Global Leadership Summit 2011 Closing Session - Chasing Daylight
Erwin McManus - Activist; Filmmaker; Innovator and Cultural
Ecclesiastes Chapter 1:
...Everything is meaningless... The sun is forever...
He struggled with Solomon's sayings in Ecclesiastes Chapter 1. He told his wife that he disagreed with Solomon and she said “You're going to Hell. Please don't tell anyone.” He said he can prove Solomon was wrong.
Especially he had trouble with the statement “There is nothing new under the sun.” Many faith communities use that phrase. He was thinking of new things we can do to help our race, or people looking for God, or to reflect on the reality of God. People would give him a “theological pat on the head.” and say this phrase (“There's nothing new under the sun.”).
Solomon was wrong. There are new things under the sun. Why should we let someone who says “Everything is meaningless” shape our day. Is life just about “eat, drink, and be merry?” This has created an apathy that is killing the Church.
God walking among us, that was new. God being Crucified, that was new. The Resurrection of the dead Christ, that is new. In Isaiah 43:19 God says: “Behold I am doing a new thing.” His mercies are new every morning. You can't put this new wine in an old wineskin.
God began as an artist. God rested on the 7th day, not because he was tired, but because we have to take a day to celebrate. But, God's not finished, he's still creating.
We can say “Let's make history” but saying “Let's create the future” is something we have difficulty with. We are more than the created order. When we live our lives in the life of our creator, we become the creating order. We were created in his image. Good people sit idly by waiting for God to create a better world.
God saved humanity in the flood (though Noah) and he saved the world. But, we have a harder time saying Noah saved the Human race. But, he did! He chose to obey and build the ark.
What needs to happen to create the future:
1. We need to be curators of yalent
We need to be the creators of talent and develop people to their fullest potential
Acts Chapter 7. He worked with his church group on the Super Bowl commercial for Doritos and it won. He believes that the church has to be the epicenter of human creativity. There is no conflict between human talent and the glory of God. We don't have to have a false sense of humility. The best of us can't be a threat to God.
2. We need to be narrators of the Human story
We used to be the best poets. People would listen and realize “that's me!”
What would happen if you needed to tell the King what he did wrong? You'd probably write a book or make a movie about it. Nathan did this with King David in the Bible.
Whoever tells the best story shapes the culture. We're just not telling better stories than Star Wars or Avatar.
He told a story about how his church is helping artists to come to Christ and use their talents for God.
Jesus makes all things new!
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For more information on the Leadership Summit and Ocean Grove (“God's Square Mile on the Jersey Shore”) where their mission of Spiritual Birth, Growth and Renewal is lived out in community, visit my earlier post:
http://henrywill4.blogspot.com/2011/08/info-on-leadership-summit-im-attending.html
You'll also find links there to other great bloggers and tweeters on the conference.
You may also like my post about "Drinking from a Fire hose or quenching your thirst with a cup of water" http://bit.ly/nZBA88
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