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Some speakers resonate.
Some, not so much.
A trend that I've noticed in conference circles like this is to make it "deeply challenging" for the audience... which I believe is Christian code-speak for chastising and demeaning your listeners with Scripture. Don't get me wrong, I love a good challenge! And I love when someone "brings it" for my benefit and growth. However, more often than not, what seems to be communicated (though it may be unintended) is that whatever you're doing right now as a Christian pastor, leader, influencer... well, it's wrong. You've somehow screwed the whole thing up and you're missing the point.
Man, I wish it were as easy as "missing the point." I wish that somehow those pastors and leaders were simply looking in the wrong places and now this speaker can point them in the correct direction.
But I think there is a broader implication here.
The message isn't really about the message.
It isn't about Scripture.
It isn't about process, strategy, mission.
The underlying issue is intimacy. And even the speaker-- with his best selling book(s), hip church, rockin' band, innovative style, successful organization, spiritual impact-- is somehow caught up in the same spiral of performance-based approval as his audience.
The neck-breaking speed and lifestyle of most Christian leaders today is unbearably unsustainable and often lacks a real intimacy for the God they have chosen to serve professionally.
I would love to attend a conference where a speaker begins with who the pastors and leaders are becoming in their OWN faith. How are they investing in themselves? How are they learning to say, "No"? What rhythms have they set up for themselves for refereshment and renewal? How are they investing in their own hearts?
Here's the thing: no pastor or leader can effectively influence change that they aren't experiencing themselves. Want your church or organization unleashed? Great! How are you being unleashed? How are you creating a culture that values and fosters intimacy with God? Who are you becoming?
It is as if Lee Iacocca was right when he said, "The speed of the boss [leader or pastor] is the speed of the team." I believe this is a cultural statement not a productivity statement. Your church or organization becomes what you are not what you hope it to be no matter how inspiring or well thought out. We replicate and produce what we are, not what we do or say.
So, what if as pastors and leaders we did ruthlessly care for our own hearts? Who would we become? How would that impact our church or organization? What must we do today to take bold action toward cultivating intimacy with our Father? What would be the result?
Maybe this would be a better conference to have: a conference where instead of chastising the bride for being worn out and bedraggled, we wooed her back to intimacy with her Groom, Christ.
Photo by Dave Hackbarth for Illuminate Photography. Used with Permission.