Catalyst Recap 1: Craig Groeschel

12 posted on October 12, 2010

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Conferences, Leadership

I’ve been reading and re-reading my notes from Catalyst this year and I keep coming back to this one challenge issued by Craig Groeschel in his main session on Friday. It’s one of those kind of statements that just slap you in the face because you know God is speaking directly to you with a huge megaphone.

In his advice to young leaders, Craig said,

Don’t overestimate what God wants to do through you in the short term.

Don’t underestimate what God wants to do through you in the long term.

As young leaders, we’re so tempted to expect God to work on our fast-paced schedule. We’re not interested in slow-roaster approaches, we want a microwave.

The flip side to that coin is that because we are so focused on right now, we lose sight of just how big our God is and how much He wants to do through us in the years to come. Someone once told me, you can either view time as an obstacle or a part of the process.

What do you think of Craig’s challenge? Are you guilty of setting your sights too high in the short-term and dreaming too small for your future?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 at 9:37 am and is filed under Blog Posts, Conferences, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

11 Comments

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October 12, 2010

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1 bryan a said:

totally agree Brad, that was one of a few memorable lines from the conference. Craig’s humility, transparency, and heart made him my favorite speaker not named Andy Stanley.
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October 12, 2010

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2 Jason Cormier said:

That is such a right on and right now statement for me.
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October 12, 2010

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3 Rahul said:

His statement really knocked me hard because I look for immediate results and never think about the long run. Catalyst was incredible this year!
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October 12, 2010

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4 Kenny Silva said:

I’m totally guilty of that. I dream high and expect things to happen tomorrow. I want everything to work out right now and have so much trouble embracing the process.

I’ve got that quote from Craig in my notes. I really need to print it out and post it above my desk.
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October 12, 2010

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5 Aaron Guilmette said:

While I agree with the second part, I’m not really sold on the first. What if God wants to do something with you *now*? Gideon didn’t have a whole lot if time to get ready.

I think it’s more of an issue of where your relationship and faith are. Jesus compared power of your faith to a mustard seed (size), not a something based on time.
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October 12, 2010

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6 Brad Ruggles said:

Aaron, I agree, God often has amazing things he does through us in a very short amount of time. The issue isn’t that God can’t work in the short-term, it’s that as young leaders, we often expect God to do more through us quickly rather than waiting on God’s timing.

There are so many cases in the Bible of God preparing leaders over longer periods of time. The best story that illustrates this statement is Moses. As a young person, he knew God wanted to use him but he wanted it to happen on his timing so he attacked the guard beating an Israelite. He overestimated God’s plan in the short-term and probably had no clue just how big of a job God had for him in the long run.
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October 15, 2010

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7 Blane Young said:

I think that we all tend to favor the microwave approach because as a church culture, we celebrate churches & leaders that have gone big, fast.
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September 4, 2011

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8 Kevin said:

Blane completly agree – what is it with everything being fast when it comes to churches and leaders.. it is a very strange aspect of church culture
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November 16, 2011

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9 C E Thompson said:

YES! Totally guilty of this. And, I always want things to happen much faster than they do. I constantly have to remind myself to Be Still, and allow God to work. I feel huge things coming, and can’t wait for God to reveal it all! This is a GREAT site!
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November 17, 2011

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10 RCT said:

One of my favorite passages: “Be Still and know that I am.” Really says it all!
Thanks
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November 29, 2011

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11 Charry said:

So, the idea is “Don’t underestimate what God wants to do through you!” Short term, long term…it doesn’t matter. Big plans ahead for me, I know that!