I love going to a good conference. A conference that is gospel centered and challenging. Too often they are fluffy with a lot of emotionalism. This past week I was a driver/chaperone for a student leadership conference for Christian schools. Although everyone who had gone had good things to say, my expectations for content were not high. I was expecting a fun and entertaining three days.
I did get that. But so much more as well.
The speaker, Glenn Maddon, was blunt and challenged action. The kind of challenge that you can’t just say, or I couldn’t anyway, "yeah, that’s great, I should do that, but…later." He gave opportunity to respond to his challenge. The first was to respond with some action, whatever it might be, as we sang a song at the end. This may seem silly, but for me that meant raising my hands in worship. I rarely do that and feel a little awkward doing so. But for me that night, that was an action of response. Funny how a physical action that may seem very small is often connected to the spiritual and makes it easier to respond that way as well.
The second night Glenn was talking about fig leaves (a la Adam and Eve hiding from God using fig leaves). Following his message we were asked to quitely get into our room groups and have a time of confession about what some of our fig leaves are. While I didn’t share as much as I could have, there was a lot of hidden wounds and sins that came to the surface in our group. The girls were being challenged to be open, just as I was challenged on a smaller level to raise my hands. It was vulnerable, there were tears, and it was good.
But what impressed me the most about the music, the main sessions and the workshops I attended is how gospel centered they were. The amazing truth that I am a sinner but that Christ has taken my sin and nailed it to His cross, not because I am worthy but because He loves me, was proclaimed again and again. During the music time we sang songs like "It is Well with my soul" with the line "My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!". And "Your Grace is Enough" with the line "Great is Your faithfulness oh Lord, You wrestle with the sinner’s heart…" And "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe." Wonderful.
It is because of this truth, that Jesus paid it all, that I am free to dance and I am free to live for Christ. How amazing! I am free to not sin! Which means that I am free in Christ to put faith into action and to be open and vulnerable. How wonderful and how grateful I am to have been reminded again and again over the last few days.
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