Graduate, Step Up To More Than The Podium

It seems like yesterday. I sat in the last row of chairs with my peers and classmates at the commencement ceremony. As my friends were called up to receive their degrees, a sense of dread overshadowed my mind. I’d finished what I’d spent the prior four years working to achieve. Yet I hardly knew what was in front of me. Instead of walking through a wardrobe door into the brilliant light of a new world, I was looking into a dark tunnel of uncertainty. Leaving the comfort of my college surroundings, I headed off to an unknown life. Honestly, I didn’t want to graduate.

For many high school and college graduates, fear and anxiety are pervasive. The questions of “What’s next?” “Where are you going to college?” or “Are you excited to start working in your field?” can be difficult to answer because you don’t know what’s ahead. Completing a significant milestone can lead to worry about whether what you plan to do next is the right thing, or if you’ll have the right stuff to be successful.

When I graduated, I had to rethink what graduation means. I’d come to see it as a finish line, but I needed to see it as a launching pad. The graduate (whether from kindergarten or college) is stepping up from one level of formation, education, and aptitude to another. You may be graduating with a diploma or degree in engineering or nursing, but when you step up to the podium, you shouldn’t neglect to move forward in your Christian walk as well.

Here are five ways you should step up as you pass from graduation into a new stage of life.

1. Step up in loving God.

I’d come to see graduation as a finish line, but I needed to see it as a launching pad.

A new season of life can give space for reflection and prioritization, but it can also leave you stagnant in what feels familiar. So think about this next stage as one where you’re more energized to grow in your love for God. Make progress in understanding his character and nature as you read his Word. Enrich your soul by meditating deeply on God’s love for you displayed in Christ. Preach the good news of his person and work to yourself again and again. Go to church and sit under faithful gospel preaching so your love doesn’t grow cold but flourishes.

Don’t just stay where you are in your love for God. Step up in knowing and loving him.

2. Step up your pursuit of Christlikeness.

Character is developed, not accomplished. We love and follow the perfect, sinless God-man: Jesus Christ. Our lives were intended to behold his glory and be transformed by that vision so we become like him (2 Cor. 3:18). Graduation is a perfect time to ask how you can grow in integrity, righteousness, justice, and mercy—all the ways Jesus lived.

C. S. Lewis spoke to students at King’s College and said there was a significant likelihood some of them would become corrupt “scoundrels,” even though, as they heard his address, none would envision it. Why did Lewis believe that was the case? Because he knew many would begin to compromise their integrity, leave their character and virtue undeveloped, and chase after the wrong things.

Graduate, now is the time to embrace greater devotion to Christlike integrity and character.

3. Step up in using your spiritual gifts.

God’s Spirit has given each of us unique abilities, talents, interests, and gifts to advance the gospel and build up the church. Every Christian is called to be equipped for “the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). As parts of Christ’s body, we each have a part to play in service.

After graduation, you have the opportunity to offer up your training, maturity, and desires in service of what God has called the local church to do. Perhaps in this next season, you’ll better understand your gifts. Maybe it’s time to receive further training. It’s certainly time to put your hand to the plow and use your gifts for God’s glory in the local church. Consider your graduation as a launching pad to the next stage of growth in gifted service.

4. Step up into a vocation.

Graduations typically mark educational mastery in your general education or a particular field or your career. For some, going off to college or entering the workforce can seem mundane and even spiritually insignificant. But if you see your career path as a call from God (a vocation) with a purpose to serve others, you’ll better understand your work’s significance.

Now is the time to dedicate yourself to the next level of Christlike integrity and character.

As you graduate, consider how your career will serve others, benefit society, and contribute to human flourishing. Be the best student, craftsman, educator, lawyer, or dentist for God’s glory and the good of your fellow human beings. Level up by seeing your career path as a call to serve.

5. Step up and share the gospel.

Do you know the core components of the gospel message? Can you communicate them to someone who doesn’t know or follow Jesus? When you graduate, you’ll enter a new mission field with new coworkers or classmates. Look for opportunities to share God’s grace, love, and forgiveness, and the hope you’ve received in Christ.

Make sharing the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus your driving ambition. Wherever you’re called to work and serve, you’re also sent as a follower of Jesus to share the great news of God’s love with those who are currently his enemies. Don’t graduate with mere career ambitions; make it your ambition to advance the gospel.

“There are difficulties in everything except in eating pancakes.” There was no better way for Charles Spurgeon to state that truth. The challenges, difficulties, and obstacles to glorifying God are innumerable. Following Christ is never easy. With each step up, we must develop a deeper resilience and ability to persevere. In the words commonly attributed to William Carey, the famous English missionary to India: “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” But all these aspirations take endurance. As you graduate, keep stepping up in doing the next obvious hard thing for God’s glory.