’t the whole story because it’s possible for a Christian to be in control of his own life. So I would tell people you don’t have to put Christ on the throne of your life. And you don’t have to yield your life to him. And that sort of the thing. But it kind of showed the diversity of staff within Campus Crusade for Christ because there were some staff that were five-point Calvinists. And there were some staff that I believe were closet Arminians—believed you could lose your salvation. Although back then it was required that you would at least formally say you believed in eternal security.

PHILIPPE: Right. That would be the second follow up appointment. Focus on the assurance of everlasting life. 

ANNOUNCER: The Grace Evangelical Society’s Seminary, GES Seminary is getting ready for the 2025 fall semester. All classes are online. And we are now ready to receive your application. GESSeminary.org is where you apply. And if you want to begin study this fall, we must receive your application by July 29th. That’s GESSeminary.org. Classroom size is limited. So let us hear from you soon. Apply now GESSeminary.org. 

BOB: But this close, this became a big problem for you and me, didn’t it? Because now you’re asking people to do something other than what Jesus asked them to do or what the apostles asked them to do. In fact, really, Jesus and the apostles didn’t even ask people to believe. They just made the straight up statement. “He who believes in me has everlasting life.” The point was you just present the message that the one who believes has everlasting life and you leave that between them and God. In other words, you didn’t have to say—Jesus once in his entire recorded ministry in the four Gospels once said, “Do you believe this?”

PHILIPPE: Yeah, that was to Martha who was already a believer. 

BOB: He was using that because ultimately He knew that would be part of John’s gospel and a pivotal part. But the point is, lots of people want to use invitations, right? And this isn’t just Campus Crusade for Christ. The sawdust trail was based on inviting people to come forward. Remember, Billy Graham, come on down, The buses will wait? Everybody had this idea that you needed to come forward or you needed to raise your hand. You know, lots of people want this close. 

And I, in fact, you mentioned Ted Martin in the last one. I remember talking to Dr. Ted Martin and he said to me, “Well, before Bill Bright explained to me about using the four law booklets, I had no way to close the presentation. I would just talk to people about Christ and the salvation that He promises and that would be it.” And he said, “I didn’t invite him to pray to receive Christ.” 

Well, you know, the sad thing is I can’t tell you how many students I met who invited Christ into their life 10 times, 20 times, 50 times, 100 times. Part of the problem was if you read the How to Be Sure of Your Salvation booklet, the transferable concept, do you remember what it said you should do if you have doubts? 

PHILIPPE: No, not at this point.

BOB: Okay. What it said was the way you’re born again is by sincerely inviting Jesus into your heart. So if you have doubts, what you need to do is professionally censored in one last time. This is it. I’m not going to do it again. I’m going to invite him in now and I’m dead serious. Well, guess what? If that same student now has lack of assurance two days later after they do something wrong, say something wrong, think something wrong. How do they get assurance? I invite him in one last time, one last time and this can go on again and again and again. And I’ve met lots of people like that until they finally get to the point where they realize, wait a minute, nobody in the Bible ever was born again by inviting Jesus in. So this business model ultimately created some problems. Wouldn’t you say Philippe? 

PHILIPPE: Yes, I just was uncomfortable. You know, with the whole matter of even the reports and what was required with the reports and how it had to be precisely defined as going through reading to a certain point in the booklet. And so it had been my goal eventually to go to seminary anyway, but by my third year, and while we’re at Campus Crusade, that was just discomfort. And when I expressed in the desire that I had to go to seminary and I was going to apply to DTS, the regional director actually came and talked with me and said, no, if you stay on staff, you know, you can become part of the International School of Theology and you can go there tuition-free and you can be one of our trainers there and actually keep your full support and and everything, that won’t cost you anything. But I wasn’t tempted by that because by that time, I was just that business model, just wasn’t something that was comfortable with. So then applied to DTS and ended up, of course, going there. 

BOB: Yeah, one of the eye-openers for me is when I went to International School of Theology, candidating, and the guy told me if you’re not willing to evangelize using the four laws, then you can’t be on our faculty. And I was shocked. I was like, really, it’s not enough to teach the Word and to teach it well and to teach it accurately. And it’s not enough to evangelize, teach students how to evangelize using the Bible. I can’t use inspired Scripture. What I have to use is this inspired booklet. It was kind of bizarre. So I guess here’s what I would say, Philippe. Our time in Campus Crusade for Christ was very helpful for our growth and development. A lot of it was positive, but all of us caused us to be Bereans. 

PHILIPPE: I’ve come to the stage where I do want to be honest about critiquing what I see, where some perhaps some flaws and some weaknesses, but yet in an overall context of the tremendous benefit that it was to me, to be involved with a movement such as Campus Crusade and I’m sure there’s hundreds and thousands of people that will share a similar beneficial experience they had. 

BOB: It’s had a very positive influence on many people, but there are some things that we can critique. 

PHILIPPE: Yes. And I think it’s that’s fair and just you know, to be both, you know, saying the benefits and also and all some of the things that were questionable not to you. 

BOB: I remember I was talking to Bob Bryant about two years ago and he talked about how many people at Dallas Seminary had come to faith in Christ through Campus Crusade for Christ. I think he said when he was at Dallas, they had them raise their hand and it was like half the student body or something. 

PHILIPPE: Now for me, I remember hearing that at least a third or more where I had come to you, the campus ministries whether Campus Crusade or Navigators.

BOB: Right. So we can be very thankful for all of those things, but we need to realize that ultimately it’s the Word of God that is inspired. It’s the Word of God that we teach. We’re not teaching the writings of men, even very gifted and godly men. And Bill Bright was a very gifted and godly man. So thanks so much and I would encourage you all to keep grace in focus. 

ANNOUNCER: Be sure to check out our daily blogs at faithalone.org. They are short and full of great teaching, just like what you’ve heard today. Find them at faithalone.org/resources/blog. We would like to thank all of our financial partners who help us keep this show going. All gifts are tax-deductible and very much appreciated. If you’d like to find out how you can be a financial partner, visit us at faithalone.org. 

On our next episode: what Bob and Philippe learned from their years at Dallas seminary. Please join us and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.