Thoughts by Young Men

Well, Shepherd’s Conference is over. Now that I have gotten that piece of depressing news out of the way, I wanted to take a quick moment to put a final bow on the 09 excursion. In short I would summarize the content as a call to higher, harder and healthier ministry. While not even the greatest minds among us (JSarr, Sean Higgins… actually, that’s about it) have been able to identify a singular theme that runs through the sessions and seminars - higher, harder and healthier is how “I” would summarize it.

While the call to a higher level of God fearing, a harder pursuit of truth and a greater heart for the overall heath of the church COULD be said of SC every year - these were the three “take aways” that stood out the most to me.
I have been asked several times now which message I thought was the “best.” I’ve spent enough “hemming and hawing” each time I’ve been asked I feel I finally have an answer. The most impacting message in my mind was the message by Phil Johnson on Sound Words. The concept that he spent the majority of his time focusing on was the idea that, as leaders of the church, we are to be calling the members on to greater things - not seeking to meet them on their level when that level is the very condition they are needing to be saved from. Mr. Johnson went on to discuss the examples of XXX Church (a controversial ministry to the porn industry) and the close to home example of Mars Hill (a young pastor known for his use of vulgar language.)
On a side note, I did appreciate Johnson’s care in noting that no one faulted either of these two ministries for having a heart for these demographics - the fault comes in the approach to reaching them. Methodology aside, the key take-away from Johnson’s message, in my mind, was the call to witness to the church by calling sinners to a higher level, not by meeting sinners on their level.

We do a fallen world NO FAVORS by trying to befriend them on a level that acts like they have “time” to repent from their God-denying behavior. Love the drug addict, YES; love the prostitutes, YES; love the atheists, terrorists, scientologists, rapists, murderer-ists, robbers-ists, YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! Pretend like any one of their sins is not as bad as one of the vilest of offenders and is not AS culpable in the sending of Christ to the cross, no.
As a junior high leader, I am challenged by this principle. While none of the young men in my group are guilty in the prosecutable sense of the above crimes, I am still called to call them to a higher standard. To witness to a junior higher, you don’t meet them on their level, try to “get their humor,” get them to “want to be around you” by wasting time in the ways they waste their time - you witness to a junior higher by showing them the desperate situation they are in before a Holy God and then encourage them to follow the example set down by Christ. Need a “practical guide” on how to do that? Try following the example I am leaving as I pursue the SAME THING - and lest I boast, my example is not my own, its my example, set down by JSarr, set down by Jim Otto, Set down by his discipler, set down by his discipler and on down the line of faithful men.

Sorry, I’m off of the borrowed soap box now.

Beyond THAT call to a higher level of God fearing, I was impacted by Steve Lawson’s rallying call to pursue the truth in the face of of promised persecution. Examining the example of the life of John Knox and his relentless preaching of the gospel against a tyrannical reign of persecution as compared to the willing “punt of the gospel” by Joel Osteen on national television - I was personally convicted to know and preach the gospel of the One who called me from a hopeless condition.

On a practical sense, I enjoyed Rob Ivarson’s seminar on how to Make Waves Without Sinking The Boat - a practical application of dealing with conflict in the church. While he relayed a handful of practical “tips” when dealing with controversy that I believe will certainly come in handy, it was his repetition of the principle (the health of the church) that I found motivating. Having been in and around discussions of controversy in the church for a long time, I have seen what happens when unity in Christ is not given priority.

And there you have it, my summary of the Shepherd’s Conference. The fellowship is always excellent, the singing is amazing and the outpouring of the leaders heart is convicting. Feel free to ask me personally how the conference went - I am not writing this post as a “please stop asking me” - though, maybe you could refer back to this post for some of the basic questions… Thanks for reading, enjoy!