the siren call of fame

This week I traveled to a Catalyst One Day Conference hosted at Willow Creek Church in the Suburbs of Chicago. It was a fantastic day of worship from the North Point Band and teachings from Pastor Andy Stanley of North Point Church and Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv. I was impressed with their courage to tell us to care for our families and focus on the big pictures of our ministry rather than the mundane.

But, there’s a greater lesson that I need to learn. It’s a lesson that  I have been failing at for about as long as I can remember. What’s that lesson?

my heart is tempted by fame

Whenever I tour a multimillion dollar church, or listen to a published and world-renowned leader, my heart aches to be like them, to work with them, or to be noticed by them. When I was rounding third base on my seminary degree last year– I applied for jobs at mega churches, I tried to self promote myself via blogs and published articles, and I was magnetically attracted to anyone that seemed to have a one way ticket to stardom.

But, God clearly brought me somewhere else. He undeniably chose me to join a church in a small, midwestern town. And while I may not be here forever, I feel like I need to act like I might be.

One of the chronic diseases of my millennial generation is to take a short cut to success–to become someone who everyone recognizes and someone who everyone wants to be with. Our hearts ache to be movie stars, but God’s plan for world change looks a little different.

It looks like a simple carpenter who loved the unloveable. It looks like a God who partners with you and me to reach our friends, family, and neighbors. Guys like Andy and Craig, God bless them and may they keep doing what God has gifted them to do–because God didn’t chose them to be the pastor of my flock.