@ Catalyst—First Day Thoughts

The first day of Catalyst was great! Today were the pre-labs - smaller (still hundreds of people) settings of people in a more intimate setting with various speakers. Listened in on four sessions total - all from amazing guys. Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, TX, was incredible!

The story of The Village is one that is amazing in and of itself - growing by nearly 5000 people in about five years time. This is one of those churches that people look at and want to tap into whatever it is that they can draw from the pastor (Chandler in this case) - most of the time in an effort to try & duplicate it in order to hopefully see the same numerical growth in their own ministries/churches.

I knew I was going to like what Matt had to say when right out of the gate he admitted that this growth was the primary reason that he was even at Catalyst - not so much because he is an amazing teacher, or that he has a unique message - but primarily because he is the pastor of a fast growing church, and because others want to know his ‘secret.’ The only secret he shared right off the bat was the fact that the growth & the numbers were the number one barrier/problem he faced in trying to see spiritual transformation take place in the church. He went as far as to call it a ‘nightmare.’

He went on to share about some possible reasons why he believes the church isn’t seeing spiritual transformation take place in people’s lives. Here’s a synopsis…

1. Undue emphasis is placed on width and not on depth

   This isn’t so much on numerical growth, as much as it is on the level of information being conveyed in churches. For most churches, discipleship is only related at the cognitive level - “what people know.” People aren’t striving to be obedient to what has already been revealed to them. They just keep taking more and more in. We are left with people who are theologically knowledgeable without real life change having taken place.

2. The absolute disintegration of authentic Biblical community

   We all need both encouragement & rebuke in our lives. The problem is that we, as a whole, do not have those type of relationships. Encouragement is more than the pat on the back of the pastor for a “good message” given on a Sunday morning. It is ‘speaking life’ into someone else. Rebuke is never taken well. We either respond with shame or angrily try and turn it back on the one rebuking - even when they are rebuking us correctly & in a spirit of love.

3. The absolute lack of building out of authoritative churches

   We don’t have authoritative churches in most cases any longer. We don’t want to offend people. We certainly don’t want to practice Biblical discipline for those in our churches who are living blatantly and openly in sin. We’ll too often sacrifice depth for width (numbers, wise) - which leads us to…

4. Numbers are sexy to us

   We have the false assumption that size has something to do with success. It’s relatively easy to get people into our churches - it is more important, though, what we do with them then.

5. We live in a culture built off speed

   Both spoken & unspoken we’ve told people that spiritual growth/formation happens quickly. It’s a crawl! It’s like watching our kids grow. We can’t stare at them & see grow take place - but we can measure it. It is slow - something that can’t be felt, but can be measured. We keep lying to people, saying “If you just have a quiet time 3 times a week…”; “If you just complete this Discipleship course…”; “If…” you fill in the blank… you’re grow quickly spiritually! We will lose people when we lie to them. Spiritual formation does happen - God promises to complete the work He has begun in us. But it is something that is a slow & many times difficult process.

   We need to treat spiritual growth like we treat our children’s first steps - by celebrating the steps, not focusing on the fall! Step, step, step, fall - “He’s walking!” Is this the way God view us? Doesn’t He celebrate the fact that we are walking, not beat us up because we fall?

   We need to find ways to celebrate the steps in people’s lives & celebrate those stories. The stories of people who “step, step, step” and then something major negative happens in their life - they lose a job, disease enters the picture, etc. - and they keep walking! That’s spiritual transformation/growth that we need to celebrate!

Tomorrow the main sessions begin. We’re getting up early (yeah, call us crazy) so we can be at the Red Carpet Experience at 6:30am in the morning. This is the ‘show before the show’ festivities they have for those waiting to enter outside the building (the doors open around 7:30-7:45am, I think). Lots of fun - should be a good time.