A Lot to Lose

After just getting back from the Destino Conference, I've started to process what I saw and experienced. One thing I noticed during and after the conference about myself and Campus Crusade as a whole:

We've got a lot to lose, and we spend a lot of time, energy, and money protecting what we have.

Some of that is very good--there are structures, processes, and strategies that have been tested by experienced leaders in many and varied contexts, which give depth, wisdom, and leadership to our organization. 

Some of it is very bad--many past successes, old paradigms, and fear of losing what we have, even if it's not that great, stifle and inhibit creativity, innovation, and freedom among emerging leaders--which turn out to be those who are actually on the ground level, and face to face with our target audience--lost students.

Since Destino is still very new, there is little to protect. Since its students are by and large unfamiliar with the 'rules' of Crusade, there is little energy exerted trying to conform to the dominant culture. The result--a lot of freedom, fun, and creativity in comparison to other conferences I have been to.

All this to say that I believe we as an organization could greatly benefit from leveraging the tremendous amount of resources that Jesus has entrusted us with less towards maintaining the present and more so towards building the future.