Now Generation
How be okay with being Replaceable.
By Pastor Adam Fox
I am a comic nerd and very comfortable with that designation. While I may not have the discretionary resources to visit my two favorite comic shops, Amazing Fantasy and Graham Cracker Comics - I still like to sit down and leaf through a new comic or re-read some older issues.
When I do go back and re-read comics, there are a few titles that deserve being enjoyed one more time – like the Ultimate Spider-man, Doctor Strange and What If?.
What if? is a comic line done by marvel that gives the reader a second view of a character, story or event. It takes what is known and changes one detail about it and plays it out to see the difference.
For instance: What if Captain America was not a patriot but instead a paranoid Communist hunter? The story of Captain America, who gets frozen in World War II, is thawed out when and returns to fight for justice. In this alternate story, Cap is found in 1983. However, by that time a deluded soldier has already taken up the mantle to give America the Cap his twisted mind believes they need. The new morally twisted Captain America is obsessed with rooting out Communism from its perceived hiding places in America.
Weird. Unlikely. Fun to read.
I have another What If? for us to ponder, and there is no comic for this idea. What if the Church never had Paul as a believer and it’s first missionary?
I know what you are thinking, the Shelter-in-Place directive has gotten to me and your old dear pastor has gone stir crazy. But let me settle your worry, this is perfectly cromulent thought.
What if the Apostle Paul was not chosen by God to be the teacher, preacher and leader that the early church needed to spread the Good News of Jesus? What if Paul never even had that Road to Damascus moment with God?
Looking at this logically, If Paul never existed or stayed as Saul – the man breathing threats to the Way in the first century – God would have used someone else to proclaim His name to the Gentiles and to the world.
It is a fascinating thought exercise, having the idea that Paul never became the writer and preacher that we know him to be – and someone else doing all that we know and can read. The New Testament and the Church as we know it would look differently. Is different bad? No, just different. It is like when I get to step in for Pastor Gil when he is on vacation. My way of teaching and preaching is different but gets you to the same place, I hope.
Thankfully we are not in this what-if world and had the Apostle Paul and can leaf through the New Testament and see the ramifications and actions of his life. We get letters written by Paul to churches and individuals, we have churches founded because of Paul, and there was a team of people who were led to Christ by Paul, mentored by Paul and installed as leaders by Paul.
Paul was a mentor and a fantastic leader to many and can teach us still today how to help the next generation. For us in the Modern American Church – we should be listening with both ears.
Our church and many churches in this great nation of ours and around the world are doing a poor job at developing the next generation of believers. The common mentality in most churches that I have been in, read about or talked with other Ministers is to focus in the immediate needs of the now generations or the tithe giving adults. The future generation, the children and students are tomorrows worries, next years problems.
This is a dangerous thought and pretty darn foolish one too. Children and students should be a part of every church and if you take it one step further, are a sign of a healthy church.
Having a church that emphasize children and student ministries means there is a church with an eye on the now generations but also another eye on the future and for these children to grow – both physically and spiritually – into believers who are a part of the church and will oversee the church into years to come.
I have spent some time looking at our church and studying other churches through school and other fun book reads and keep going back to the biblical examples of Paul. Paul was a fantastic leader and even better mentor to younger Christians.
The way the Church should run is by preparing others for the work of the Gospel. No church, not a mega church, not a ancient catholic church, not a television church can succeed if the leaders of that church are not training and preparing other Christians for success. Let me explain why this is and how it shows us how to be better believers by being Replaceable.
The church is the Earthly body of Christ, made up of individuals who have given a unique set of spiritual gifts from God. We can see those in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
There is not one of us who has all of the gifts, talents and abilities – instead God has given each of what He knows we need to succeed. We are to take these talents and spiritual gifts and develop them and use them to bring glory to God. So we cannot just say that it is the Pastor’s and Deacon’s job to do all the work of the church and I can just come worship and leave.
