PASSING THE TORCH
Leading From Behind
I’ll never forget the months and brief years shortly after I announced to my pastor that I felt like the Lord was calling me into the ministry. I had experienced many leadership roles in the military by this time, but only to a limited degree in the church. Even my military leadership style up until that point, may have been referred to as, “leading from behind”, and I was comfortable with that, because I took great pride in NOT being a, “type A” personality in the first place.
Still today, I don’t revel in what I refer to as the, “Alexander Haig” style of leadership. Haig, of course, was the four-star General, turned Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan who boldly asserted, “I am in control here!” immediately after the assignation attempt on the president. A brazen move to be sure, but badly flawed because it effectively skipped two other cabinet officers, in the presidential line of succession. I, on the other hand, preferred to take on leadership roles and start barking orders, only when it became absolutely necessary, and my pastor must have sensed this about me, because from that time forward he wisely challenged me to engage in activities that would require me to exercise some administrative, as well as pastoral leadership.
One such occasion, was an upcoming men’s conference in Southern California that summer. I had always enjoyed attending these events as a young Christian man and I passively made the suggestion to my pastor that we should go. All the while, I just assumed that he might sense an interest within the fellowship, organize it, and then one Sunday morning, I would be blessed to hear the announcement that indeed, the men would be going down to attend the conference, and I would just need to sign up to attend. Not this time, however. He turned to me and said, “Ok, set it up, and take them down there! It’s your baby!” Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I desperately needed that experience, and I so appreciated his willingness to give me an opportunity to learn and grow as a minister.
Pass It On!
I now have young men serving in the church that I pastor, who are feeling that same calling upon their lives that I once expressed to my pastor, and this is indeed a unique challenge in the church; to identify, equip, and send out the next generation of pastors and ministers, to do the work of the ministry on into the future. It is at first, very awkward and completely uncharted, for the individual who feels this tug upon their hearts, to venture out in faith, take up their cross, be led by the Spirit, and seek after the will of God for their lives.
Being, “Called out” by the Creator God of the universe, can be an exceedingly lonely feeling, but incredibly comforting at the same time. Navigating through this period in our lives can challenge us to rely more heavily upon God than we ever have before, but He doesn’t require us to do it all alone. Having someone come along side us, who has made this walk before, is quite comforting indeed.
The Bible tells us that, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (KJV Prov 29:18), and this is where I believe the role of the senior pastor, comes into play. If the stated goal of the church, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all men, is to be accomplished, it is certain that the senior pastor can’t do it himself. His vision must be wider than his own ministry and the needs of his own church; it must involve the ministries of those future, “…apostles… prophets… evangelists… pastors and teachers, [that he has been given] for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…” (NKJV Eph 4:11-12).
Approaching a pastor to sheepishly ask a question about this strange beckoning voice that is patiently knocking on the door of their hearts, is hard enough, but then all too often, an insensitive pastor will just use the, “Oh, I’ll just discourage them at first” approach, believing that, if they keep coming back after repeated discouragements, it must be a real calling. This is shameful! Therefore, church leadership must be diligent to actively seek out and receive those individuals, encourage them in their callings, exhort them as Paul exhorted Timothy to, “…stir up the gift of God which is in…” (2 Tim 1:6) them, and help them walk through the process, by training and equipping them to do the work they are called to. If it turns out that they are not ready for the calling, this will manifest itself in due time, and then it may be dealt with accordingly, but how dare we discourage the heart of whom God has called, because we are too busy or just too lazy to do our due diligence to stand with them in faith, believing that God, “…will build… [His] …church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it...” (Mat 16:18).
KJV King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2013. Print.
NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.
