Purpose Driven Conference

My first day as an intern and I could already sense that everyone around me was family. I parked my extra large 4Runner in the already bulging parking lot and hoped for a smooth adoption into this Saddleback family. My first day just happened to land on Saddleback’s annual Purpose Driven Church Conference. Everything from different languages to palm trees met me like a parade and told me that my Ohio small town was far behind me. Fast, fluid, and flexible, is it? Time to march along and fully embrace what I found in front me.

I can’t lay out for you every principle for growing a healthy Purpose Driven Church, I can’t rattle off how many different countries were represented, and I can’t walk into your church and diagnose every problem and provide every solution (come back in 2018 for all of that!). But, the two things that I can do now that I could not do before are spot a leader equipped to usher in The Kingdom and to know the next steps for becoming one myself.

“When you stop learning you stop leading.” Rick Warren seemed happy and at home, surrounded by fellow church leaders. This was my first in-person exposure to Rick’s teaching. I remember hearing a friend of mine say, “Rick has such a strong teaching anointing. When he teaches it’s like he’s breathing.” I get it now. “When you stop learning you stop leading.” He continued on to say that humility makes a leader. Not originality, not 80-hour work weeks, and not get-rich-quick schemes. Rick shared how he did not care if he overheard another pastor giving the same sermon he gave last week. He said, “We are all on the same team winning souls for Christ.” He said that he is not intimidated by numbers, successes, or failures. He just learns from them. I looked at him and around at the powerful ministry surrounding him and thought, “He’s officially the most humble person I know.” How else would God’s “breath-teaching” anointing be on him? He’s not about his business, He’s about the Father’s business.

We often think of humility as a demeanor and by this we’ve done a bad thing. Humility is not a quiet voice, an absent voice, or deleting all of our social media. Humility is possessing an unoffendable spirit. I know nothing stronger. To walk our days shielded by selflessness--as we wake up and leave our pride under the covers--is a thing seemingly unattainable. But isn’t it the very thing that our hearts cannot stop crying for? The choice to drain me of me and let His love dwell in a clean temple is humility.

As a millennial who grew up with numerous and boisterous resources to promote myself, my thoughts, and my lifestyle, humility can easily become a greasy subject: hard to grasp and quite undesirable. However, over the past year, God has revealed to me the blessings of a humble spirit and I’ve learned to love the chances to silence my pride. Hearing Rick teach and experiencing the ministry and family that has grown up around him was a sweet, sweet encouragement that humility is the blessed path to godly leadership. But not only to leadership, also to love. All of the self-serving racket that we surround ourselves with not only has a pride root, but also an unlovable root. We cry out to be noticed in hopes of being loved. We put on a mask in defense of the ugly parts so that maybe they’ll be overlooked. It’s been said that to be fully known is the only way to be fully loved. This is the training we are on this earth for: to be humbled enough to walk totally exposed into God’s presence--putting aside any pretense that we could possibly hide or make better what He has created--and to receive love. If we cannot kneel and get ourselves out of the way, if we let pride sit in love’s seat and let it take from us our testimonies of God’s healing power in our lives, how can we expect to lead others into an experience of Love Himself?

The conference was a well of love if people would but lower their buckets and drink. The biggest well-gathering I watched was the Women in Ministry Lab that happened the afternoon of Day 2. Myself and two other interns drove down to the smallest meeting room the conference provided to prepare and welcome. Following us down the hill rode shuttle after shuttle dropping off thirsty and love-lost women who came hear about their worth in The Kingdom’s work. It became very clear, very fast that our small room could not hold all of these daughters. Saddleback’s Women’s Minister, Beth Schwartz, made the call to move the overflow onto the lawn. Chairs multiplied and populated the space under the shade of the tree and the smile of the sun. Electric anticipation tingled in the air as the panel rose to the challenge of the unexpected. The miracle wasn’t finding a place to hold everyone; the miracle was the abundance of hungry hearts. Not one grumble left one mouth, not one hint of disdain for the heat could be felt, and not one woman left without a blessing and a renewed worth.

Being a woman called into ministry myself, I was encouraged to learn about the lives and truths that these amazing leaders held. One woman in the crowd said, “Women have a special ability to channel the heart of God.” By this she meant His emotions, His tenderness, and His sensitivity. I’ve always carried those parts of me confidently and proudly and to know that other women around me were championing the same gifts welled up in me even more excitement for how God will use me in His Kingdom. During a debrief with Beth she said, “I keep thinking about the verse in Isaiah that says ‘I’m doing a new thing, eyes cannot perceive it, I’m making a way in the wilderness and springs in the wasteland.’ These women are about to find themselves in that new spring where their wastelands once were.” Beth’s heart for women serving in ministry is tender and determined and she channels God’s dreams for women with authority. She rejoices that she’s entering a season of celebration for Saddleback Women!

I wasn’t basking in all the wisdom and beauty alone. Two other interns, Abby Bennett and Erika Gladen, were my faithful companions--adopting me and celebrating with me throughout the day. Erika said about the conference, “I expected to learn how to grow and build a church but I think the most important things I learned were that every church is on the same team, no church is perfect, and that we can all encourage each other and help solve our problems together. The Off The Record session the first night was especially moving. I loved seeing that Saddleback wasn’t alone in wanting to address difficult issues like intergenerational cultures in church and women in ministry. It was sweet to witness all of the encouragement.” Abby loved the title of the conference, Hope Renewed, and found bits of hope throughout the session. “I didn’t really want an information overload; I just wanted the hope part. One way I experienced a renewed hope was when Rick talked about spelling ‘love’ T-I-M-E. I had never thought of that before. One other sweet moment was when Erika and I got to empower and equip another woman from a church in Arizona. When she learned that we were both working on communication and social media for Saddleback Women, she immediately asked what some of our strategies were and we got to share. Rick often talks about multiplying what works and I loved being apart of that.”

Through millennial eyes, this conference surrounded us with mentors and teachers who embodied wisdom, hope, love, and humility. It uncovered for us that the bedrock of all ministry is humility and that humility is the gateway to receiving love and leading others into it.

I’ll let this become and end a letter of thanks. The millennial generation feels the weight of the work ahead of us and we feel the excitement that the older generations sends our way. But, we also see the unceasing strength and tireless prayer poured out from you that has moved more than mountains for us; so that we can run with the horses and fly like the eagles to usher in God’s Kingdom in our day. Behind the pioneers come the settlers and the protectors and the forerunners to spread the Good News. We would be buried without you. Thank you for a high floor that was once your ceiling. Thank you for adopting us into a family of fighters, worshippers, and lovers and teaching us the armor of humility to complete the task. Too much drowns if we do not embrace what is in front of us. In humility we will build and not break; in humility we will live loved and stand firm to love much.