For some time, I have known about this organization called Catalyst. Essentially, it's a leadership organization with a Christian emphasis, and even though its primary audience consists of Christians, it also seeks to help Christian leaders in business think about ways to lead their organizations in both good business practices and in Christian emphases. The organization is based not too far from where I now live, and this week they are holding their annual conference here.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a significant portion of the conference. I heard several speakers talk about their studies, their organizations, and their faith. One of the joys I get out of things like this is going around to the different booths, picking up a few free resources, and seeing the new literature that is being put out for Christian leaders. I always seem to find a few nuggets from their stories and from the materials that fit what is needed in my particular ministry and context.
That brings me to the point of this blog post. Truthfully, I don't always agree with the point of view of the presenters, anymore than I necessarily agree with the point of view of the authors whose books I read. However, even as I read, I recognize that there are things that they say that provide a nugget of wisdom for the work I am involved in. It may not look exactly like what it does in their context, but often, there are ways that it can be adapted to fit or further what I seek to do as I lead God's people in ministry.
Now, that isn't as easy as it may sound. In fact, the challenge is to make sure that it isn't just something you cram in, regardless of how unnatural it may seem. It has to somehow provide a natural flow in the ministry life of the organization. What that means is that, every once in a while, I'll come across something that seems really good, but there is just no possible way to make it work in the context of our ministry. Sometimes good ideas have to be scrapped just because they don't work in the context of the ministry. And sometimes, ideas that don't seem all that great suddenly find that they fit really well, and make a great deal of impact.
It takes a great deal of discernment to figure out things like this. I won't pretend to get it right all the time. In fact, I'm a firm believer that you often learn more from failure than you do from success. I don't mind trying something, realizing that it doesn't work out, and then adjusting, adapting, or moving on. It's scary sometimes, but overall, our lives as Christians will often encounter failure, and it's how we handle those obstacles that often says a lot about the depth of our faith.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend a significant portion of the conference. I heard several speakers talk about their studies, their organizations, and their faith. One of the joys I get out of things like this is going around to the different booths, picking up a few free resources, and seeing the new literature that is being put out for Christian leaders. I always seem to find a few nuggets from their stories and from the materials that fit what is needed in my particular ministry and context.
That brings me to the point of this blog post. Truthfully, I don't always agree with the point of view of the presenters, anymore than I necessarily agree with the point of view of the authors whose books I read. However, even as I read, I recognize that there are things that they say that provide a nugget of wisdom for the work I am involved in. It may not look exactly like what it does in their context, but often, there are ways that it can be adapted to fit or further what I seek to do as I lead God's people in ministry.
Now, that isn't as easy as it may sound. In fact, the challenge is to make sure that it isn't just something you cram in, regardless of how unnatural it may seem. It has to somehow provide a natural flow in the ministry life of the organization. What that means is that, every once in a while, I'll come across something that seems really good, but there is just no possible way to make it work in the context of our ministry. Sometimes good ideas have to be scrapped just because they don't work in the context of the ministry. And sometimes, ideas that don't seem all that great suddenly find that they fit really well, and make a great deal of impact.
It takes a great deal of discernment to figure out things like this. I won't pretend to get it right all the time. In fact, I'm a firm believer that you often learn more from failure than you do from success. I don't mind trying something, realizing that it doesn't work out, and then adjusting, adapting, or moving on. It's scary sometimes, but overall, our lives as Christians will often encounter failure, and it's how we handle those obstacles that often says a lot about the depth of our faith.
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