If this was the case, the church would have slowly fizzled out in the early centuries. BUT IT DID NOT! Because the early believers were so excited and dedicated in witnessing to people and mentoring these new believers.
We need to have the same fervor in preparing the next generation for leadership in the church. Teaching and guiding these new believers with the foreknowledge that they will replace us one day.
Being replaceable in ministry is a beautiful thing. We are each members of God’s church and when we are using our talents in ministry and in evangelism, we are growing the church. But the hard truth is, God may have someone more skilled or gifted to help in your ministry. When this happens, rejoice.
Let me explain from my life. I was asked by my last church to head up a team of volunteers to run a youth group after other adults gave it up. I jumped on the opportunity because I like working with students and the other volunteers were friends. After a few years of normal highs and lows in church ministry, there came to a tipping point in my life. I wanted to go back to school. In order for me to do that and work full-time, I had to step away from the ministry that I ran and started. I still remember telling my best Bobbo, that if I quit the ministry would end. I was stupid and short sided.
That youth group is still running to this day and doing well with other leaders and new volunteers. Each of these people are still doing the work I had been doing – thinking foolishly that I was unreplaceable.
We cannot be foolish like I was in thinking that we are the secret sauce that is making the ministry that you are a part of run. Because it is not, God is the one doing all of it THROUGH us.
Some Christian thinkers even go as far as say that church leaders should be investing in people so that they learn how and why of ministry of the Church. I would say that the Apostle Paul would be one of those people.
Paul was a great leader and important figure in the early church, there is no way to deny that. But what made him such a foreword thinker – he poured himself into so many people, Timothy and Titus are two main people.
Paul invested greatly in these two men, we can see three letters from Paul to these 2 individuals. These three letters are unique and different from the other Paul letters in that they were written to these 2 men and not to a church, but also in that they had more of a personal nature to them.
I guess Paul could have used these two men, or any of his close group of Christian mentees as underlings or cogs. Instead of treating these men as individuals and make their ministry he could have seen this as his work and them as just a part of his success.
Just look at Titus for a quick example of how Paul prepared this young man to continue his work and the work of the church.
Titus was given responsibility of leadership for the island of Crete. Paul encourages Titus to raise up leaders to help him in the work of sharing the gospel and growing the church in Crete. This was going to be a challenge for Titus due to the issues in the church of: quarrelsome members, false teachings and those who advocate for the Jewish law.
What a challenge for this young minister. But how does the relationship between Paul and those under him apply to us in understanding that we need to be replaceable in ministry?
God places us in the roles we are in for a reason, even if it is just for a short season or if it is for a life. The role God has you could be vast from parent, teacher, coach, pastor, boss, neighbor… anything.
We are in these roles, establish by God and using the gifts and talents that God has given to us. It is natural for us to take pride in what we do, in where we are. As in, Joe Schmoe is the Youth Pastor for ABC Church and he take pride in that. It would be easy for him to enjoy the establishment of him in this position and stop listening to God’s whispers.
Being replaceable in ministry means asking yourself regularly, can you imagine someone else doing this? While this is a frightening thought for some of us, it is something we should consider regularly.
How can we show a younger Christian how to lead, how to develop their gifts and abilities and how to share the Gospel. God has placed us in these spots for a reason – just like the Apostle Paul. But like Paul, training and developing many to do the work that he is doing and of course, doing so by seeking the Lord’s guidance.
How wonderful would our church look, would any church look, if we are preparing the next generations for leadership. Willing to mentor a younger or newer believer, listening to the tugging of your heart in knowing when to stay in a position, or when to let someone else shine.
I am encouraging each one of us, to prayerfully consider this evaluation of what God has you do for the church. How can we encourage someone to find where they belong, like Paul did for Titus.
While I have not said and am not saying everyone quits their ministry, their role. But for all of us to be willing to be replaceable so that the church will continue to grow and be around for centuries to come.
Cheers and Excelsior!
Pastor Adam