Friday was a full day at the Reset Conference. Here are some highlights. Look for the video and audio to posted for registrants, eventually!
First of the morning to speak was Tim Breene, author of the book “Jumping the S Curve: Lessons on Renewal.” Tim discussed accelerating change and its impact: “To sit on the sidelines is to risk irrelevance.” The number of companies that have become irrelevant in the corporate world is growing: the number exiting the Fortune 500 list has doubled. (Will this apply to mission agencies too?) Even when your core is strong and seemingly unassailable, you must be continually reinventing yourself. But what factors should you pay attention to? Most companies only focus on finances. Instead, they need to pay attention to three other curves: talent, strategy and capabilities.
Second, Norwood Davis, CFO with 12Stone Church, whose thought-provoking statement was: we are not in the midst of a cyclical change, but rather a structural shift in digital, generational and financial realms. This is the “new normal”: facing structural unemployment for next decade. The challenging thought: “90% of giving to churches comes from Boomers.” This will shrink dramatically in the short-term future. Will the next generation pick up the gap? Are we prepared for the onrushing generational downturn in giving? How will this change our missionary support models?
Friday evening we took time to honor a number of organizations with awards for excellence. The Lifetime of Service Award went to Greg Livingstone, who helped to found Frontiers. Through the service of he and his wife, over 1,000 missionaries have been sent to the Muslim world.
Following these presentations, the third address was via video by Dave Gibbons, who talked about the global shift happening in the world and how he felt the church was lagging behind. First, Gibbons felt the church was focused on the mass and the result was an “impotent engagement” with culture through “one-size-fits-all” programs which weren’t tailored to the need of indigenous communities. “Where we need to change is to focus more on the margins.” The second way the church is lagging behind on is human development (sometimes we refer to this as leadership development or the spiritual journey). In the Western framework we develop strengths, gifts and personality. The other side is the more Eastern perspective: pain and suffering. How do we integrate that into understanding one’s destiny? The church has focused a lot on putting out propositional truth, but the world is asking–”are you [the church] true? Are you talking to me, or rehashing what you’ve memorized, selling me something?”
The final session of the night was a passionate talk by Skye Jethani, who gave some thought provoking ideas about how the next generation should be mobilized. He discussed the ways in which we interact with God. Perhaps the most challenging idea to me was when “mission becomes the center of everything.” Initially this seems good–but when you think through the ramifications, it means “my mission becomes the center of everything.” Rather than bringing people to Jesus, we bring people to our mission. If they don’t adopt our mission, well… Rather, we should “bring people to the foot of the cross–and leave them there.” When people get closer to Jesus, they will get closer to His calling on their life, too.
We left the conference that night with our heads stuffed full, indeed!
Saturday morning was the final day. We began with the business meeting at which a historic vote took place: The Mission Exchange (EFMA) and CrossGlobalLink (IFMA) have voted to merge their respective organizations into one new organization. This will be a “deep change” in itself!
After that announcement we shifted in to the Younger Leaders’ Response forum, moderated by Paco Amador. Four younger leaders (representative of the several dozen who attended) gave significant feedback on the interaction between the generations. Some of the thought-provoking things said:
- “Young Christians don’t have a passion for organizations or denominations but rather in living for Jesus.”
- “Authenticity is essential [when mentoring]. Young leaders can sniff it a mile away–or the lack of it.”
- “Young leaders have a deep desire to be given permission to dream.”
- “Give the gift of high expectations to younger leaders. Call them beyond their current level of confidence and comfort.”
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