I have a love/hate relationship with travel. In some ways, I am ideal for trips. I am built for planes—can stretch my legs comfortably in puddle-jumper planes without a problem. I can sleep anywhere and eat (almost) anything. And there is a certain adventure of going someplace different, breaking the routine, and having new experiences.
But there is a moment in time that usually occurs the night before I leave where I inevitably regret the decision to go away. I get this depressive and disoriented feeling that it’s a big mistake, and something bad is going to happen. It used to be a real battle when my kids were young, and I had to leave them behind. Now that they’re older and hardly aware I’m away that’s less of a factor, but the pre-travel malaise is still part of my life. The odd thing about it is that this predictable angst can happen no matter where I’m going. I’ll get it going Disney World just as easily as I’d get it going on a business trip.
Which brings me to this weekend as I prepare to attend another Sovereign Grace Pastors Conference. It is neither Disney World (although my wife and I did pack in an Epcot day when we were at the conference in Orlando) nor is it a business trip—though much productive ministry business does take place. The annual pastor’s conference has occupied an important place in my calendar for over a quarter of a century. And I know that come Sunday night as I’m preparing to leave I’m going to be fighting the questions. Who scheduled this? Why now? Why Indianapolis? Where is Indianapolis? Who’s going to deal with all the stuff I’m leaving behind?
But I have come to realize something unique about the pastor’s conference. It delivers. On multiple levels. Every year. No matter what’s going on in our lives, in our church, in our family of churches, in the world around us, the Lord has met me in particular and meaningful ways at the conference. I’ve come to simply expect this, and the reason is not simply because it is a routinely excellent event. It is because it is the one place each year where the pastors and wives who share my vision for how churches can do mission together experience real time, up close expression of our partnership. We all come knowing the problems we need to tackle, the opportunities we want to seize, the natural limits we face and the sovereign grace available to us. We don’t come because it fits the schedule. We come because we care. For the mission, for the partnership, for each other, for the gospel.
Because God cares all the more for these things, he meets us there. Often it is in the worship and the teaching and the updates on what God is doing among us. Sometimes it’s in great meals with old friends, sometimes it's in hard conversations with fellow elders. There have been remarkable times of ministry in meetings that I still count as key markers in my spiritual journey. I’ve met folks at random at the conference who have become life-long friends. Sometimes it has been simply being among fellow pastors soaking in the richness of God’s grace.
These are the things I’m reminding myself of as I anticipate the inevitable ‘this is totally inconvenient’ moments I’ll face as I prepare to head out to the conference. I hope they help you as well.
For the mission, for the partnership, for each other, for the gospel.
Andy Farmer is a pastor at Risen Hope Church in Upper Darby, PA. He also serves Sovereign Grace on the Executive Committee and on the National Church Planting Group.