Why Conferences?
Tonight is the God is the Gospel conference, and at the encouragement of my wife and a couple of my readers I will be providing LiveBlog coverage of the conference beginning this evening. Check back tonight for more. Before the conference, however, I wanted to just put some of my thinking on conference attendance in writing. The question I basically am asking is, "Why attend conferences?" I'm shelling out $30 to go to drive a couple miles to listen to a bunch of messages that I will be able to download for free in a couple of days. Every year, my wife and I along with our small group attend Resolved! in Southern California: $125, plus travel expenses, plus room and board... all to listen to a bunch of sermons I could buy for a buck or two on their website a few weeks later and listen on my iPod in the comfort of my own home. God willing, I'll be going to Shepherd's Conference and the Sovereign Grace Leadership conference as well. Why am I doing this, taking days off work, traveling, sacrificing a lot of money, time, and opportunity to listen to sermons?
1. Conference Attendance is Life-Stopping
Receiving the preached Word at conferences is no better than doing so at a local church, in fact it is deficient as conference speakers are not offering the God-entrusted leadership that the teaching and shepherding of a local pastor/elder will at the Sunday gathering. Conferences, nevertheless, supplement well the teaching that is received on Sunday. I also commend to you downloading and listening regularly to sermons (CovLife, DesiringGod, EVBCTempe are especially good and certainly not exhaustive). But there is something that I believe conferences offer that neither of these other modes of delivery of the preached Word can offer: Life-stoppage. I listen to sermons on my iPod in the midst of a busy day, driving in the car or working out; but as soon as I'm done, there's life to deal with, offering little time for the message to percolate through my heart. Likewise, on Sunday, I hear one message isolated in the midst of life and ministry, similarly limiting the time and depth of the message to affect my heart. At a conference, because of the travel and the time involved, in a limited way, life is temporarily and artificially put on hold for a time. Messages build on each other. Fellowship is primarily with other believers who have been affected by the same message so discussion naturally drifts to what we have heard. As one message's affect is just beginning to find its way to the dark unsearched caverns of my evil heart, another well-prepared and perfectly time message shepherds my heart to God. Because life is put on hold, the Word is given time to work. Because life is put on hold, I can take in a series of messages at one time, each one building on the other without the heart-numbing effects of the real-world grind limiting the effectiveness of the preaching. Because life is put on hold, this same process can occur in multiple believers simultaneously under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, causing conversation to have a reinforcing effect on what has been heard and experienced.
2. Conference Attendance is a Declaration About My Desire to Know God Through His Word
People, including me will sacrifice a lot of time and money for entertainment, to go to a sports event, attend a concert, watch movies. When I go to a conference, I declare through my actions that I put a higher priority on knowing God through the preaching of His Word than I do on entertainment, than I do on seeking my own pleasure outside of God. Without much thought, I will unite myself with friends and family around the shared experience of a sporting event or a movie. I will pay a lot of money to share the experience of a vacation with site-seeing, relaxation, or theme park attendance. I make a declaration when I go on vacation with others with the express purpose of sitting underneath the teaching of His Word with the desired end to know Him more deeply, more accurately, and more intimately. By paying, sacrificing the opportunity of doing other things, and attending a conference with others, I make the declaration that my greatest desire is to know God and that I believe that God makes himself known through His Word and through the faithful, accurate teaching of that Word.
There is quite a bit more I would love to say on this topic but I have to leave for work now, to work a 12-hour shift as a nurse and quickly drive to the conference. I hope to see you all back on here tonight as I blog the first session.
this amazing site needs a great deal more attention. I’ll
probably be returning to read through more, thanks for
the advice!