ken castor

Generational Transference in the Bible: Convergence of Biblical and Theological Themes

(Continued from previous posts.  This is the final summary of the Biblical Foundations portion of my study into Generational Transference of Ministry Leadership in the Local Church...)

            A survey of Scripture suggests a plethora of methods and strategies for transferring ministry across successive generations.  Leaders, the Bible teaches, are entrusted with the role of equipping successive generations to serve the Lord.   As has been noted, the keeping of commands, the patterns of family teaching, the reminders of community celebrations and sacrifices dominate the generational structures of the Pentateuch.  Alternatively, the exemplar and equipping-provisional role of the kings, priests and prophets are evident in the historical books, even if not always practiced.  In the Psalms, the passions of praise, of pure hearted devotion, and of authentic transparency of the soul serve the spiritual formation of Israel.  The impetus of making disciples characterizes the Gospels.  The Great Commission distinguishes the Acts of the Apostles.  And the planting and equipping of multiple generations, with young leaders, elders, and various approaches to ministry leadership via the context of local churches illustrates the rest of the letters of New Testament.[1] 

            Biblical study does not indicate that there is some kind of cookie cutter church formula into which every new generation needs to be shaped.  It does, however, teach that every generation is responsible to enable the next generation to enable the generation after them to enable the next, and so on.  And it does teach that leaders who equip the generations should personally stand first and foremost on a solidly formed spiritual character.  Equipping successive generations involves a relational teaching that begins with character founded in Jesus and committed to his mission for the church. So in North America today, the directive for generational transference of ministry is the same as it was for Old Testament and New Testament churches.  Churches have an inherent mission of equipping the next generations to embrace and spread the Gospel founded upon godly character.  Throughout history, from generation to generation, the story of God will resound.

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[1] E.g. 1 John 2:13-14; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:12

Generational Transference in the Bible: Implications for Today's North American Church (Part 2)

From this overview of the Biblical Foundations of generational transference evident in Scripture a few theological principles can be derived:

           First, a local church should always keep its mission as its central focus.^[1] Churches that lose the priority of mission become concerned about self-preservation rather than propagation of the Gospel. But long-lasting and successful organizations will not forget who they are and why they exist.  Of course, keeping focus on mission involves first and foremost keeping an interactive relationship with God as the core aspect to a church community. The commands to love others and to make disciples stem first from an active love for the Lord and from his active empowerment of people.[2]  Ecclesial mission must be intertwined with God’s work of spiritual formation in the lives of people.  As people focus on God and are marked by a response of obedience to his call, subgroups such as generations cannot help but to partner in mission.  And, as noted, if a primary aspect to God’s mission involves one generation proclaiming to the next, generational transference of ministry leadership is naturally grounded in the theological foundation of worship and mission.  The primary task of leadership, then, is to cultivate an environment in which people are encouraged primarily to live for God and, consequently, to live for others.

            Churches are first and foremost to identify themselves as servants of God. With this in mind, churches are understood to exist as countercultural missional communities.^[3]  In other words, churches are sent into the world as agents of transformation rather than conformation.^[4]  As Jesus came to the world not to condemn the world but to save it,^[5] so the church becomes the incarnational witness of God within culture. As a countercultural community, churches will offer restoration and integration to a broken, fragmented world.  This theological principle gives shape to the appropriate strategies needed within local churches in terms of raising-up next generation leaders. 

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^[1] Snyder suggests the most crucial DNA involves having worship and mission as the central focus of the church. Snyder, 89

[2] 1John 4:10

^[3] Snyder, 92

^[4] Snyder, 92; Romans 12:1-2

^[5] John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15, Psalm 104:30

Generational Transference in the Bible: The Early Church (Part 1)

            Such evidence of intergenerational cooperation, mentorship and ministry is marked throughout the entirety of the New Testament.[1]  As in the Old Testament, successive generations are to be the hearers and the bearers of the message of God.  Leaders within the early church movement strategically relied on the cross-generational development of emerging leaders.  Paul speaks about the glory of God in the church and in Jesus Christ throughout all generations forever.[2]  Paul also exhorted Timothy to lead effectively in his elder-sponsored position even though he was young.[3]   Peter portrays a Christian community working together in a reciprocal relationship as he encourages older men to serve those in their congregation while urging young men to humble themselves before those who are older.[4]  A well-aged John says that there is no greater joy than to see children walking in the truth of God.[5]  As a result, the early church learned to practice the development of strategic leaders from the very beginning for primary purpose of accomplishing the mission of the church.  Secondarily, by intentionally raising up future leaders, the early Christians were also able to address the emergent challenges that faced the local churches.

