Catalyst 2009

Last Week I attended the 2009 version of the Catalyst Conference along with some of our staff and Elders. Catalyst is an outstanding Christian leadership conference and this was their tenth anniversary. I have attended three or four of the ten. This year's edition had some great speakers including Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Chuck Swindol, Malcolm Gladwell, Tony Dungy, Matt Chandler, Priscilla Shirer, Dave Ramsey, Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, and others.

A few people have asked me what my biggest "takeaway" from the conference was. That's tough to say because there were so many excellent speakers and I learned so much. I guess if I had to narrow it all down it would that I heard a clear word to return to my first love: Jesus Christ. At last year's conference it seemed like I heard more about things in our church that need fixing. This year's conference seemed to be more about things in me that need fixing.

We all have things going on in our churches. Some of them are good; and some are bad. In the end, however, we all have the same goal: to stand before Jesus and hear him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

It was Louie Giglio who pointed out that many of us are standing on our marks, ready to run the race, but we need to ask ourselves where are we headed. We need to settle the destination of our journey. Why is that so important? Because of the ways in which our destination impacts the journey along the way. Giglio shared a quote from Thomas Merton who once said, "Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire."

I left Catalyst wondering, what is it I desire? What is the destination of my journey? How does that destination shape my day-to-day life and ministry? As Giglio pointed out as he concluded his talk, "When the world says, 'I found God on your face,' that is leadership." That's what it is all about.

What am I going to do about this? Simple: In order to reflect Jesus' face I'm going to need to spend a lot more face time with Him myself. That's my biggest takeaway. Lord, help me to do just that... Amen.