ken castor

Generational Transference in the Bible: Historic Books

 

            The Bible also reveals what happens to a society, or at least to God’s gathering of people, when one generation fails to transfer their passion and experience of ministry to the succeeding generation.  Historic books like Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles are filled with the unfortunate accounts of the death of a godly generation followed by “another generation” that grows up knowing neither the Lord nor what God had done for Israel.[1]

            But there are several successful examples of leadership transference.  For instance, at the right time, Samuel, led by God, selected David as a key leader in the leadership succession plans for Israel.  Samuel’s transference of David reveals several key principles to generational transference:^[2]

·  The next generation was intentionally chosen and given opportunity.^[3]

·  Successive generations exhibited formation of character and relationship with God.^[4]

·  The younger generation sought to partner in mission with the older generation.^[5]

·  Transference of leadership involved a relational core.^[6]

·  Transference of leadership was for the sake of the community.^[7]

·  The next generation was given high-level opportunity.^[8]

 

            As obstacle to generational transference that can be derived from the triangle of relationship between Samuel, Saul and David concerns the detrimental effects of possessive leadership.  The point of history is that no one individual is able to keep a role as leader forever.  There comes a point when a leader must step down and pass on responsibility and authority.  Samuel understood this and so blessed David.  Saul refused to accept this reality and so fought against the next generation to whom God had chose to pass his mission.  Saul obsession with his grasp of control and power, coupled with his dilapidated character, undermined the ability for a smooth transfer of leadership.  But is it not true that any person who seizes the baton and resists passing it eventually must let go- either through the direct action of God or the inevitability of death.  A visionary leader, therefore, will work to raise up another leader to whom the baton can be passed.  The leader of character who follows after God will seek out next generation individuals or communities to whom transference of ministry leadership can be given.  As Peter Lyne has noted, “it is important to recognize the emergence of a ‘David’ and not allow ourselves to become ‘Sauls’, holding on to what we have.”^[9]

---

[1] Joshua 22:27

^[2] 1 Samuel 16:1-13.  Peter Lyne (Lyne, Peter.  Baton Change: The Next Generation. Tonbridge, UK: Sovereign World Ltd, 2000) suggests three principles derived from the Samuel and David relationship: 1) David was anointed for the task (God was with him), 2) There was a relational core at the heart of his team, 3) The people gathered to his leadership.  Lyne, 54

^[3] Though in David’s case the intentional choosing came directly from God through Samuel.

^[4] 1 Kings 11:4 bemoans the fact that Solomon’s heart grew away from the Lord, whereas his father’s heart had been “fully devoted to the Lord his God.”

^[5] David worked hard to partner with Saul in the mission of God, though Saul was inconsistent in his willingness to partner with David.  David was extremely successful, however, in partnering with Jonathon.  In many ways, though Jonathan was his peer by age and friendship, Jonathan represented the former generation of leadership.  In a dramatic symbol of succession, Jonathan handed David the symbols of his authority that could be interpreted as a sign of his desire for David to succeed in leadership.  1 Samuel 18:1-4

^[6] Transference was enabled in many ways through Samuel and Jonathan’s relationship of trust with David.

^[7] David had God as his priority and Israel’s benefit in mind as he took on leadership.

^[8] God certainly entrusted David with the responsibility of substantial directives and ministry initiatives.

^[9] Lyne, 53

the rot of your life

Proverbs 14:30 states it bluntly.  Jealousy rots your life away.

King Saul had everything going for him.  Then he slid away from God and began to be in need.  The problem is that nothing else but the Lord could satisfy his true need... a living relationship with God.  So Saul began to thirst and to lust and desire what someone else had. 

David became the object of envy.  What David had, Saul once had... but had lost.  And if Saul couldn't have it back... he didn't want David to have it anymore either.  The song in 1 Samuel 18 was sung: Saul has killed his thousands... and David has killed his tens of thousands.  Saul didn't like that song.  In fact, the passage says literally that the song was "bad in the eyes of Saul."  Saw looked at the song... he looked at David... and he looked at himself... and his eyes made his heart wretch.  Jealousy, not God, now controlled the way he looked at his life.  From that point of view... Saul's life was ruined.  Eventually he fell on his own sword... and sword of projected power but inner weakness... a sword that David saw right through in exchange for a sling, some smooth stones, and all the power of God.

