21 Big Ideas

I recently attended a conference called “Christianity21” in Denver, Colorado. Christians and non-Christians alike were invited to come and speak about their BIG IDEA for the future of the Christian church in the 21^st century. The format was simple yet innovative: 21 people with 21 different ideas for 21 minutes each. There were also other presentations given by dozens of others attending the conference. These brave souls were asked to prepare their BIG IDEA in 21 slides for exactly 7 minutes of speaking. All in all, we heard 35 different people talk in 48 hours  - it was a fantastic event! Here are 21 ideas or insights I came home with that made an impact on me (in no particular order):

1. May we know what we’ve always suspected, that the God who created us is better than the God we created. (Jonathan Merritt)
2. I want to take God’s love personally. I tell you my story to honor your own. (Paul Raushenbush)
3. At the heart of God’s revelation, the margins are at the center of God’s concern. Why are the margins still at the margins of the church? (Noel Castellanos)
4. Faith is a team sport, not an individual competition. (Nadia Bolz-Weber)
5. As culture and science shift so too must religion. We need to make new narratives known! (Ron Martoia)
6. Let’s give up on the afterlife for awhile, accepting that death is the dark door of mystery and focus more on this life. (Kent Dobson)
7. Authority comes from existential, experiential, vulnerable and honest growth. That’s it. (Kent Dobson)
8. What if we ritualized words about hunger and being filled, or abundance and care instead of betrayal and brokenness before we shared Holy Communion? (ErikaMarksbury)
9. People want to be loved and belong – it’s our job to remind them. (Mike Foster)
10. Be ‘sanctified shot-callers’ by building up your street cred by what we do on the street. (Romal Tune)
11. Think big. Start small. Keep moving. (Charles Lee)
12. Culture trumps strategy & vision. Hiring someone innovative doesn’t change the culture. (Charles Lee)
13. Every 500 years there is a great emergence. (Phyllis Tickle)
14. Maybe we’ve finally arrived at the place and time when we’re ready to hear anew what the Spirit is up to and move the story further. (Phyllis Tickle)
15. Hope is a radical act of faith and courage, it is not weak. And it only comes after despair. (Sarah Bessey)
16. The face of Christianity isn’t changing, its already changed. (Enuma Okoro)
17. Live in your context both physical and digital because you are good news. Digital isn’t the opposite of real but the opposite of physical. (Jim Kast-Keat)
18. Why don’t we believe God is equipping us once we are breathed into existence and not just when we are called? God is not calling us to “do missions” but to be the church. (Jamie Wright)
19. What happened to God? We don’t know what we mean by God anymore. (Kent Dobson)
20. The best way to be innovative is to get out of your normal connections. Foster experiences from different scenes outside of your field – eventually things will start connecting. (Charles Lee)
21. The (political) middle does not always indicate an absence of conviction. Fierce conviction can lead to the middle. The middle is where peacemakers seek to hold hands with those on the right and on the left. (Sarah Cunningham)