            The church existed from its beginnings as a communicator of the Gospel and as a new community living in concert with God.  But this missional and communal identity did not guarantee freedom from internal and external friction.  Therefore, as C. Gene Wilkes notes in his book, Jesus on Leadership, the first leaders approached circumstances with a plan to distribute authority of leadership in order to address obstacles and not be derailed in accomplishing the ecclesial mission.^[6]  The leaders set the environmental tone for the church in the framework of fellowship, prayer and the preaching of Scripture.  But it was not long before challenges to communication as well as community integration and cooperation began to surface.  Grumbling and cohort-serving division, including perhaps an element of generational partisanship,^[7] became the first internal obstacle faced by the initial leadership team of the church.  

            The physical problem, as recorded in Acts 6, was that people were going hungry.  The ecclesial environmental problem was that people were getting angry about it.  The Grecian believers complained that their widows were being overlooked during the daily program of food distribution.   The overarching responsibility of the first leadership team was to “preach the word of God” and the food program enacted within the church was threatening to derail that primary leadership objective.  Acts 6:2-3 records that the church leaders chose not to turn inward and seize control, but to intentionally entrust others with the opportunity of leadership.  They identified men who were qualified to become leaders according to the character of their heart.[8]  The twelve primary leaders of the early church shared the responsibility of the direction and shaping of ministry with seven deeply spiritually-formed people.  “The apostles multiplied their leadership by delegating some of the responsibility and authority to others,” comments Wilkes.^[9] The new leaders were given significant, hands-on, ministry opportunity with the responsibility of shaping outcome.  Acts 6:3 reads, “We will turn this responsibility over to them.”  Acts 6:6 records that the recognized leadership “laid their hands on” the new leaders as a commissioning blessing and a sign of sharing authority with them.^[10]  The impression we receive of the early church leadership pattern is that challenges were addressed through proactive development of godly leadership rather than a protective, possessive reaction.  The first Christian leaders left an imprint of transference of ministry leadership as the strategic practice towards the accomplishment of the enduring mission of the church.

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[1] Acts 2:17; 21:7-9; Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21; 1 Timothy 5:1-5; Titus 1:6; 2:4; Hebrews 13:7; 1 John 2:12-17; 3:7

[2] Ephesians 3:21

[3] 1 Timothy 4:12-14

[4] 1 Peter 5:1-11

[5] 2 John 1:4; 3 John 1:4

^[6] Wilkes, p.184

^[7] Acts 6:1.  The primary division was along ethnic segmentation between Grecian and Hebraic Jewish believers.  Generational division is assumed due to the potential that many of the widows were older than the apostles.

[8] Acts 6:5

^[9] Wilkes, 185

^[10] Acts 13:3 and 1 Ti. 5:22 indicate that the transference of ministry leadership in the early church often involved the symbol of laying on of hands”.  Throughout the Old Testament there is evidence that the “laying on of hands” was used as a symbol of the conference and transference of leadership.  For instance, in Num. 8:19 the Israelites release the Levitical priests into ministry leadership and in Num. 27:18-23 Moses released Joshua as his successor through this display.  See Wilkes, 185.

identity amnesia :: 5 | 5

REMINDER :: WHAT WE ARE TO DO

With identity comes responsibility.  A believer in Jesus Christ is a person of action not apathy.  A believer in Jesus Christ walks as Jesus did (1 John 2:6). 

We forget what we are supposed to do sometimes.  The sickest thing in this world is a person who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ and who acts in a way that disagrees with their identity as a Christian.  A believer who fails to do the will of God inevitably hurts other people, destroys their own life, and is a terrible witness to the love and salvation that comes from God.

There is a story about an old married couple who noticed that their memory was not as good as before. They were worried that this could be dangerous, because one of them could accidentally forget to turn off the cooker and cause a fire. So, they decided to visit their doctor to get some help. Their doctor told them that perhaps they should write little notes to remind themselves. So when they got home, the wife said, "Darling, will you please go to the kitchen and get me a dish of ice cream? And why don't you write that down so you won't forget?"    “Nonsense," said the husband, "I can remember a dish of ice cream!"   "Well," said the wife, "I'd also like some strawberries on it. You better write that down, because I know you will forget."  "Don't be silly," replied the husband. "…a dish of ice cream and some strawberries. I can remember that!"   "OK, dear, but I'd like you to put some whipped cream on top. Now you'd really better write it down now. You'll forget," said the wife.   "Come on, my memory's not all that bad," said the husband. "No problem, a dish of ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream."  With that, the husband went into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. The wife could hear him getting out pots and pans, and making some noise inconsistent with his preparing a dish of ice cream, strawberries, and whipped cream. He came out of the kitchen about 15 minutes later. He walked over to his wife and gave her a plate of bacon and eggs. His wife took one look at the plate, then she looked up at her husband and said, "Hey, where's the toast?"

