Eastview Community Church

How the Summit Affected Me

- 2008-09-23

Welcome to the Summit1. I was convicted.

More so than in years past, this year’s Summit focused on inspiring leaders to address the issues of a broken world. Speakers from the social sector spoke with such passion and conviction that you couldn’t help but feel moved, and then during the presentation of the Courageous Leadership Award for churches who do excellent work in addressing the African AIDS pandemic, God spoke to me. Simply put, He told me I didn’t have to solve the world’s problems. If I help relieve the suffering of even one, that has great worth – just don’t try and ignore the problem. Healing of all kinds was a big part of Jesus’ ministry, and He chose to do it one person, not a nation or continent, at a time.

2. I was educated.

Axiom-based decision-making models; how the failure of leaders is tied to leadership of self; the four qualities that are often present when the intangible “it” is alive in a church; how the CEO of Best Buy sees the issue of Employee Engagement... these are four specific things that I came away knowing a lot more about, and I’m guessing if you asked someone else, they’d have a drastically different list of four things. It’s the power of God at work through the Summit that ensures that every day of every Summit, I am blessed in new and unforeseen ways.

3. I was in community.

Leadership isn’t just lonely at the top, it’s a lonely gift period. Top to bottom, it is the calling God places on a leader to stick his or her neck out when the rest of the crowd is keeping their heads down. It is a blessing, then, to be among other leaders from churches, Christian organizations, and the business world who can share in the unique joys and struggles of the role. Particularly for myself, it’s a great chance to learn from older leaders while sharing in the dreams and struggles of leaders my own age.

4. I was inspired.

Beyond simply renewed conviction and being given tools to use in better carrying out my mission, I was inspired to do it all better: to pursue my God and my calling unapologetically, to surrender myself wholeheartedly, to fail unashamedly, to reach out boldly, and finally to do it all relentlessly.
Bottom line, if there’s one thing I’d want a Summit outsider to know about the event, it’s that no leader walks out of it quite the same as they came. And whether that happens once, six times, or a hundred thousand times, that is truly worth celebrating.