At Catalyst, Atlanta, this year’s theme was: MAKE. I have to admit, when I first heard that the theme was “make”, I had no idea where the conference would go with it. Of course, now it all seems so obvious.

We are made to be makers. We are made in the image of the Great Maker. Anything we do that makes instead of destroys, reflects God and leads us closer to the people we were made to be.

The word make showed up in so many different aspects of the conference – there was the Maker’s Market, where attendees could buy fair trade goods to help make a living for those in need; there were the talks, all of which were about making something (making culture, making peace, making history); and there was the idea that drove Catalyst this year: that God is making us into the leaders He wants us to be.

I love the idea that we were made to be makers. We are made to be makers of peace, makers of disciples, makers of relationship, makers of beauty, makers of hope. We are made to be those who build up instead of tear down. We are made to make someone else’s day, to make their lives better, to make their joy complete. Because that is what Jesus has done for us.

And because when we make, we reflect the image of God.

And I loved the idea that God is still making me. That God is still making you. From the moment we are born until the moment we die, God is never finished with us. He is always shaping us, forming and reforming us, making us.

There is a song by the Christian band Gungor (it’s the lead singer’s last name, in case you were wondering), who happened to lead a fair amount of the worship at Catalyst this year, called “Beautiful Things.”

The chorus goes:

You make beautiful things,
You make beautiful things out of the dust,
You make beautiful things,
You make beautiful things out of us.

I think it has to be the most encouraging thoughts I have come across in a long time…that as messy and confusing and broken as my life sometimes feels, God is making a beautiful thing out of it. Every once in a while I get a glimpse of the beautiful things God is making out of my life – and when that happens I am amazed at what the Great Maker is capable of doing with my efforts.

And you know what? It’s not just my life, that God is making beautiful things out of…but the life of anyone who chooses to live in relationship with God, anyone who chooses to be a maker. God is making beautiful things out of your life. Even if you cannot see it right now.

Because God is the Great Maker and He never leaves us and never forsakes us. He will always be making us new.