C3 Session I
Here are some thoughts from Ed Young's opening session.
"Little people with little vision attack big people with big vision."
Here is an observation I've made over the years: a person who is sold out to God convicts everyone around them! But it's a holy conviction. And there are one of two responses. Either people criticize the one who convicts them to justify their complacency. Or they accept the challenge and sell out to God themselves!
That's what is happening in Nehemiah 4:14. Nehemiah has a God-sized vision. But a couple naysayers named Tobiah and Sanballat tried to diss-courage Nehemiah. But Nehemiah tuned them out. If you listen to the "wrong they" it'll result in vision sway.
Here is a discovery I've made over the years. Most of the people who come to your church from another church want your church to conform to the church they come from. You might need to read that twice. Unchurched people don't have an agenda. That's why they never cause problems :) But churched people often want your church to conform to their church. It's natural. It's subconscious.
Don't let anyone keep you from being you! I'm more and more convinced that part of spiritual maturity is resisting conformity and moving toward originality. It's becoming more and more comfortable in your own unique skin. We're called to conform to Christ. But we're all called to become unlike anyone else who has ever lived.
You be you.
"I don't want to rise and fall based on the opinions of people."
For what it's worth, Ed has someone screen his mail and email. And he doesn't read unsigned letters :) We need constructive criticism, but that ought to come from the people who are closest to us! If you listen to the "wrong they" you become like them.
Nehemiah stayed above the fray!
Here's a thought that really challenge me: "Leaders don't take people where they want to go. Leaders take people where they need to go."
Churches naturally become ingrown. I call them centripetal churches.
In the words of Ed Young, "People will lick the lint out of each other's navels." We're not called to sing Kumbaya. If someone isn't 100% on board with the vision of your church, no matter how much they give, you need their seat.
"I don't want people who are for me. I want people who are with me."
Technorati Tags: C3, C3 2006, Fellowship Church
"Little people with little vision attack big people with big vision."
Here is an observation I've made over the years: a person who is sold out to God convicts everyone around them! But it's a holy conviction. And there are one of two responses. Either people criticize the one who convicts them to justify their complacency. Or they accept the challenge and sell out to God themselves!
That's what is happening in Nehemiah 4:14. Nehemiah has a God-sized vision. But a couple naysayers named Tobiah and Sanballat tried to diss-courage Nehemiah. But Nehemiah tuned them out. If you listen to the "wrong they" it'll result in vision sway.
Here is a discovery I've made over the years. Most of the people who come to your church from another church want your church to conform to the church they come from. You might need to read that twice. Unchurched people don't have an agenda. That's why they never cause problems :) But churched people often want your church to conform to their church. It's natural. It's subconscious.
Don't let anyone keep you from being you! I'm more and more convinced that part of spiritual maturity is resisting conformity and moving toward originality. It's becoming more and more comfortable in your own unique skin. We're called to conform to Christ. But we're all called to become unlike anyone else who has ever lived.
You be you.
"I don't want to rise and fall based on the opinions of people."
For what it's worth, Ed has someone screen his mail and email. And he doesn't read unsigned letters :) We need constructive criticism, but that ought to come from the people who are closest to us! If you listen to the "wrong they" you become like them.
Nehemiah stayed above the fray!
Here's a thought that really challenge me: "Leaders don't take people where they want to go. Leaders take people where they need to go."
Churches naturally become ingrown. I call them centripetal churches.
In the words of Ed Young, "People will lick the lint out of each other's navels." We're not called to sing Kumbaya. If someone isn't 100% on board with the vision of your church, no matter how much they give, you need their seat.
"I don't want people who are for me. I want people who are with me."
Technorati Tags: C3, C3 2006, Fellowship Church
4 Comments:
pm-
i really loved the part about the screening of the unsigned letters and emails. makes me feel better about my conviction in the blog world of not really taking anyone seriously who comments anonymously on my xanga site. this is timely as i dealt with this very issue just yesterday.
as for the church and conformity- no one is ever going to be 100% happy with 100% of everything that is going on- but that is the beauty of ncc and the structure that is in place... you are really allowed to go after and pursue your passions and gifts.
i love your line: criticize by creating... ncc allows you to do just that! and through that thing you create, you can allow for conviction to take place, thus getting more people to be "with you"
*hasler
Mark:
Probably the biggest stumbling block in allowing God to work in my life through NCC in the first year was my desire that NCC be more like my old church. From cracking jokes about the movie theater and its popcorn smell to sermons not having 3 parts (Please see Mark’s recent blog about 3 part sermons), I felt uncomfortable. The uneasiness wasn’t because there was heresy from leadership or a culture of indifference from its regular attenders, but from the Holy Spirit challenging me to see a different side of God’s multifarious nature through His church. God has taught me, through being involved at NCC, that creativity and originality is not Man challenging God, but God challenging Man.
A wise old thirty-something pastor once said, “Maturity doesn’t equal Conformity.” I'm glad that's a core value because it's true.
Michael
"For what it's worth, Ed has someone screen his mail and email. And he doesn't read unsigned letters :) We need constructive criticism, but that ought to come from the people who are closest to us! If you listen to the "wrong they" you become like them."
Thanks for sharing that. I get a lot of criticism filtered through my church council. There's never a name attached to it though. Getting to the problem is like nailing jello to a wall that way. So I will no longer accept "unsigned" criticism. Great insight!
Pastor Chip, you said,
"I get a lot of criticism filtered through my church council. There's never a name attached to it though."
I would suggest you get a copy of Ed's messages in session 1 and 2 of C3 2006. It will be a great help and encouragement. It might even help if you passed them off to your church council.
Hope it helps.
Craig
TD Jakes "It's not where you are that matters, it's where you are going!"
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