Believing is Seeing: Reflections on the 2019 Acts 29 West Conference

This was my 4th year attending the Acts 29 US West Conference. It’s always a privilege to hear Hunter Beaumont speak and this year was no exception. Hunter started his talk with an illustration about a painting he bought to match his coat rack. The painting was done by an artist named Takashi Murakami. Hunter didn’t know anything about Murakami’s artwork but began to learn more after buying the painting. He discovered Murakami’s gift for blending different styles of artistic tradition. From that point forward, he cannot look at any painting the same way. Hunter now sees different layers of meaning in a piece of visual art and various nods to artistic tradition.

Hunter’s point was that church planting is about seeing. The definition of church planting is to see something that does not exist. Even though Hunter’s talk was primarily about the birth of new churches, his point applies across all aspects of the Christian life. Hunter exposited John 14:12 where Jesus makes the seemingly outrageous claim that the person who believes in Jesus will perform greater deeds than Jesus himself did. Hunter commented this did not mean any follower of Jesus would perform greater miracles than Jesus did nor have the same eternal impact that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

And yet Jesus saw something in his disciples that they failed to see in themselves. The disciples, who repeatedly failed to understand Jesus' teachings, would later reach far more people through their respective ministries than Jesus did in his three years of earthly work. Therefore, Hunter concluded, John 14:12 means each follower of Jesus has the capacity bring more people to know Jesus than Jesus himself did.

After all, seeing before existence is how God works. At the beginning, God saw creation and then spoke it into being. At the beginning, God saw each of us predestined to adoption as his children. At the cross, all those gathered saw death but God saw life. Where the world sees people as garbage, God sees a masterpiece, with good works prepared in advance for us to do.

Though the power went out all over downtown Reno, losing all audio, we were still encouraged with boldness to lean on the gospel.

To be a Christian is to see what others do not see. To be a Christian means to see in faith what does not yet exist in sight. Hunter recognized that church leaders need all kinds of practical church tactics like inviting people, preaching the gospel, connecting others into community, and developing leaders. However, none of the tips matter if we cannot see.

I shared with Justin the day before how it’s difficult for me to see. I don’t have the gift of vision that I observe so many leaders around seem to have. Where others see an empty building, these visionary leaders see a crowded church, overflowing in worship and song. Where others see death, they see life. Where others see trash, they see treasure.

On the other hand, when I see an empty building, I just see an empty building. Even when others see a crowded church, I see disaster and decline lurking around the corner. And where others see death, I long for heaven. Where others see trash, I get angry that people litter.

Hunter pointed out how each of us can recall when a mentor saw something in us that we did not see ourselves. He encouraged us by saying that one’s sight can grow over time and how our sight can be activated in the Spirit. It’s up to us to confess and receive forgiveness for our unbelief and then repent and ask him to give us sight.

After Hunter’s message, I talked with Drew Cunningham, pastor of Santa Cruz Baptist Church. He confessed that vision casting has always been challenging for him because he bore scars from leaders who dreamed of building the kingdom of man more than the kingdom of God. I told him I felt similarly. And yet we both recognized that seeing in faith is intrinsic to how God works and the essence of the gospel. Far be it from us to refuse sight because other leaders have seen poorly.

My prayer today is for God to help my unbelief so I might see in faith. To see what God can do in an empty building. To see what He will do in others. To see how He is able to transform death into life. To see how garbage in my life can be recycled into treasure.

The beauty of this conference was to join with other ministry leaders and allow the Spirit to help us see together what I could not see on my own.