Things I Learned On the Road
Nov. 16 2007
Everything Justin and Isaac said about the need for us to fulfill our call as biblical men sounds great… before you spend 8 hrs in a van with ten yelling, caffeinated, arm-wrestling guys from your church. Wow.
I’m kidding here, but really, it’s easy for me to miss the connection between hearing encouragement to fulfill my call as a biblical man and actually partnering with the men in my own church. But I found that connection last week when two 15 passenger vans full of men—old and young—from my church in El Paso,TX made their way to Gilbert, AZ for The Pursuit, a conference for men on biblical masculinity.
Thinking about our recent and upcoming posts here on the blog about the local church helped me see the conference in a unique way. I saw that sometimes the road to stronger churches starts with stronger fathers and brothers and leaders. Here’s what I learned after spending 3 days with men from my church and other churches in the Western region of the country…
Two Generations
During the car ride up I didn’t agree with what my friend was saying about our style of worship music, so I took it upon myself to correct him. But I was impatient, perturbed, and tired of hearing the samething from him. He listened to my comments and received them quietly but still disagreed. I gave up.
Fortunately, my dad was sitting on the same row of seats with him. From behind the book I was reading I caught their conversation. My dad began drawing my friend out about why he thought the way he did. Then my dad went to scripture and helped him see the way worship is treated in the Bible. His words were gracious. Patient. Where I had tried to beat my friend on the head with truth my dad had graciously come alongside him and sought to help him. I later apologized to my friend but that example stuck with me.
During the trip I watched the older men in our group laughing and joking with the young men, then later drawing them out. I watched older men raise their eyebrows at the enthusiasm for preaching and application of the young men. And at the conference we highlighted young men there in their teens and we thanked God that they’d come to the conference. But we also honored men toward the end of their lives.
We need the passion of the young generation paired with the wisdom and experience of the older generation. Apart from the gospel the younger men would arrogantly try to usurp their elders, and the elders would pettily try to guard their territory. But because of the gospel we can all stand and sing together and grow together as Christians.
Theology
The first night after worship ended and Steve Shank came up to preach I was expecting “Five Points on Biblical Manhood” or maybe “Three Steps to Grow in Leadership”, but that’s not what I got. Instead Steve’ preached from Genesis 1-3 with five simple points: God, Man, Sin, Redemption. I wanted to move right away to practical application, but what I really needed was to have my theology rocked. I couldn’t talk about being a biblical man without a right understanding of God, of my sinful condition, and of the savior. Sitting at In-N-Out Burger after the messages we sat and ate double doubles and talked about Genesis late into the night.
The next day the theology didn’t let up as Rick Gamache—pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Bloomington, MN—preached on Jesus Christ and Justification at the conference. I’ve probably heard dozens of messages on the cross and the work of Christ during my lifetime and I’d begun to assume I understood it all, or at least had an idea. I was wrong. The cross, as Jerry Bridges says (and I paraphrase), is like a diamond that we slowly rotate and with each turn see more beauty and intricacy. Three “imputations” later in the message I was stunned. I felt as though I’d missed fully half of the glory of the cross. But there it was again, glittering, beautiful.
Practical Application
Perhaps my favorite part of the conference was spending time with men from my church. These brief moments would’ve made the trip worthwhile: Running into Safeway with Neil to buy laundry detergent for his mom (don’t ask) and talking about what we wanted learn at the conference. Taking our bags into our hotel room and talking about ministry and calling with Josue. Sitting in the back seat of the van with Bobby making fun people and talking about the messages.
Mid-way through the conference the messages got intensely practical. Craig Cabaniss—pastor of Grace Church in Frisco, TX—preached on repentance. Craig’s message wasn’t divorced from the previous messages; in fact it depended on them. He helped us see that outward conformity means nothing if your heart hasn’t changed and helped give us a practical plan for change. C.J. Mahaney drove the point home the next day as he talked about our part and God’s part in sanctification. These messages gave practical feet to the truth in our heads. Our late-night conversations turned from standing in awe of God’s truth to figuring out how to get the messages into our daily lives.
The road home
There was a moment during worship at the conference where I just stopped a looked around. I saw 800 men, arms raised, singing out. I was struck as I considered all the families and churches and businesses represented by these men. But it was even better when I looked and saw men from my own church. I knew them. I knew their struggles and their strengths and when I saw them singing I knew they meant it. I knew that in three days the conference would be gone but the men standing next to me would still be there—fighting sin, helping each other, caring for families. And because of their daily fight to believe and live the gospel our church would be stronger.
_____________
All the conference messages are available for free right here. And girls, most of the messages aren’t just aimed at men but apply to everyone. We especially love Rick Gamache’s message “Jesus Christ: The Perfect Man” on Justification.