I just spent an entire week in the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area. I went with family and staff by my side to speak at four different conferences. What a trip. God did great things in the life of His people this week. There is however one thing that I wanted to rant about concerning my time in the Smokies: Crowds! I am simply amazed at how many people you can fit on one mountain. The insanity of it all is frankly numbing. To me vacation and retreat should be mainly about getting away from people not joining them in two hours of traffic every morning just to go three miles. In the wintertime, Gatlinburg resembles an ant pile that has been kicked, or better yet run over by a lawnmower. You know what I mean? We’ve all done it. We have all run the lawnmower over an ant pile just to see it go from quiet hibernation to panic and hysteria in one instant second! Well, that’s what Gatlinburg feels like: an ant pile in a frenzy... if your idea of vacation is waiting over an hour to get a sandwich at Burger King due to lines out the door, or driving around and around an outlet mall parking lot looking for a space, then let me invite you to book your room now.
The million-dollar question is: Is it worth the hassle just to watch taffy being made in a candy store, and to browse in overstuffed souvenir shops full of "getter done" paraphernalia? As for me the answer is “yes”. Not because of the crowds, but in-spite them. What I love about the craziness known as Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is that I have seen God do amazing things in the lives of people on this mountain. I have seen teenagers lives eternally changed. I have seen six thousand people bring in the New Year with worship and praise instead of drunken goofiness. I have seen pastors that normally suit up everyday, just be a chaperone and a friend to a handful (or should I say van full?) of teens. It’s those moments and so much more that make Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge worth the traffic!
Jesus ministered to crowds. He had a God-given (to himself) ability to not get overwhelmed by large groups of people. His philosophy was: The bigger the crowd the more personal the ministry. One day he was walking through a sea of people. Suddenly he stops and asks a very strange question. "Who just touched me?" Can you imagine the thought going through the disciple’s minds? “What kind of question is that Jesus? Everyone touched you. You’re in the middle of a crowd!” But Jesus didn’t ask the question so that He would get an answer. He was teaching His disciples how ministry in a crowd should never be crowded but intimate. He knew that the larger the crowd, the more sensitive He had to be. He knew that a desperate woman had reached out for His help. He felt the woman touch His garment. She was reaching out to Him and in-spite of the craziness and the loud noise, He reached back... This week, I saw that same Jesus do His intimate work in the midst of hundreds of thousands of people.
