How to Cope with Not Attending T4G
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:14AM As you may know, some 7,000 people are attending the Together for the Gospel Conference in Louisville, Kentucky today. You, like me, may not be one of them.
It's easy at a time like this to start to get bitter. It's like the dance that everyone attended in high school without you. Everybody cool is going to be there, which leaves you feeling like you naturally should be there too.
You can't escape it. Yesterday I quickly pulled a shirt out from my dresser. At random, I found my T4G shirt from two years ago. I swear it was mocking me. Last night I dreamt that my friend Paul Martin - who was not planning to attend, and now is - was personally invited by Mark Dever to take the last spot before the conference sold out. Such is the sad state of my dream life.
To make it worse, this morning I read on Twitter that Fake John Piper and Jonathan McIntosh are fighting over pillows in their room. See what we're missing?
How should you cope with not attending T4G? Hopefully better than I am, which qualifies me to offer the following advice:
Act Smug. Say that you don't believe in conferences. All the wasted money and energy and time, not to mention the celebrity worship. You're at home serving the Lord. Not that you're judging anyone, of course. They may have been called to sit and soak. It's just that you've been called to serve. We can't all be ears in the body of Christ.
It's hard to pull this off without coming across like a prideful wannabe, but with practice I've found this approach to be quite effective. (My wife just glared at me. What's that about?)
Act Strategic. Say that you are going to instantly buy all the book giveaways on your Kindle the minute they announce them. Before they can crack open a book, you'll have figured out what's on the chairs through the power of Twitter, and you'll be reading it instantly. No heavy suitcases of books to carry back. You'll also listen to all the free audio from the conference. You'll spend less time traveling and have all the benefits of attending, minus the cost - and some other minor things like all the relationships and the experience and the sense of corporate worship. But you're cool with that. You're simply being strategic.
Play the Security Card. It's simply not safe for everyone important to be in one room. Instead, you're home or at an undisclosed location. Say everyone gets a stomach virus - God forbid - and can't preach this weekend. Who is Bethlehem Baptist going to call? Probably you. It's a good thing you didn't attend.
Yes, this makes you the Dick Cheney of T4G. Live with it.
There are undoubtedly many other ways you can cope with not being at T4G. Please know that I am there for you. We'll get through this together.
Reader Comments (21)
Instantly made me feel better for not being there, and all the while more determined to go in 2012. :)
You could evangelize someone while the cool kids are hiding in plain sight. That would be salt in the eye.
Thanks for sharing these words of encouragement. I personally just tell everyone that I am entirely too busy...Just like Dick Cheney. Great Post!
Thanks. Together for not being at Together For The Gospel Conference.
It was good meeting you in '08, through Paul Martin (Hmph! Turncoat. I asked him if he going awhile back, and he said he wasn't).But I'm OK with not going... Really... I am.Thanks for being there for me.
Nobody but you will believe me on this. I really don't want to be there with that many people. A crowd of 7000 is not a conference. It's a small town. That is simply too many people for a conference. As I told Tim, I can't bear the crowds or the hero worship.I am truly glad to be here. Hassan, on the other hand is pining, but I'll pass on your suggestions.See you Thursday with our group of slightly under 7000.
Thanks for the coping strategies.I went to a Reformed theology conference in Vancouver last week . John Piper spoke, but so did Preston Manning. Louisville can't match that!
Wow... nothing hits the "Left Behind and Proud of It" vainglory than this post. Our new group should be called "Commiseration 4 the Gospel".
Well, I am at the conference so you could also add things like: Your back doesn't hurt from all of the free books they are giving away, or your brain doesn't hurt from listening to a 3 hour, 8 point, Albert Mohler sermon preached in 90 minutes, or your ears don't hurt from hearing the booming base of almost 7000 men (and a few women) singing gospel hymns from the depths of their heart, or you don't feel the remorse of only being able to hear Mark Dever preach for an hour straight, or even the the cramps in your thumbs from looking up word definitions on your phone while trying to fully understand the teaching of R.C. Sproul. You could say these things, but if you were here you wouldn't, because it is all worth it. Not because of hero worship, but because of Christ worship. There are negatives of having a crowd of 7000, and I am far more comfortable in my church of under a 100, but the reassurance that the un-adjusted Gospel isn't completely lost in America far outweighs the wait in line for the men's room.
Darryl: Hilarious post.John Perkins [above comment]: Hilarious response!I sooooo wish I was at the conference, but alas, here I am in Oregon on Darryl's blog making a comment "acting smug". ;)
Dibs on Bethlehem B. It's only 90 minutes away and my van knows the route already!
This puts a whole new spin on 'Left Behind'!
I was registered. My wife was pregnant originally due April 1. We had the baby April 8. I am still hope with my new little boy and I am loving it, though still missing the conference.
I have to process the theology journals at the SBTS library in case John Piper needs to use one!
This is funny! I wish I had this laugh when I had to miss the other two T4g's also.Still laughing,ECR
This is awesome! I went to register for T4G weeks ago and saw it was sold out. I almost cried. This post was exactly what I was looking for. AWESOME!
apparently i'm really smug. i hadn't even heard of T4G
I have no idea what I am missing as I've only known of T4G for a year or so; the speakers would be wonderful but personally the crowd size might be a negative for me. The one I had longed to attend, and thankfully was able to, was a PCRT at a mid-sized church in Grand Rapids, MI last month. That experience obliterates any such T4G envy on my part. It was a fairly intimate setting; along with the excellent worship and conference sessions, a slew of volunteers from the host church and prepared baked goods for the attenders.
Makes me feel good to know I am now cool, since I was there. ;)
There's hope for your last dream. I had a stomach virus on Monday morning. I refused to let it keep me from going. So I muscled through it and went anyway. Sure, 7,000 people may have a 24-hour bug tomorrow and I may have felt bad about it, but after reading your blog I now feel like I'm doing a little something for those who couldn't attend.
I have never been to T4G as I live in the UK! We have a similar conference in Wales (New World Alive) but for some reason I always miss it.. It really does make me badly upset and brings me to tears at time. But the posts above are without a doubt the most comforting and supporting words I have heard in a long while. Many Thanks, you have made an old girl happy!! God Bless you!