Jealousy is having too much and still wanting more.
Jealousy is living in slavery to the pursuit of self-gratification rather than living in freedom.
Jealousy is the grasp for self-sustained power rather than for trust in God.
Jealousy is emptiness of the heart.
Jealousy is a malignancy still undiscovered.
Jealousy is lusting after earthly-treasured pleasure instead of yearning for true, lasting joy.
Jealousy is the rejection of the life God wants to give you.
Jealousy is a hyperventilating-asthma rather than a deep, life-giving breath.
Jealousy is the belittling of others.
Jealousy is thinking you are more important than your neighbor.
Jealousy is a shallow surface-level existence.
Jealousy is to be in want.

~~~~ Here's my talk from last Sunday's hub on this topic.

Letting the Bible speak it's own words...

I'm sitting here this morning with the Bible open to 1 Samuel.  I'm wrestling with some passages that have intrigued me because they are much more graphic than I remember.  There are some stories in this book (and whole bunch of the other books of the Bible) that are so raw and violent and sexual and shocking that it's hard sometimes to know how to respond. 

Growing up, no body told me that Eli's sons were using their position of power to seduce women.  I don't recall being taught that David cut off Goliath's head and carried it with him for miles and miles.  And I certainly didn't know anything about David killing 200 Philistines and cutting off their foreskins as a dowry for marriage to King Saul's daughter.  I'm sitting here this morning just trying to absorb these raw grotesque portions of Scripture.

In 1 Samuel 18, King Saul is jealous and trying to get David killed... he had already tried to ram his spear through the kid a couple times.  As a trick, he offers his daughter, Michal, in marriage to the up-and-coming son of Jesse.  David, at first, refuses out of humility and an excuse of poverty.  Who is he to become a son-in-law of the king... and, by the way, he could never come up with enough riches to provide compensate Saul for the "loss" of his daughter in marriage.  But Saul suggests that "all" David needs to do is to bring back 100 foreskins of Philistines (the enemy at the time--- imagine the President of Iran and his desire to annialate Israel because it is a spiritual battle just as much as a physical one--- their gods verses Yahweh.  And remember, the Israelite males were dedicated at 8 days old to the Lord through the physical sign of circumcision while the Philistines would think that was odd... if not a bit funny.  When David insults Goliath- he calls him an "uncircumcised Philistine" - meaning that this dude had not dedicated his life to Yahweh and that he was serving other gods like Dagon, Baal and Ashtoreh.  Circumcision back in that day was the way a man proved he was a follower of the One True God... or not.  So the request for Philistine foreskins is not that odd actually.)

Of course, Saul hopes that David will be killed in his attempt to secure 100 foreskins.  What guy is going to sit back and allow an enemy to just snip off the tip of his nether region?!  There was going to be a struggle!  These Philistines were not going to acquiesce to David, the newly prolific moyel. 

But David thinks this is a great opportunity.  He grabs some of his men and they prepare for the surgeries... 

Saul vs. Goliath

We never got the confrontation we should have: King Saul vs. Goliath.  Both were physical power-house champions in the ring.  Saul was exceptionally tall and strong... a head above every other Israelite.  His impressive, rugged structure is largely responsible for his election as King.  His armor was unmatched in all of Israel: a royal tunic, a heavy coat of armor and a bronze helmet.  Saul's sword was the strongest and sharpest in the army.  And he came with his own sword-and-shield bearer.

Goliath, though, was even more impressive.  A head above Saul in height. Perhaps it was giantism, but Goliath was enormous.  He is described as a champion... which means he had probably slain his share of Israelites in past battles.  It is clear that the armies of Israel were afraid of the guy... unwilling to engage him in a fight.  Goliath's coat of armor was superior to Sauls... a woven chain-mail-type coat with hundreds of scales of metal.  Goliath wore bronze shin-pads to deflect any blow attempting to take out his legs.  He, like Saul, wore a bronze helmut.  Strapped to his back was a huge bronze javelin... and in his mighty arm was a heavy but intricately crafted iron spear.

Goliath challenged Saul and all Israel to a fight.  And we never got the confrontation.  Saul was too afraid.

We wear what we think we are supposed to wear... trying to be impressive... trying to have the latest and greatest.  Only we find that whatever armor we coat ourselves in... there is always a chink.  No matter how strong we dress ourselves on the outside... there is always a weakness somewhere - which reveals our brokenness inside.  We dress to impress... to instill confidence or to create intimidation... But our dress can never truly compensate... never truly hide... never truly protect our hearts.

