Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Catalyst West Review (part 1)...

I jumped on a plane last month with Jamie (our young adults pastor) and headed off to Irvine, CA for Catalyst West. Since we were traveling so far we figured we might as well take in the Origins Lab the day before it officially started. The morning started off with everyone together in one room for a general session before letting us break away and choose our midday labs that were scattered across the campus of Mariner's Church.

I found my way into a session with Margaret Feinberg, one with Dan Kimball and a panel discussion with some of the pastors from different Mosaic campuses. While all three of those sessions were decent, it was the time with Erwin McManus that left the biggest impression.

Erwin McManus read from Acts 17. He went into a lengthy conversation about how we as Christian leaders need to move beyond the first space (our self made "Christian bubble") and into the second space (where we live and play everyday and rub shoulders with people that don't know Jesus). By doing so can find ourselves invited into the third space (the place we cannot force our way into; it's invite only). We only get there after earning the right to be present and to be heard in the second space.

If that's a little convoluted, sorry. Erwin actually needed to come back after he spoke in the morning and readdress it in the last session. Either way I found myself processing.

I was wondering if I get so content in my first space bubble that I completely forget about the spaces beyond. Where have I earned the right to be heard? Where do I have an influence? Where do I strive to be an influence?
Quoteworthy:

"Just because I can't answer your questions doesn't mean there isn't a God. It just means I'm stupid. There's a big difference." -Erwin McManus

"Most of us really want to be popular in the first space, thereby limiting our impact in the second space, and eliminating ourselves entirely from the third space." -Erwin McManus

"Wouldn't it be amazing if we stopped playing around in the first space and started living and making a difference in the second and third space?" -Erwin McManus

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