Echo Conference is only a week away. Typing that sentence made me want to throw up just now.
This year, our team has over 1,000 church creatives converging on Dallas for three days. They’re expecting amazing teaching, a really good time, great laughs, inspiration, and a bunch of stuff I feel completely under-qualified to deliver on.
Daily and nightly I find my insecurity flaring up. Then that immediately converts to panic, as I remember details that almost slipped through the cracks or risky things we’re trying. I have stress pimples. It’s not good.
But there are two things I need to remember. (1) I love this. I’d gladly do this every year…because I believe in it so so much. It’s well worth the pain to be part of something like this.
But (2) I need to remember that this isn’t about me. Nobody’s coming to Echo to watch the Jonathan show. Nobody cares how cool or uncool I am. Nobody (or at least very few people) will write “Jonathan ruined my Echo experience” on their feedback forms after the event. The whole thing doesn’t hinge on my ability to be awesome.
In fact, when people look back at the event, they probably won’t even remember me. They’ll remember Jon Acuff, Donald Miller, or Matt Chandler. They’ll remember a few breakout teachers. They’ll remember the new friends they met at the coffee shop. They’ll remember Davin Bryngrim.
Sure, the things I do and say will have an impact on people. I am adding significant value to the experience. But it’s not all about me.
And that’s a relief. I don’t want to create something that’s all about me. That would mean it’s something small…bounded to my own limitations. But Echo Conference is so much bigger than me. I’m so so grateful for that.
If you work in a church or a team…guess what. It’s not all about you. You are part of something so much bigger than that. And you can relax a bit. Your art is not about you. It’s never about you.
When we create big things, they surpass us and get a life of their own. Let your work be insecure. You don’t have to be.
Jonathan, I just appreciate the fact that you can say “I AM adding significant value to the experience. But it ‘s not all about me. ” In that statement there is neither false humility nor pride. There is an acknowledgement that God has given you, along with a calling, some abilities to carry out that calling, and as much as you can, you are doing it heartily, as unto The Lord. Thanks for being an example of living in the balance.
Jonathan, I just appreciate the fact that you can say “I AM adding significant value to the experience. But it ‘s not all about me. ” In that statement there is neither false humility nor pride. There is an acknowledgement that God has given you, along with a calling, some abilities to carry out that calling, and as much as you can, you are doing it heartily, as unto The Lord. Thanks for being an example of living in the balance.