Disciple Now 2011

What was the purpose of DNOW 2011? When the pastors of Memorial Drive, Wilcrest, Garden Oaks, and Chinese Baptist got together to plan Disciple Now 2011 we realized that this was going to be a different event than we were used to. Already we had the understand that the body of Christ stretched further than just our local churches and we have historically been pretty poor at communicating this to our people. We didn't want to run a typical event where we could have just done it by ourselves. So that meant asking the question, "What couldn't we do without these other churches?" After some time of praying and brainstorming it was clear that our purpose was to fully integrate the efforts of the church in planning and thoroughly mix the youth. We figured that our students go to the same schools anyway...what if we got them to see it for themselves? So many times our youth think that Jesus is only this group or for this social class. Our racism and arrogance is bigger than anyone wants to admit. Our purpose was to crush that.

How did we get our theme "Unified"? Revelation 7:9-12 was our vision. We wanted to push a gospel-centered weekend where the students came and despite color, class, cash, and cool they saw that the CROSS unified them all. It's still our vision for this city and for our churches. It is why we will continue to partner with gospel-centered ministries throughout the city so that this city might be won for God's glory and his renown.

What was it like from a pastor's POV? I was extremely excited to be working with MDBC and SWBC again. Last year it went well and I knew that this year we knew where to focus. This year we joined up with Wilcrest Baptist and we knew their reputation was a true multi-ethnic church (which was perfect). For me, I really enjoyed watching how other youth pastors think, organize, and plan. Not only during the event did I get to see their interaction with students and leaders, but the prep part was probably my favorite. Honestly, I remember when i could take the stage and go for hours and hours with all these creative games to keep students engaged and whatever, but I get up there now and go, "man...i'm really rusty and gettin' old". So it was good to see younger guys just get up there and just do it.

Did we accomplish what we set out to do? For the most part, i think we did a great job. I think from CBC, about 85% actually took their role seriously. I wish we were able to expect the same from the other students that came with us or even the students there, but that just wasn't the case. That doesn't mean it was bad...it's just what it is. The thing i keep hearing from our students was, "Man, it was hard getting to talk to them AND maintaining conversation." But I need to remind you that whether we accomplished our goals there isn't the most important thing...it was whether we were changed from the inside. What i mean is that we could have done everything we were supposed to do there, but when we're back into our routine, have we changed how we look at people now? Does this change how we function at CBC? That's the important part.

Thoughts on our counselors and leaders? I was probably the most excited for this group. Why? Because i knew that they were going to be challenged the most. Probably on several of levels - 1) on the fact that this event would expose a lot of their own heart. It's easy to teach racism and prejudice but to own up to it as a leader is hard; 2) they would be challenged by other leaders and students. I remember telling them very early that this DNOW is going to challenge you more than you'd want it to. Because the other students haven't been taught like ours. Their way of life is different. Their theology might even differ. But it is your job to still teach and guide with all patience. And it was fun because we threw them in a mixed-church small group with another leader outside of CBC (with different teaching styles & discipline). Talk about the fast track of sanctification.

So now what? I've told our leadership that there are several levels of progress here. We go from missions to community to discipleship to service. But from missions to community takes a lot of hard work. You first get to know them through very surface level talk. Then it gets a bit deeper after some times has passed and then you share issues that really matter. After that you begin to do life with them (community). These things take time and a lot of work. It's always easier to just sit back and wait for another event to be "challenged" but what's the use? So the idea is to understand that this Gospel commands us to interact and to fellowship with believers. I trust that as you push harder into this Gospel...the shades of arrogance might lose it's grasp and then you might see what Christ sees.