Are You a Catalyst?
[posted October 11, 2007 • 10:36AM • Bill Gibson]

Are you a catalyst or a stick? Most sticks are "stuck" in the moment, lying dead or dying on the ground. A catalyst is something that institutes a change in direction, behavior, or momentum. Which one are you? Sometimes we say we are a catalyst because we desperately want to be or desire others to see us in this way. But the trail of history and results that lay in our wake tell a different story — one of fear.

The dictionary says that a catalyst is a person or event that precipitates something — to cause to move suddenly and with force. Are you a catalyst?

Last week, along with my wife Traci, and Chris and Logan Breedlove, I went to Catalyst 2007, a powerful leadership conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Together with over 11,000 others, we immersed ourselves in a high-impact schedule that included awesome music and worship, and communicators, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, John Maxwell, Shane Claiborne, Rick Warren, Erwin McManus, Patrick Lencioni, Dave Ramsey, Craig Groeschel, and others. I won't take time to explain all of the details. I would, however, encourage you to go if you have never gone (check out the link).

So what is my point? Catalyst is a conference that just completed its 8th year of reminding leaders of our generation that we are to be people that effect change within the church and our world. They say it better, as evident from the following quote from their website, "Catalyst exists to ignite passion for Christ and develop leadership potential in the Next Generation, equipping them to engage and impact their world."

My thoughts are not centered on the conference but on my world and challenges today. How am I being a catalyst? How are you?

It's easy to "remain" in our big mess. It's comfortable to stay trapped in our own little world — our center of the universe. Why? Because it is predictable, manageable, and safe (even in chaos). Crazy, I know. But true.

We will spend more energy being a stick — dead or dying on the ground, or stuck in our own mud — rather than admitting who we really are and becoming a person that causes sudden movement toward growth and transformation.

I told a close friend this week that sometimes it is so hard to keep the sword in the sheath. What I mean by that is that the overwhelming frustrations I often experience as a pastor can consume me when I observe humans bound in their own destructive cycles of behavior. I confess that I do not have the patience for it. That's why I need Jesus to be in the forefront of me — to break free in me! To me, this feeling I struggle with is proof that Jesus is the Son of God, because He is the only fully human person I know who could continue to offer life in the face of chaotic destruction of life itself. In other words, He is the only fully human and FULLY DIVINE person I know. That's why He has to be the One to handle the things I want to swing a sword at.

What about you? Do you aspire to be a catalyst for change and transformation? Or are you just pretending, and instead remaining a stick, lying in fear, and creating chaos in your own life and the lives of others?

You've probably heard this a bunch, but it merits repeating — Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

At some point we have to stop and take a new step. But we first have to want to take that step bad enough. I have a really hard time watching people be stupid, especially when I am the one being stupid. That's why I thank God for Christ and the transforming life He offers me. He offers that same life to you. It's a life that is continually moving, transforming, and giving. It's not a life that can be faked.

Jesus was a catalyst. I want Him to make me a catalyst. Imagine what would happen in this world if we all stopped insane behavior and leaned hard into the strengths of the gifts God gave us, allowing Jesus to be in the forefront of every moment. Talk about change and transformation...

It starts with you and me — right now, in this moment. What are you going to be?