Tag: jon acuff

Wish You Were Here, Jon Acuff, Catalyst West

Speaker and author Jon Acuff (StuffChristiansLike & JonAcuff.com) opened Catalyst West 2012, speaking to this year’s theme, “Be Present.”

Sometimes in your life, it’s easy to focus on what’s “next” to be disconnected from what’s “right now.”

At these points, we can hear family and friends tell us, “I wish you were here.” Instead of being present, we find ourselves distracted, seeking to please others rather than enjoying the people in front of us.

3 Ways to be Sure you Remain Present

1. Don’t get lost in the comparison game.

This is hard. You see this at events, when you hear what other people and organizations are doing, and you wish you could be more like them. You never do “fair” comparisons, either. You compare yourself to the best of the best. What we often do is compare our “beginning” to someone else’s “middle.” The Enemy loves when we get lost in this comparison game, making us feel “entitled” and “deserving.”

2. Be smart about social media.

In some ways, we’re all becoming reality TV stars in our own little world. When Jon went on vacation, he disengaged from social media. And in the process, he was able to be present for the vacation, rather than just a documenter. It’s time to be present…not time for everybody around you to say, “Please pay attention.”

3. Quit listening to the voices.

Nobody’s internal voices are ever positive. You think they’re your friends, but voices of fear and doubt are foes. Voices of fear and doubt want to take us away from being “present.” 90% perfect and published is always better than 100% perfect and stuck in your head.

“Who are you to do that?” is often a voice we hear. One of fear’s greatest goals is isolation. Fear fears community.

What if the reason that God is silent is because He’s planning your party? (Re: Prodigal Son)

Jesus was always present

1. He was available.

He had long, slow dinners with people though he could’ve been teaching tens of thousands every evening.

2. He rested.

Jesus rested, so why do we think we don’t have to? Isaiah 30:15: “In repentance and rest is your salvation. Quietness and trust is your strength.” We’ve rewritten this, because it’s hard to yell this at people. We’ve rewritten this to say, “Efficienty and repentance” or “productivity and repentance” instead of “rest and repentance.”

3. He knew his role.

We often get confused about out roles. We put too much pressure on ourselves…pressure that God doesn’t even put on yourself. God’s not surprised or disappointed by the size of our ministry. Proverbs 21:1: The king’s heart is in the hands of the Lord.” Some days, water moves rapidly. Some times itit slows down to go deeper. And water doesn’t ever get to talk back to the water maker and give suggestions. It just gets to be water.

Question: What is your biggest source of distraction right now?

 

The new social media

This is a guest post by Jeremy Chandler, social media director at Souls 4 Souls, a charity that collects shoes and distributes them around the world.  Jeremy is all over Twitter and Facebook.

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Let’s go back a few years to when you first started noticing the potential social media could have (circa 2006). Back to the days when the idea of creating a community of friends in a digital world excited you.  Remember the days you actually had to ask someone if they were on Facebook?

 

Social Media not only connected us with friends from high school and new acquaintances, but people around the world who shared our same interests. It was a new and easy way for us to bond together for something greater than ourselves. With social media, we had the power of a new collaborative technology to impact the world in a way we never had before. People were joining together on sites like Facebook Causes to partner together to make a greater impact in the world. And it was awesome.

 

Since then, there’s been a shift of sorts in the fundamental thinking about social media. As more and more people are getting into it, the less “social” it is becoming. Over time, the chance to become a social media rock star has captivated our focus & intentions. It’s become more about the “me” than about the “we”.

The problem is that we’ve forgotten what made these elements so intriguing in the first place.

 

Think about it this way, when someone gives you a compliment in front of their friends in person, you don’t repeat what they just said about you or pull them off to the side & whisper thanks in their ear. Yet, in social media, we are quick to retweet nice words someone has said about us or send them a direct message saying thanks. I’m just as guilty as the next guy.

When we stop being social, we lose what this new media is all about. We’ve forfeited an opportunity to make a real difference in the world.

There is still hope. Jon Acuff has worked hard to develop his platform, but decided to use it to make a tangible difference in the lives of kids in India & Africa. TwitChange is an organization that is leveraging the fame celebrity twitter accounts have accrued to help nonprofits increase their impact.

So what does this mean for us? As social media continues to develop, no matter if its Facebook or Twitter or Quora, may we never forget the reason social media became so popular in the first place, and carefully guard against forfeiting something bigger than ourselves to make our name big.

What advice do you have about guarding yourself from social “ME”dia?

Have you seen how social media has become all about “Me”?

 

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