erwinmcmanusErwin McManus has been a big influence in my life. His writings and teachings have expanded my understanding of God, life, culture and what it means to be a Christ follower. His church, Mosaic, is largely considered one of the most innovative churches in America. Erwin is a futurist, I would dare say, a modern day prophet. He is articulate and has a unique gift of communication.

His message at Exponential was taken from his Wide Awake series at Mosaic and is based on Acts 17:16-34. I had heard the podcast of that message and this seemed to be a slight variation of it. It is still very powerful.

Some notable points:

  • What exactly are we trying to move when we talk about a movement.
  • There are three spaces we need to be aware of: 1st space, 2nd space and the 3rd space.
  • The 1st space is our place of comfort, it is the space that we try to invite others into to — the church. Paul went immediately to the synagogue to reason with the Christians.
  • We need a church planting movement motivated by love, not self interest.
  • The 2nd space is the marketplace. Paul engaged those outside of the church also. We need to engage this space because people are looking for those with the undeniable presence of Jesus.
  • If we don’t relate to the world we will not be effective in reaching it.
  • The 3rd space is the space you cannot go to unless you are invited. Paul was invited to speak at the Areopagus.
  • In this space we must earn the right and respect to be invited.

    • Erwin shared a lot of his personal story about the criticism he receives for engaging culture and he remarked that in order to enter that 3rd space we must be willing to suffer the disdain of the “Mary’s and Martha’s in order to reach Dionysius and Damaris.”