Why I am not at Unleash

Today is the Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church.  I’ve been every year they held it.  It’s a great conference and an awesome way to expose volunteers and leaders to a great church doing amazing things for a very reasonable cost.  I’m glad Perry Noble and the NewSpring staff make the conference available to so many for so cheap.  It’s been an investment in our church every time we’ve gone.

This year I had a chance to go – for free even (if you don’t count travel dollars) but decided to stay home.  Why?  Well there are numerous reasons but this is one of the things i’ve had to curtail in my own life.  Over the past 5 years or so I kind of became a conference junkie.  It started with Innovate at Granger with a couple staff people.  Then C3, then a dozen volunteers making the trek to Granger annually, then Unleash even closer and a couple dozen people.

I decided late last year – enough is enough.  At some point you have to get out of learning mode and fully engage doing mode.  Last year I went to Unleash, Granger’s innovate, was in two coaching networks, one of them had a mini-conference and we took volunteers, I helped put on a mini-conference myself, and coached 4 pastors.  Thats a lot of time in the classroom learning with and training believers but at some point – you have to take the believers God has given you and train them to go out into the real world of the mission field and make disciples.

We’ve done a pretty good job at going and getting people – but we can do a lot better job at making disciples.  So for now my time is better spent working with the people of Crosspoint implementing what we already know than going off and learning something new.  We need to be good stewards of the training we already have before we get more.  Its kind of the sponge idea.  Once its full you have to wring it out.  We soaked up a lot of stuff.  I know I did personally.  Its time to wring it dry so we can soak up more.

Conferences are great learning and networking tools.  But I think one danger in conferences is that many people attend and see some new shiny thing and take that home hoping its the ticket to the next growth curve.  Then they get back to their church and realize they dont have the personnel, the resources, or the technical ability to pull it off.  After the conference high is over – all you are left with is disappointment many times.

I’m excited for all the leaders that went to Unleash.  I think some Crosspoint people took off to go there on their own dime and initiative.  I know they will be recharged, inspired, and learn a great deal.  But Crosspoint is not trying to be NewSpring.  I have no illusions of being Perry Noble.  I have more than enough knowledge and notes and ideas – and more importantly a bible!  Now its time to rally the troops and do what we know to do and fully implement what we are capable of (with God’s help) and carry out God’s vision for us to knock a dent in Hell.