Grace Community Fellowship

I read an interesting blog post on myspace from Leonard Jones.  In it, Leonard offered the following comments:

“I work very hard on my craft, which is music and I try to use it to glorify God. This is my passion but it is not my future. My future is in how well I raise up the next generation to take what I do farther than I took it.”

Leonard’s comments remind me of the scripture in Matthew chapter 28 that says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

There are certain aspects of ministry that must be learned through experience.  Depending upon God and learning to react to the Holy Spirit are good examples. There are other aspects that can be readily transferred through mentorship relationships.  As leaders in the church, we have a responsibility that is clearly outlined in scripture to raise up the next generation and prepare them to possess the kingdom more fully than we did.  It’s a scriptural mandate, but most who are in the know would argue that no generation has ever succeeded in raising up a subsequent generation that could either sustain or expand revival.

Why have we mostly failed to raise up the next generation of revivalists throughout history? I think this problem is primarily due to the fact that we tend to focus upon our passion more than our legacy.  Ministry and preserving the move of God becomes more important than teaching young people to properly steward and expand it.

Here are a few tidbits from my fractal thought patterns on the subject:

Discussing discipleship is not the same as making disciples. Discipleship is dirty business.  You must be willing to deal with flawed and broken people.  You must have the patience and benevolence to see them healed and restored before they can even begin the process of stepping into ministry.

Real discipleship is not a program that happens every week on Wednesday, although that may play a part in the process.  Discipleship happens over meals, late at night, or on weekend getaways.  It happens in the front yard, over the open road, and in the course of millions of hours of face time.  If you’re not willing to love and spend time with people, you will never make disciples.

There’s no immediate payoff. I get the distinct impression that most preachers, pastors, and worship leaders are way more concerned with what’s going on this Sunday than they are with what will be going on in five years.  I understand the concept of living in the moment, but that doesn’t release us from our responsibility to raise up the next generation.

Does the pressure to have a professional sounding worship band prevent us from developing the worship leaders of tomorrow?  Perhaps the person with the questionable vocal skills has the greatest anointing for worship, in seed form, and is in need of personal development and training.  Perhaps it would be more beneficial for the body of Christ if the experienced preacher takes a seat and allows the young preacher to bring a message on Sunday.  The guidance and feedback provided by the more experienced minister could be hugely beneficial in a formative time in the young ministers life.

I’m happy to be a part of a church that is committed to raising up the next generation. Is there more that we can do?