
I am so blessed to share the privilege of communicating at Crash with someone like Maxie Burch. Many of us are aware of Maxie’s expertise when it comes to church history and theology, but his ability to help us get at the real issues in our lives and do so with compassion, empathy and vulnerability is unmatched. Last night’s talk was INCREDIBLE and if you weren’t there, you need to get it on podcast HERE. The talk should be live sometime tomorrow.
In the meantime, here are some maxie-isms from last night. The message was entitled “Facing the elephant”, week 3 in our Tension series.
BIG IDEA: Our true self is revealed and transformed when we trust God and face the elephant.
-When there is an elephant in the room, introduce him. (from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture)
-If you want to know where the elephant is in your life, I suggest you follow the fear and the anger.
-Definition of an elephant: An issue or person that is too painful or too difficult to acknowledge but too big, too obvious, to overwhelming to ignore; but we do, and that is what creates the tension. I like to call this condition elephant denial.
-In most cases, elephant denial has a significant payoff that makes the practice worthwhile. And that payoff is often power and control.
-Over time, the elephant begins to characterize and control our lives (WOW, I know people that this sentence describes to T).
-There is always a price to pay for facing the elephant – fear, rejection, pain, etc. (which is why so many of us don’t face the elephants).
-Elephants are a part of life. It is not the elephant’s presence that defines you; it is what you decide to do about the elephant that will define you. There is always a third option.
-My dad was a weak man. He couldn’t deal with the elephant. But just because he wouldn’t and couldn’t deal with the elephant did not mean that I couldn’t deal it in my life.
-A lot of people try to be hip and they use cool clips from movies. I like cowboy movies. I am not hip. I don’t care.
If you have another Maxie line from last night, please add it in the comments below.
Also, some of my lovely friends got together and created a fantastic video recounting a statement I made in my sermon last week on Sunday morning at North Phoenix. I have included it below for your viewing pleasure.
-Savage




