The Generation That Shaped Me

I have always thought of my father as part of what we came to call the Greatest Generation. Born in 1928, he was shaped by many of the same forces that defined it—hardship, sacrifice, duty, perseverance, faith, and responsibility.

I came along thirty-one years later. I was raised by a generation that valued work, endurance, loyalty, faith, family, responsibility, and finishing what they started. A great deal of who I am came from watching them, and I remain grateful for it.

Those values followed me into ministry: stay faithful, work hard, protect what has been entrusted to you, hold fast to the truth, and finish what you start. I still believe every one of those things.

But longevity eventually presents another question:

How do you remain faithful to what was placed in your hands without beginning to believe it must always remain in your hands?

That question becomes especially important when we consider how leadership is developed, recognized, and ultimately selected from one generation to the next.

The World Has Changed

The world in which organizational and even denominational leadership is recognized, developed, and selected has changed.

The methods of my father’s generation and even my own were different, yet influence was still at work. For instance, an impromptu breakfast with friends might become a focused meeting. Even a Camp Meeting held during a General Assembly year could become a setting for conversations about future leaders.

A hallway conversation could shape a larger discussion. Many of us were influenced by familiar faces and trusted voices we heard repeatedly in major denominational gatherings.

Today, those participating in the electoral process have additional means and methods at their disposal—event-dedicated communication apps like GroupMe, text chains, focused lists of potential leaders prepared prior to the event, floor coordination, and even voting strategies in which only one candidate is selected when multiple choices are allowed in a multi-seat election, such as councils and elected boards. In politics, this is sometimes referred to as “single-shot” voting.

Names of potential leaders can now travel across the country—and across the convention hall—in seconds. Conversations that once developed more slowly can form almost immediately around shared interests, relationships, and hopes for representation.

Some of that feels very different from the way leadership selection unfolded when I first became familiar with the process. But perhaps not as different as we think.

The tactic is not new; the tools are.

Preparing for the Challenge

Leadership development once tended to unfold more gradually. Responsibility increased over time as relationships deepened, experience accumulated, and trust was earned through years of service.

I believe there is still something worth preserving in that.

Today, communication is faster and networks form quickly. That does not make one generation right and another wrong. It simply means the environment in which leadership develops—and in which we select those who will lead—has changed.

Perhaps our challenge is to preserve what matters while making room for what comes next.

Honoring What My Generation Carried

I am grateful for the generation that shaped me and for those who faithfully handed the work to mine. I am proud of the generation I represent and of what we have tried to carry forward.
We worked hard, preached the Word, defended doctrine, protected Pentecost, built churches, carried institutions, supported missions, endured difficult seasons, and tried to leave the Church stronger than we received it.

I do not want to diminish that legacy. I want to see it extended.

And I believe there are prepared leaders coming behind us who can carry it forward.

Making room is also an act of trust.

Sometimes Making Room Is Leadership

Not long ago, I faced a decision about whether to continue pursuing a particular opportunity in ministry. Nothing had been promised, and the outcome was far from certain. After weighing it carefully, I came to believe I should step away from further consideration.

I was grateful for the confidence expressed in me, but I also recognized that leadership sometimes means allowing a process to move forward without holding onto every possibility available to us.

The individuals ultimately chosen to lead the ministry brought significant experience and ability to the assignment, and I was pleased to see them given the opportunity to serve. Healthy organizations must continually make room for prepared leaders and new voices.

For my part, I remained deeply grateful for the responsibility already entrusted to me. I believed then, and still believe, that it is where I am supposed to serve in this season. I am honored by the assignment and genuinely love the work I have been given to do.

There is a difference between staying where God has placed you and staying because you cannot imagine anyone else sitting there.

I do not want to be the man who holds on simply because a place has been familiar to him for a long time.

Neither do I want to confuse making room with becoming irrelevant.

Perhaps seasoned leadership is faithful enough to stay when staying is required, secure enough to move over when moving over is right, and humble enough to know the difference.

When You Get There

To those coming behind us, when your opportunity to lead comes, I would say this:
When you get there, remember what you inherited.
When you get there, protect the doctrine.
Protect the integrity of the General Assembly.
Protect our heritage while paving a way for the future.
Protect our church and all it stands for.

Preach the Word. Guard the faith. Make room for the Spirit. Keep the altar warm. Protect the fire.

And when you sit at the table, remember what it felt like when you were waiting for a chair.

Pull out a chair for somebody.

Do not merely inherit opportunity; create it.
Do not merely gain influence; share it.
Make the circle wider.

What We Pass Along

I am grateful for the generation that shaped me, for the generation in which I have served, and hopeful about the one coming behind us.

Those of us who have been given much should ask whether we are passing enough along: the doctrine we cherish, the Pentecostal heritage we love, the convictions we hold, and the opportunity, trust, encouragement, and room others will need to carry them forward.

To my generation: let’s make room without surrendering what we were entrusted to protect.

To the generation coming behind us: when room is made, fill it with faithfulness, wisdom, humility, and conviction.

Protect what is worth protecting. Honor those who came before you. Make room for those who will come after you.

And somewhere along the way, may every generation learn the same grace:
Hold fast to what matters; serve your generation well; and prepare a place at the table for the next.