So the first week of being here we are just supposed to go to conferences in the morning and at night. Tonight's speaker was really really good and one part of what he said really struck me.
If people are leaving the church or the youth group it is because we have not made the story of the cross brilliant, compelling, or clear enough. It is not because the church/youth group is not 'cool' enough or does not have contemporary enough music or media. This is a very adolescent look at it/ If people are leaving it is because we have not proven Christ to be worth more than money, power, sex, drugs, friends, or materialism.
Our speaker was Art Azurdia. He was really amazing. I think he was my favorite speaker so far.
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And yet, in my mind, even that statement doesn't go far enough. We tell people to trust in Jesus to take their sins away. Then they expect to not be as tempted to sin instead of being told that they will need to seriously battle their sin nature. We all need to really take a hard look at how we perceive and share the Gospel and it's subsequent consequences.
But have you gone to any of the seminars during the day? Some of those are quite good.
I remember Art speaking at a few conferences--he must be a regular by now. I also remember one year when Francis Chan spoke and was using props. "This [beach ball] represents the world. This [whatever] represents man. This [Bible] represents the Word of God." He caught himself pretty quickly and said he was glad Johnny Mac wasn't there to hear it. ;-)
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