9 Years Later...

...I'm still thinking about a 5 second statement. In 2000 I was a junior in college and my two roomates and I decided to go play golf. When we got to the course there was a guy who joined up with us to make our foursome. I can't remember what hole it was but sometime into our round the conversation with this guy turned to what I would be doing after college and I told this guy I was going to seminary to study the Bible at the graduate level. I remember asking this new guy if he went to church and if he was a Christian, his response has stuck with me for 9 years. He said "I've tried it and it didn't work for me". Now if I was quick on my feet I would have asked, "what did you expect it to do for you?" but I wasn't so I didn't. Over the years I've thought about this conversation often and wondered how he would have answered my comeback but sadly I think I do know. I think there are probably two things he would have said and both sadden me.

The first thing I'm guessing he thought was that if you go to church and you become a "Christian" life will be great. You think at work you'll be promoted and get raises; you think your health will be perfect and nothing bad will appear on those exams; you think your marriage will be great, you'll never fight and have sex every night; and you think your kids will be perfectly behaved and grow up to be successful individuals in life. I'm sure it never crossed his mind that being a Christian doesn't mean those things, in fact it might mean your life appears worse. Right now I'm writing this blog while virtually unemployeed, one of my friends might miscarry a child, another friends husband is in a coma and could possibly die or have his life be totally different when he wakes, my mother has terrible back pain, and thousands if not millions of Christians I don't even know are being persecuted to the point of death. Christianity is not the way to avoid the bad things in life and if you thought that going to church would change that sir I'm sorry we've done or said something to make you think that.

The second thing I'm guessing he might have thought that didn't work for him is that if you go to church and you're a "Christian" you always do, say, and think the right things. So many "church people" have this holier than thou attitude that will turn you off. Sir I'm sorry if we have given you the impression that we're perfect people and then we failed. I'm sorry that I still say, do, and think the wrong things...I'm human just like you and I screw up. If someone gave you the impression that we are perfect I'm sorry.

Being a "Christian" or going to church doesn't mean our lives are all together and it doesn't mean we should think we're perfect, in fact if you're really a "Christian" it should mean the opposite. Sir if you'd really like to know what being a "Christian" can do for you let me tell you. Being a "Christian" means that you realize you are a person that screws up a lot and that even if you don't screw up as much as some you've screwed up enough that God doesn't have the type of relationship with you He wants. If you're a "Christian" you realize that no matter what you do you can't earn God's favor but that you only get it through His grace.

You see sir that by God's grace He decided to send His only Son, Jesus, to this earth to die for us so that if we place our faith in Him we might have an eternal relationship with God the Father. I know this must sound to simple but it wasn't simple on God's behalf, it was very costly. This doesn't mean that life will be perfect and it sure doesn't mean we'll be perfect, but it does mean when we screw up God forgives us because of Jesus. I realize the church and "Christianity" didn't work for you but I'm guessing that is because you expected some genie to grant you wishes and that isn't what God does. God isn't here to make our lives perfect but He wants to make our lives more and more dependent on Him instead of ourselves.

If you've encountered "Christians" that gave you the wrong impression I'm sorry because we shouldn't ever give you the impression living the life of following Jesus is easy, isn't easy but it is worth it because you live everyday forgiven and connected to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in a way you never could before you placed your life in the hands of Jesus. So sir I ask you that if in the future I screw up I hope you'll realize I'm not perfect but a work in progress daily being shaped by God because of His love and forgiveness.

I wish I could go back in time 9 years to talk with that guy but I can't so all I can do is pray someone else will tell and show him what being a Christian really is because I know that God's love and grace can work for him.

Drive Conference 2009 in Review

Last week I had the opportunity to go to the Drive Conference in Atlanta at North Point Community Church. As I expected Andy Stanley and his team did a great job of providing a 3 day getaway for pastors where they could have fun, learn, network, and have more fun. Any time you go to a conference like this it is really hard to narrow down all that you want to talk about because there was so much good stuff. What I'll try to do here, because I know you don't want to read for days, is to tell you all the titles of the main sessions and the breakout sessions I went to and then tell you a point or two that really stood out. If you have never been to Drive I really encourage you to go next May because it will be a great experience.

Andy Stanley was the speaker for the main sessions and the North Point Staff did all the breakouts.

Main Session "Leading in Uncertain Times"
* You need to respond to uncertainty with clarity & flexibility
* Plans can change, but the vision must remain the same
* Die on the hill of vision, but not plans

"Connecting Adults into Small Groups"
* provide multiple ways for people to take the next step of getting assimilated
* realize the joining a small group requires committment and some people just aren't ready for that yet
* make the process easy

"Developing Group Leaders Who Lead Well: What Every Leader Needs"
* simplicity allows for focus, and focus allows for excellence
* clarity prevents frustration & self-defining
* does your training effectively address the needs of your leaders?
* support your leaders
* when you trust your system you can trust your leaders

"Teaching That Sticks"
* you must raise a felt need in the audience
* ask yourself, "what is so important about what I'm about to say?"
* pick 1 point and build everything around it
* the point should be well-crafted, memorable, and as short as possible

Main Session "Listening, Learning, and Leading"
* creativity is intelligence having fun
* leadership is not about making decisions on your own, its about owning decisions once they are made
* the responsibility of the leader is not to make all the decisions, the responsibility of the leader is to ensure that all the decisions made are good ones
* you are probably not the smartest person in your organization, you are just the leader
* leaders are attracted to environments where their ideas and opinions are heard
* leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing important to say
* create a system that allows you to get the brightest and most strategic-minded people to the decision-making table and don't just allow seniority to determine structure
* fair ended in Eden, shoot for right

"Putting A Creative Idea to Work"
* the right people are the foundation of a successful creative process
* what is success for your environment?
* define your audience
* don't kill a bad idea too soon
* you have to have permission to fail
* give creative people room to fly but build in accountability

Main Session "Making Vision Stick"
* vision must be transferable
* state it simply- the larger your vision and the more people you want to understand it the simpler it must be
* cast it convincingly- position and present your vision as the solution to a problem that must be addressed immediately
* repeat it regularly- at least twice a year cast vision
* celebrate it systematicly
* embrace it personally & publicly- tie vision into everything & by everyone
* vision requires constant care & attention


As you can see there was a lot to take away from this great conference and I only wish I could have attended more breakout sessions because I didn't even get to go to a lot of other great ones. If you haven't spent much time seeing what North Point is doing to fulfill their vision of "creating a church that unchurched people want to go to" I encourage you too.
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