Little David, a shepherd, wearing probably nothing more than a shepherds tunic, dirty and stinky... he saw Goliath and saw a little dog.  Little David, a teenager, a head smaller than Saul, saw the king's armor and laughed at it's false protection.  Little David saw the weapons of war and rejected them.  David instead picked up a stone and slung it at Goliath... hitting him in the forehead just below his massive bronze helmut.  David then picked up Goliath's own sword and let the weight of it fall on the giant's neck.  Goliath the champion was struck.  Saul the king was dumfounded.  And an unexpected might rose from within Israel.

David credits the power and presence of God... and not himself.  No armor is needed on the outside when the Lord is at work.  No hiding is necessary.  No dress is worthy or able to impress.

hub messages

The following mp3 files are the messages from the hub over the last few weeks.  They cover the first 16 chapters of 1 Samuel.  These can always be found on my media page and also on www.brentviewhub.com.

        mp3 file                                                          date                     duration

1. ★ what is pretty?                                2009.03.08       38:42
   

2. ★ the capacity to serve                      2009.03.01       30:24

3. ★ stop going to church                       2009.02.22       39:46

4. ★ only God part 1                               2009.02.15       30:28

5. ★ only God part 2                               2009.02.15       02:46
   

6. ★ manipulating god                             2009.02.08       35:20

7. ★ creating space                                 2009.01.25       31:44

ram's fat

1 Samuel 15:22 |   What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice?  Obedience is far better than sacrifice.  Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams.  NLT

Well, at first glance I think very few of us struggle with offering ram's fat.  I can't say that's a real temptation.  We don't find ourselves on Sunday mornings preparing a jar of ram's fat to bring in and offer before the assembly.  But I believe we do struggle with the impression that "going to" "church" or giving some money to "church" will somehow make us okay in God's eyes.  Our hand in the offering plates are the equivalent today of ram's fat. 

Now, it is important to gather together with other people and praise God and to hear teaching from his Word... and it is important to dedicate our money to the Lord... important for our souls and important for the encouragement of others.  But God isn't impressed with cultic religiousity.  God doesn't have much time for a church-attender who is tuned out in his heart... or a money-giver who is just looking for tax-deductions.  God doesn't think much of a socialite who goes to church in order to be seen or to make business contacts... or an attention-seeker who displays his giving to the coffers.

What God desires is a humble heart and an attentive ear.  What God wants is our "attendance" to him (and as a result, to others) on Sundays... and every day for that matter.  What God wants is our unselfish giving for him (and as a result, for others) on Sundays... and every day for that matter.  Obedience to God's voice is priority.  Listening to God is much better than anything else we could ever do.  In fact, nothing we could try could ever earn us God's pleasure except to gather before him and listen.

Today... give listening to God's voice a try.

be yourself

We struggle to be unique.  Funny.  Because we were born unique.  We were born different from other people, with our own set of genes and chromosomes and dna and rna and blood type and hair color and eye color and fingerprints and foot size.  We were born with skinny long toes or short stubby ones. 

And then it seems we spend the rest of our lives tempted to be like everyone else.  Some call it peer pressure.  I think it's more of a self pressure.  We ourselves our tempted to fit in.  We ourselves are tempted to shape our bodies, minds and actions to fit in to a particular mold that we perceive will allow us to somehow be like others.  We are tempted to be like others because we perceive that somehow our conformity to others will give us more affirmation, more acceptance, more self-worth than what we currently feel.  We are tempted to change our uniqueness into commonality because we are anxious about our loneliness, confused by our disconnectedness, or afraid of our own uniqueness.

I think there are two persons we doubt more than any others:

1. Our own self.
2. God.

The crazy thing is that if we truly believed in God, we wouldn't struggle so much with our own uniqueness as individuals.  If we trusted God fully, we would embrace our unique self-make-up and triumph in the way we have been wired together. 

what if...

What if for Valentines Day a husband bought a card, bought some roses and gave them to his wife?  What if on that day this husband told his wife he loved her and that she was the only one for him.  Nice, huh?  Well, what if that same husband didn't do much else for his wife most the rest of the year?  What if he only spent energy and money on his wife on special occasions like her birthday or a holiday?  Even more, what if that same husband expected constant adoration and blessing from his wife along with her unrelenting showering of attention upon him?  Even more, what if that same husband looked at other women from time to time... or spent time with pornography... or imagined being with another... or actually acted upon those desires secretively?   Not so nice, huh?

