Where do conferences fit into Discipleship?
The first conference that I ever went to for Discipleship was at the Discipleship.org conference in Nashville. The trip was one to remember. There were two 15 passenger vans full of people that were currently walking in Discipleship relationships. The men were walking with our Pastor and the women were walking with his (the Pastor’s) wife. We got in the vans in Harrah Oklahoma at 6am and arrived in Nashville that evening. We got to stay at a Hostile right in the middle of Nashville over off Broadway. The Hostile was a great place that allowed us to have conversations with people that we wouldn’t normally get to, had we been at an AirBnB.
The main speakers at the conference included Robert Coleman, Jim Putman, Bill Hull, and many other very qualified disciple makers. The main speakers had great things to say that were rooted in truth and rooted in the Word. Not every other speaker in the breakout sessions were that way. I quietly walked out of a couple breakout sessions because things were said that I did not believe lined up with the Word. I did not seek anyone out to inform them of the fallacies that were shared. I did not find that to be a fruitful endeavor. I did what I do with many things I read, watch, or listen to; I kept the good and I tossed the rest.
The things that I witnessed about the convention, was that the most fruitful part of the conference was not necessarily the speakers, the book vendors, or the snacks. The most fruitful thing that I took away from the conference was the one-on-one conversations about Jesus. I was able to partake in these conversations and watch others do the same thing. The unfortunate situation with having so many breakout sessions is that it is impossible for an attendee to hear every speaker and teaching.
Conferences don’t always seem like they fit into ministry, church, or discipleship. One thing that I know is that Jesus did not meet his Disciples at the temple. He met them in life and at events. We read in Luke 5 that Jesus healed a paralytic while he was preaching to a crowd, that was again, not at the temple. We read in Luke 6 that Jesus came down from the mountain to a great crowd and choose his disciples. We read in John 4 that Jesus met a woman at a well to give her the good news. Over and over, we see Jesus doing more Kingdom work outside of the temple. Is that the model that we should be following? Yes.
Mission is so important to ministry. If we are not engaging in mission, are we just building a kingdom with walls around it? We were never meant to come to church once a week to worship God. We were made to worship God. (if you didn’t notice, there was a period at the end of that sentence) It is possible to worship God at church, at home, at school, at work, in the car, at the store, and even at a conference. Our worship does not stop when we walk out the doors on Sunday. We were also never told to only find fellow believers at the temple. The word tells us “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation”. The key word here is GO.
I walk with women. I pour into other women daily. I also have amazing women around me that pour into me. I always have the thought in the back of my mind, “other women need this”. I know many women who don’t have anyone pouring into them. This creates a dull pain in my heart for them. They don’t know how sweet an intimate(not sexual) relationship with other women who love Jesus can be. I have recently been in Hebrews 10.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25.
Every time I have been in small groups talking about Jesus or big conferences talking about Jesus, the one thing that I always hear is, I left so encouraged. I believe in relational Discipleship. However, I also believe in getting together in big groups to speak with people who don’t necessarily believe the way we do or have the same tools that we do. This fosters cross pollination. I love learning from other women. I hear a lot of people say, we don’t speak from experience. However, that is not a hard fast rule. When I know someone is struggling to find their identity in Christ, I know what scripture to give them because I have experience in helping women with this. We read books from Disciple Makers because they are subject matter experts… from experience. Granted, it is often rooted in the word, it is still their experience. Sharing out experiences in disciple making and ministry can be encouraging to other women if we are focused on growth of the kingdom and spiritual growth.
Where we should see Deborahs, Priscillas and Phoebes sitting, there is often an empty chair. Hearing other women teach the Word is so nurturing to my soul. Women teaching is rarely something that happens in majority of churches. If this happened more, it could encourage other women to teach with all authority. If more women taught with all authority we would see more women Discipling with all authority. However, I urge you to walk with caution, humbleness, and always remembering the Glory of God above you.
How are you helping to build the Kingdom?
What is your mission?
How do you walk that out?
What resources do you need to seek out?
Grace & Peace
Chorley
Kingdom movers, rarely ask for permission.