Tension is Good!

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Catalyst 2010: A Movement of Restorers

Esther Fleece

Where can you find 13,000 multi-generational leaders who wholeheartedly desire to serve God’s purpose within their generation?

The Catalyst conference in Atlanta is a great place to start.

Thousands of “grass top” leaders gathered there last week, displaying a beautiful spirit of unity among evangelical subgroups.

It’s not an overstatement to suggest those in attendance are changing the world.

How?

One person at a time.

Groups like TOMS Shoes celebrated an incredible milestone of giving the one millionth pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Other organizations like charity: water showed captivating photos of their efforts to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

Bethany Christian Services and our own Focus on the Family shared God’s heart for the orphan. Compassion International thanked Catalyst attendees for providing their most child sponsorships to date.

The new normal for this group of leaders is faith in action.

This year’s theme, The Tension is Good, centered on how a leader is to respond to healthy friction within a diverse movement. To that point, Craig Groeschel, founder and senior pastor of LiveChurch.tv, a church with 13 locations in six states, brought a powerful message of multi-generational leadership faced with two unique challenges:

If you’re a seasoned leader, you are not done until you are dead, so there is no need to be insecure when God raises up younger leaders. Conversely, to younger leaders, Groeschel’s message was to put the entitlement mentality aside and honor those who have gone before. This new generation is standing on the shoulders of giants.

Craig Groeschel’s message called attendees to repentance for disrespecting those in other generations. He led and left the audience in silent repentance – before receiving a standing ovation.

Craig’s message complimented and affirmed Beth Moore’s powerful talk the day before: Christians need to be dead enough to self to support God and those He chooses to use.

These leaders were not in Atlanta to start a movement; these leaders are a movement. They are leaders in the church desperately wanting to be restorers, as Gabe Lyons (author of the new book The Next Christians and co-author of UnChristian) writes. They are inspired and motivated to continue the process of transformation in their own lives, all while restoring the culture around them.

Catalyst brought together different generations, denominations, and subcultures among Christendom with the common goal of being the church – not just talking church. These restorers are serving God’s purpose for their generation, and we will be seeing good fruit for years to come because of it.

I would urge you to consider learning more about this dynamic movement by clicking here.

Esther Fleece is Focus on the Family’s assistant to the president for millennial relations. Follow her on Twitter.