Engage.....(d)

Wow! Engage Conference went on sale last week and it sold out in 15 minutes. Wow! That's like the concerts that you can never get tickets to on Ticketek even though you've got the fastest internet connection and you were logged in at 8:50am for a 9am sale.

Deep down, I hope that this conference attracts who its targeted for - ie. workers not just Driscoll (and perhaps a lesser extent Carson) fans. I hope that those who are genuinely workers and seeking to wrestle with the issues that workers face (evangelism, serving God, balancing everything) were able to get tickets.

Whilst I'm just as keen to hear and see Driscoll in the flesh as the next person, I can't help but think that I've so often put the preacher up on a pedestal - almost to the extent that it becomes idol worship. And so we sign up for Engage, just to hear Driscoll. We have massive expectations coz he's gonna blow our minds and help us understand the Bible in ways we've never been able to understand. Or he's gonna make us laugh, and make insightful comments about our culture.

(Now don't get me wrong, Driscoll is a man who's extremely gifted and has been used by God to bring many people into his kingdom in extraordinary ways! But by the same token, we can understand the Scriptures. We have the ability to understand God's word. We, if we put our minds to it and seek God, we can see how the Scriptures affect our life. How it shapes our attitudes to work, life, rest. We need to be prepared to do the hard work and not just consume the hard work of others)


So why am I going? Especially now that I'm not working in a secular job anymore and don't really fall into the 'target market' for this conference. Its so tempting as an ministry apprentice or a theological student just to head along for my own edification and to hear two fantastic speakers

What's my reason for heading along to Engage? Well, I'm hoping to bring some people who otherwise wouldn't normally go away to a Christian event, but who are workers..... and that by coming away, they see the answers the Bible provides to their lives as workers. Hopefully, the weekend away itself will provide opportunities to discuss these issues more at length, to get real and to respond to God in obedience.




Oh - and sheer coincidence.....but yesterday my brother got engaged too!!! Woo hoo! Congratulations Derek and Aimee!!!