Recapping Noteworthy Talks from Catalyst Dallas

John Perkins.

John Perkins is a hero in my book.  Called by Christ to take a stand against racism in his day—the Civil Rights movement—he went headlong into the conflict area, the South, when it would have been easier to stay safe in California.  He was arrested for trying to register voters and then beaten and intimidated while locked in a jail cell.  His story is told in his book, Let Justice Roll Down, which I highly recommend.  He’s also the founder of the Christian Community Development Association, which works to build up communities that are in poor and underserved areas.

Gary Haugen.

Gary Haugen is the President and CEO of International Justice Mission (IJM).  He holds sex traffickers to account, often setting up police stings, then bringing perpetrators to legal justice.  IJM rescues modern-day slaves, both of forced labor and sex, and provides them with aftercare to return to society.

In his talk, he spoke of how Jesus uses unsafe situations to make his people braver.  Jesus is clear in his teaching that to follow him will mean suffering.  Following Jesus in a broken world inevitably brings suffering, with two things particularly bringing suffering: 1. telling the truth, 2. loving people in need.  It’s risky and hard to do both.

Donald Miller.

I love Donald Miller’s work, especially his book Blue Like Jazz.  In Miller’s talk, he walked us through the story of Joseph, pointing us to how God was continually growing him and shaping him into a leader, through his trials.  Once the famine hit Egypt, Joseph was the only one qualified to actually carry out the Lord’s plan to rescue the people, and he was in a new position of heart to reconcile with his brothers.

I loved his style of speaking.  It was so honest and heartfelt.  He would sprinkle in jokes and funny commentary, often laughing himself.

Matt Chandler.

Of all the talks besides David Platt’s, I really appreciated Chandler’s most.  Given my background, I appreciated that he spoke from a Reformed perspective.  Most evident in this was a story he told about bemoaning some antics from his younger days.  In this story, he kept thinking how each of the people he had hurt would find him to be a fake and phony preaching now.  He knew he had hurt them so deep that they would never be able to listen to him or see his life changed.  All this was going through his head as he was driving to preach at a conference.   Then he remembered the gospel and what it means for his day-to-day struggles.  He had to apply the gospel to himself, saying, “That old Matt Chandler is dead. He died with Christ and has new life.” Even if those old classmates were to hate him today, they would be hating the old Matt Chandler and not the new one in Christ.  His message was that we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily and to people in the church over and over again.

Andy Stanley.

The 3 faces of courage for leaders today are:

1. The courage to stay, when it would be easier to go.
2. The courage to leave, when it would be easier to stay.
3. The courage to ask for help, when it would be easier to pretend that everything’s okay.

#1 and #2 were really good for me to think through.  I’m at a transition point in my ministry, and have been really prayerful about where the Lord is leading me (though I still have no idea).  I will say that I went into the conference leaning in one direction, but after the conference, I’m rethinking some of my earlier convictions.

In his second talk, Andy finished up the conference discussing leadership.  This talk was really informative to me as a growing leader.  His main focus was on developing your strengths and core competencies.  You should not try to improve your weaknesses, but should delegate them to others who have that area as their own core competency.

Summary.

In summary, this conference was truly amazing.  From the speakers, to the music, to the activists, to the comedians and emcees, this was a first-rate production showcasing the best of what is being done in the Christian world today.  The greatness of what God is doing in the world is awe-inspiring, as seen at Catalyst Dallas.

What are some other good leadership principles you’ve heard?

Check out my other posts on this topic:
Catalyst Dallas Brings a Breath of Fresh Air
Healing the Tension between the Younger and Older Generations: Craig Groeschel
Stirred By God’s Sung, Preached, and Spoken Word at Catalyst Dallas
Working in the Overlap: Scott Belsky