identity amnesia :: 4 | 5

 REPETITION :: GOD IN YOU

John, having been around for a while, knows that believers suffer from identity amnesia from time to time.  So he says all of this all over again.  He repeats himself in chapter 2 verse 14 (of 1 John).  Paper was not a throw-away resource like it is to us today.  There weren’t companies that produced reams and reams of papyrus to write on.  The stuff that John used would have been rather expensive and space on the paper would have had high rent value!  Writers, in the first century, choose their words carefully and intentionally.  So John’s repetition of these words is very significant. 

I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.  Forgiveness of sins and knowing the Father go hand in hand.  Be reassured because you know God.  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are (1 John 3:1)!  How quickly we forget this.  Knowing God the Father should transform our lives everyday.  Men, you should be great husbands and great dads, because you know God the Father.  It should make all the difference.  Women, you should be great wives and moms, because you know the Father.  All of us should be great people in our community, because we know God the Father.  It is upon God Our Father that we depend for our sustenance, our daily bread.   We ask him to forgive us our sins and to help us forgive others.  We seek his power to keep us from temptation and to protect us from evil.  We ask him to make his will done in our lives on earth as it is heaven.  If we lived every day according to the reminder that we are children of God the Father, we would turn this world upside down.

identity amnesia :: 3 | 5

REASSURANCE :: WHO YOU KNOW

It's not how good you are... it's who you know.  We are cleansed from sin not because of how good we are but only because of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done.  "Dear Children," John says, "I write to you because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name."  John wants to remind us of the reassurance we have in forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  When you remember that, you find astonishing relief.  John says that we are purified from all sin through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). We are washed.  We are scrubbed.  If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).   It is all because of him, on account of his name. 

"Mature believers," John says, "I write to you because you have known him who is from the beginning.  John wants to remind you of the reassurance you have in knowing Jesus Christ, the eternal God."  You can find complete assurance in Jesus Christ today because he was around before the world began.  Yoda might say it like this: “Before creation, he is.”   John taught us that Jesus Christ was in the beginning, that he was with God and that he was God and that all things were made through him (John 1:1).  Older believers, you have grown enough in your faith and knowledge of God to realize that no matter what happens in this world and in our bodies that waste away over time, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.  You have complete reassurance because you know the one who created this world and is in control.

Younger believers, John wants to remind you of the victory you have won by coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  You have just come through an intense battle for your soul.  The evil one, Satan, and all of his forces in this world, were against you coming to Jesus.  The fight is intense and it is real.  But through the power of Jesus Christ, the grip of evil is overcome.  You do not need to fear things in this world.  Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, danger, sword, death, life, angels, demons, present, future, powers, height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus your Lord.  In all these things you are more than conquerors.  I write to you, young believers, because you have overcome the evil one. 

identity amnesia :: 2 | 5

REMINDER :: WHO YOU ARE

John, the disciple of Jesus, wrote a letter (now called "1 John") to the growing number of churches in the generation after Jesus died on the cross.  In the first chapter-and-a-half, John reminds his readers that Jesus is real, that there is amazing power and incredible fellowship with him, and that Jesus is the light in the darkness of this world.  John also says that believers in Jesus Christ are to be pure in heart and action because Jesus has saved the world from sin.  John encourages those who say they follow to Jesus to actually obey God by walking as Jesus did: WAJD.  It was very important to John that followers of Jesus Christ would never suffer from Identity Amnesia.  He wants believers to never forget who they are.

 “I write to you,” John says, “Dear (1) children, (2) fathers, and (3) young men.” 

(1) To John, in many ways, the recipients of this letter were his children.  He was an old man.  He had been with Jesus two generations earlier.  John had witnessed Jesus’ miracles, his words, his power and truth, his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his cleansing of the Temple, his arrest, his crucifixion, his burial and then his resurrection.  After that, John had participated in the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.  By the time John writes this letter, fifty-five years or so after the resurrection, Christianity had begun to flourish, extending like veins of life-blood across Europe, Africa and Central Asia.  John had outlived his peers, Peter, James, Andrew, Paul, and others, who had all been killed for teaching about Jesus.  John became to the early church the father figure who continually taught and reminded them who they were and what they should do.  This is who you are, John says.  You are my dear children.  And even more than that, you are children of God, adopted into his family.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, you will always be God’s little kid.  Remember that.