The Value of a Time Out, Part 3

This article is used with permission from InsideWork, where it originally appeared. Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 3 of this series.

by Dan Wooldridge, Time Out Participant

I’ve just arrived at the airport to head home after attending the Time Out Conference in Monterey, CA. It wrapped up at lunch today with a sun-filled lunch on the terrace overlooking the Monterey bay. But as awesome as the natural beauty was, what captured me was the sight of men sitting over their lunches, intently listening to each other, encouraging each other, praying for each other. It didn’t matter that they may have just met; they entered into a communion I can only attribute to selfless focus on others and the reality of God’s Spirit in each of them.

Rather than focus on the content that was covered as I’ve done in two previous posts from Time Out, let me make some observations about why the event has had and continues to have such a deep impact on businessmen.

1. There is no agenda, except to be present with God and present with any person God puts in front of you. There is no money raised. There is no appeal to join a network, organization or group. This is not a professional networking event. Deals are not being negotiated. Men simply come to be with God and with each other — simply, humbly.
2. The leaders of the event, if you could call them that (and they sure don’t) are servants of the process. They set the stage, welcome the participants, provide resources in the form of some speakers, but they do not drive an agenda except to serve those who come. They are incredibly sensitive to what God seems to be doing in the moment and will facilitate things in such a way as to let those moments bear all the fruit that can emerge.
3. The participants, cutting a wide swath of age, accomplishment, and spiritual maturity, all come just as they are. There is little pretense. No posturing. No self promotion. You really can’t tell who or what each man might be outside this event. They all show up on the level field of being children of the Living God.
4. This is a safe place and people feel it. Men are surprised at what they are willing to disclose, and they are surprised at the encouragement, love, support, counsel, mercy and hope they receive. Sure, there are moments here and there where someone might be too quick to offer pat solutions and become a bit preachy. But the overall tone is that of guys who have all blown it, messed up, and failed, sharing the common grace and mercy they’ve found in Christ.
5. There is the staunch resistance to becoming something big or important. Sure there are discussions on how to collaborate with other networks of men, but there is no pride or ambition to become something. The event is put together in a series of meetings in the early part of the year. And after the event is over, there is no more organization for the next year. What remains are the relationships and friendships.
6. There is ample tough love. Feedback is gentle but firm when warranted — always delivered in love.
7. It’s all the informal interaction infused with the presence of God, the reliance on the Scriptures, and an authentic love for each other that makes this work. Teachers are chosen each year because they have had a significant influence on the men. But I believe if there were no teachers and all that remained was the time and space to interact with each other, lives would still be changed.
8. There is a deep awareness that this is a time appointed by God. So each person comes with a heart ready and alert to what God is going to do. Many of the most significant moments would seem to an outside observer to be serendipitous. To these men, it is a divine encounter orchestrated by God that puts them next to a stranger who just happens to have the wisdom, insight or encouragement they need — or to be the right person with the right gift to give to someone else at just the right time.
9. Everyone seems to leave the weekend with at least one specific thing that will carry them down the next leg of their spiritual journey.

We live in an over-programmed and results-oriented world. This is true in the business arena and the religious arena — both are highly manipulated and controlled. Businesses and religious entities are marketing entities. Results are manufactured, mass produced. And people feel wary. They are tired of hype, of self-promoting leaders, of constantly being recruited to join this cause or that church or this other group. And the feeling you get is that in the end the person who is truly spiritually seeking is just a target market. A target.

The seeker is not asked “Who are you?” but rather, “Do you attend such and such church? Have you read this?  Have you been to that? Do you know so and so?”

Somehow, I don’t think Jesus would ask those questions. I think he’d ask, “What do you seek? Whom do you seek?” I think he’d also ask to get together for dinner.

The keys to our own spiritual growth, and to being light to the world, does not involve becoming yet another foot soldier or contributor in someone else’s big, hairy, audacious goal. No, it begins with what the apostle Paul called the “simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” And how do you grow in that simple and pure devotion to Christ. It’s not complicated. All it takes is sensitivity to the Spirit of God who is present with us, the Word of God that speak to us, and a “little help from our friends.”

This is what the men of Time Out have brought together and what they are seeing come forth.

Gentlemen: It was an honor to be with you all. And I pray that every person in the marketplace has the opportunity to be part of such a circle of friends.

 Posted on Oct 27, 2008    Print This Article    Bookmark/Share    Post to Twitter