I Didn’t Want to Go, But Then I Did

I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to go to the Exponential Conference.

It wasn’t because I thought it would be boring. In fact, in some ways I didn’t want to go because I thought it would be too enjoyable. A few days in Florida during a packed season of life? I’m a pastor. A husband. A dad to a busy 11-month-old. The only thing growing faster than my daughter is my To-Do List. How could I justify stepping away, even for just a few days?

But then I went. 

And here’s what I realized at the Exponential Conference: the reasons I didn’t want to go are the same reasons that we as the Church often hesitate to do what the conference is about―multiplying churches by making disciples. We’re busy. We’re overwhelmed. We think someone else will do it. But Jesus invites us to go. Our struggle is that we often just… don’t want to. 

The theme of the conference was Good, Great, Greater. It was based on John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”  Even as I boarded the plane, doubts filled my heart. Would a conference like this even be that useful to me in my context―a solo pastor of a small church in a small denomination? What greater things can we possibly do?

But God met me there. He softened my heart and gave me a fresh passion for his mission. In one of the workshops, the leader asked, “When was the last time your church baptized a new believer, apart from an infant?” The question hit me hard. I realized that in our effort to grow our churches, we can sometimes focus more on attracting Christians than bringing the gospel to the lost. We’ve lost sight of the mission.

One speaker said it plainly: “You can either make an excuse or make a difference, but you can’t make both.” That’s where many of us are stuck. We’re not making a difference because we’re too busy making excuses. 

So, what if our excuses became our reasons? 

What if I go because I’m a ministry leader who needs to multiply disciples and not carry everything alone? What if I go because I have a daughter who will need to know how to follow Jesus and make disciples in a world that desperately needs the gospel? What if I go because joy matters, and there is joy in growing alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ?

The CLB might not be planting 10,000 churches, but we are planting churches. Of the 6,000 people at Exponential, 100 came from our denomination. We were there to learn, to be equipped, and to step more fully into this mission we’ve been given together. I got to see seminary friends and friends from other churches all across the country. I got to make new connections. I had the privilege of speaking at the North American Mission Dinner on Tuesday night, and as I looked out at all the faces, it hit me: This is the Church. This is who Jesus is sending. What a beautiful sight: generations of leaders making a difference. Ready to go.

It was life-giving. And, yes, it was fun. As we went to the main sessions and the workshops together, we got a chance to discuss what we’re learning. We swapped stories, shared ideas, and encouraged one another. At one table, I sat down next to a pastor friend of mine from New York. Across from us sat a man named Timo who oversees church planting in Berlin. As we spoke with him about what God was doing across the world I thought, “where else can I meet someone like this?” It was amazing. 

It’s easy to believe the Church is failing―that everything is falling apart―but I left with renewed hope. Jesus is working. I saw it. I learned how to better join him on this discipleship mission and how to bring these ideas back to my church in Princeton, New Jersey.

My favorite quote of the week came from a workshop with Ed Stetzer. He said, “The moment we are in does not pause the mission we are on.” He claimed we are in a time of cultural disruption unlike anything since 1968. But throughout history, disruption has been the catalyst of Christian revival. In the 60s it was the Jesus movement. He believes another wave of gospel awakening is coming. I believe it, too. 

Church, it is time that we go. Jesus is inviting us: “Come, follow me.” 

We may not feel ready, but what if we just… went?

Pastor Drew Skog is the Pastor at Bunker Hill Lutheran Brethren Church in Princeton, NJ.