What if on Sundays a person went to church and put some money in the offering plate?  What if on that day this person told God he loved him and that God was the only One for him?  Nice, huh?  Well, what if that same person didn't do much else for God most the rest of the week?  What if he only spent energy and money on God on special occasions like Christmas or tax return season?  Even more, what if that same person expected constant adoration and blessing from God along with his unrelenting showering of attention upon him?  Even more, what if that same person looked at other objects from time to time... or spent time with other desires... or imagined being with another god... or actually acted upon those desires secretively?   Not so nice, huh?  (1 Samuel 7:2-6.)

manipulate

So I've been swimming in 1 Samuel 4 this week.  It's a sad chapter of the Bible.  But it's also remarkably rich with spiritual lessons too.  I've posted a couple notes already... but I have one final one that's gripping me today.  Perhaps what stands out the most throughout this chapter is how we, people, think we can manipulate God for our own gain.

The Israelites at the beginning of chapter 4 are being whooped by the Philistines.  Thousands of men are being killed in battle.  So the leaders devise a plan to bring out the famous Ark of the Covenant.  At that time, no one had ever seen Indiana Jones, but they still knew of the power associated with the Ark.  The Philistines were afraid that this object contained the power of Israel's "gods"- and the stories of how God had defeated Egypt 300 years before still echoed in their fears.  The Ark represented God's Word, God's Law, God's Presence on earth... it contained the Ten Commandments straight from Moses' hand... the Word of the Almighty Lord.  God took this Ark very seriously and often allowed it to serve as a seat of his power and glory during times of battle or major moments in Israel's history.

But the Ark was not God.  Israel assumed that by wielding the Ark into battle that God's power would overwhelm the enemy.  Israel was superstitious.  Israel treated the Ark like an idol with a god's diety stuck within it's frame.  The Lord of Lords didn't like that much.  So when Israel carried it to the fight, God let the Philistines win.  Israel never asked God for help.  Israel never offered their hearts in pure service to the Lord.  They just assumed they could wield God's power because they were Israel and they had the Ark.

Well, the Ark was captured.  Thousands upon thousands of Israelites were killed by the Philistines.  The leading priests all died.  A child was born in the priestly family... and he was named Ichabod... "there is no glory."  The Glory of God had left Israel. 

Why do we think we can manipulate God?  I'll find myself thinking that if I just act good enough this week, then God will do what I want later on.  Or I'll see others rubbing their beads or wearing a cross around their neck, thinking somehow that God will be more with them because of these items that they wield.  I'll hear of people making deals with God, as if they can twist His arm.  And then we wonder why God seems to have left.

season of my death

Every now and then, at the risk of being morbid, I think about how I'd like to be living when I die.  In other words, I ponder what the character of my life should be when in that season when I breathe my last.  Negatively, I don't want to get caught with my pants down.  I don't want people to think of my failures.  I don't want misery and disappoint to characterize the season of my death.  Positively, I want joy and thanksgiving to be the prevailing sentiment.  I want the pain of loss to be coupled with inspiration.  I want others to desire to live like I was living.

When Eli dies in the first book of Samuel, the shadow of disappointment and despair is overwhelming.  An old man, Eli had years of opportunity to live well, to lead by example, to bring joy and freedom to thousands upon thousands of people.  He represented God as the high priest of Israel.  But in the season of his death he is known more for his lack of character and for his ineptitude than for his integrity and faith.  At his funeral is nothing but the feeling of loss.  Loss of what could have been.  Loss of what Eli took from the people.  Loss because of the evil Eli allowed.  Loss because of the lack of judgment Eli exercised.  Loss due to Eli's wussy leadership.  A man who had so much potential... and at times who surely even gave hints of tremendous wisdom and faith... finally cut down while pity exemplified his life.

I don't want to die like Eli.  I don't care if I die falling backward in my chair like Eli did... I do care if I die with the same lack of respect and lack of character and lack of favor from God.  Thinking about this drives me to live well.  I have set up accountability people and disciplines (like computer software) to make sure that I live well.  I strive to be a better father, exercising discipline and extravagant love for my children.  I strive to be a husband that is known for loving his wife wholeheartedly, unreservedly.  I strive to be a pastor who overcomes laziness and the temptation of affirmation... who practices faith outwardly as I root deeper inwardly.  I strive to be a follower of Jesus who is more mature in faith today than I was yesterday.

Someday, may these life-giving qualities characterize the season of my death.

photo from http://rightbrainterrain.com