That's It

Jesus.

That's it. That's all there is.

I have spent four days sitting in conference sessions discussing any number of topics related to church leadership and management. I have listened to nationally-known people talking about our culture, about management issues related to the organization of the church, about preaching, about producing really cool Sunday morning programs.

I have pages and pages of notes and millions of firing synapses. And I am left with Jesus. That's it.

I spend my life planning, programming, strategizing, and managing. It is way too easy for me to be more concerned with the organization than about Jesus. I do what I do because Jesus is all that matters to me. It might be telling that I needed to spend a week away from my desk to come to that realization but I have come to that realization.

Short of the life-changing power of Christ in my life, every sermon I preach is just a talk. Without being centered on Him, every program I create or organize is just an event.

Over dinner, as I was talking about this with a Vicar (that's "Vikah", after factoring in for the accent!) from South London (England, not Ontario), I suddenly made sense of a verse I've read probably hundreds of times in my life. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Once my life has been properly oriented around Jesus, then all these things (that I thought I needed to work for) will be added. They'll just be added.

I don't have to worry about all that stuff that I normally worry about. In fact, we all have things like that. We worry about being effective at our jobs, about being better parents, about being able to pay our mortage. But life isn't about that. It's about...

Jesus.

That's it. That's all there is.