Amy Carroll » Ministry Development » Love is the Thing

Love is the Thing

To my dismay, it happened again this weekend. An event planner and even an attendee recounted tale after tale of aloof speakers to me. I know I’m on a roll about this topic, but really, it’s disturbing me.

I’m a speaker, so I’ll lead this little chant. You follow.

I’m the speaker…

But I’m nothing special.

My position on the stage doesn’t set me apart or make me exceptional.

I’m a regular girl…

In dire need of grace.

The end.

I know I’m getting preachy here, and this will be my last rant. But y’all, this deal of reinforcing a celebrity culture in the church has to stop. NOW. We can start the beginning of the end by not setting ourselves apart at events and coming as a humble servant. Circulate. Make yourself available. Be the first one there and the last to leave. Eat meals with the crowd. Ask them about their lives and stories. Be one of the girls.

Love is the thing. It’s the place where our hearts are set right, and we see ourselves as we are. Love compels us to pour ourselves out instead of protecting ourselves.

I know and love speakers, so I really don’t believe that being a diva is where most of this is coming from. I’m in the trenches with you, so I know how exhausting it is to stay totally engaged for days on end. I know that ministry can attract needy, boundary-less people who make you want to run away and hide. I get it. Really I do.

But we can’t let any of those be excuses that keep us from pouring out our whole selves. Jesus faced all those challenges, and yet He gave Himself completely and humbly to us. How can we do less?

Let’s spread the love today– as a start into our cyber worlds with the graphics below and then pray to take it into our every day worlds. My Wunderkind–Claire the intern and Jake the techie guy–have put together beautiful graphics and whiz-bang technology to make it easy to share. Just run your cursor over the image you like, pick your poison, click and VOILA!

If you promise to spread the love at your events and be one of the girls, I promise to quit preaching. 🙂 Love you! Really!

 

Love one another.as I have loved you,You must loveOne Another. (2)

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The (1)

Espresso Shot (1)

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Honeycomb

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7 Comments

  1. Peggy Barnes says:

    I find it imperative to begin the conversations with the women where I am speaking. Many of them don’t want to “bother” us or are not sure how to open the conversation. We must never forget our first priority is honoring HIM.

  2. I agree, and I stay long, and love being approachable and there to talk before and after any of my sessions. It’s some of my favorite parts of weekend retreats, conferences, and MOPS times. As I open up about my own struggles, it sets the tone for them to be able to do the same. Afterwards women find me and we get to pray and cry together. Our God is such a tender compassionate God, and it’s an honor to talk to him together.

    Thanks for talking about this.

    Jennifer Dougan
    http://www.jenniferdougan.com

  3. We need to keep hearing this, Amy. Reminds me of 1 Cor 13:1, “If I SPEAK with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging symbol.”

  4. I hadn’t noticed the ranting. I guess I’ve been out of the loop. BUT–thank you. This is such an important message. If not ranting–at least reminding. We are in this to bring God’s love to desperately hurting people. No other reason. If God’s given us something to say–that’s the context–how does this message get His love to His people. Thank you for writing on this.
    Tess

  5. Yes, yes, a thousand yeses! Being the first to show up and last to leave has always been my policy, even before I was a speaker. So many neat God-things happen in those times. One of the things I love most about speaking is the conversations that happen off the stage, hearing people’s stories, sharing a meal, listening to what God is doing in their lives. Thanks for this great reminder!