Had a great time today with Matt and my good friend Mike McKinley at the "Gospel Growth vs Church Growth" conference at Capitol Hill Baptist today... and not just because Mike bought Starbucks and lunch for us. =) Downtown DC is gorgeous in the fall, and CHBC's old-style sanctuary is a throwback to yesteryear.
The conference was packed with look-alikes: thin, but out-of-shape, intelligent guys with wire-framed glasses and a book under their arm just in case they get caught waiting somewhere. No singing, media or hype at this conference. Just a bleeding-heart passion for the Gospel and the accuracy of biblical teaching. The guy in front of me had a copy of the Bible in original Greek spread open to check the speakers' references. Hard core dude.
Some pretty thoughtful railing against the desires for relevancy and growth in the church. "It's our job to be faithful to the Gospel; leave the numbers up to God." One thing I agreed strongly with: the huge emphasis on numbers in today's church leaves scores of pastors feeling discouraged and guilty when they don't make quota.
This was the anti-Buzz Conference... but I enjoyed the richness of these great theologians. I owed one to Mike for coming with me to last year's Buzz, but I came out the winner for making two great conferences.
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