Re-becoming a Child of God

By Jerry Harris

Many of my friends and colleagues are in the same season of life that I am journeying through. The word that describes it is being thrown around quite a lot as the tail end of the baby-boomer generation in ministry navigates it with their local leaders. The word is transitioning. For many, it strikes fear into the heart for all that is unknown and unpredictable that lies before them. 

In a recent podcast, a friend of mine shared his thoughts about transitioning from the church he and his family led and served for more than 30 years. He said that for years, he looked through the lens of being the senior minister of that church, but now he was coming to grips with simply being a child of God. 

That little phrase hit me like a freight train because it revealed something beneath all of the methodology of transitioning. It was a deeper question that put its roots down into my identity, particularly my identity in Christ. 

My story is a common one. I was a Christian brought up in a Christian home. My spiritual walk could be best described as nominal. But when I experienced God’s call on my life, I let go of the secular path I was on to dedicate myself to following him in full-time ministry. My life was reshaped around that decision. It affected who I married, how we chose to raise our children, where we lived, how we used our time, the friends we had, how much income we made . . . everything! 

We discovered that our gifts were suited to both serve and lead in ministry and the fit felt perfect. So, from that time until today, that is how I understood my identity in Christ. It came from leading and growing the church, loving and ministering to her people, forsaking the things of this world, and filling up the kingdom as God’s lost children were finding their way home. We’ve done that for nearly 45 years, and now the word transition has become real for us. 

We approached it like we’ve tried to approach everything in ministry, with a method that honors God while inspiring and protecting people. We trusted that God had always provided a plan for our lives and would continue to provide direction. The elements of transition in our context worked out very well. We had a great successor, the leadership of the church unified around him, the congregation felt and continues to feel comfortable, all the church metrics were up and to the right, and the church went out of their way to honor us and our family. It felt perfect! 

However, as God worked to peel back the layers of our hearts, he helped us discover something more profound communicated through the words of my friend who was just trying to be a child of God. Those words haunted me and I was forced to ask myself if I really knew what it meant to be a child of God. “Who am I?” as Matt Redman wrote in The Heart of Worship. 

When the music fades 

All is stripped away 

And I simply come 

Longing just to bring 

Something that’s of worth 

That will bless Your heart. 

What is a child of God? I certainly identified myself this way, but I defined it through my service and leadership in the church. But what happens when the titles are transferred? What happens when the gift set has no place to be plugged in? How can I be a child of God without the things that I’ve used to define me as one? 

My wife and I began exploring it together. The phrase “child of God” is deeply profound and it defines who I am, who God is to me, and the nature of our relationship. First, the phrase leaves no space for me to be proud of myself or to feel that I’ve earned or deserve anything. I am simply “a child,” which means the expectations are and have always been low! Second, it means that I have been undeservedly blessed by having the best Father! He is all of the things Paul defines in I Corinthians 13 about love—and he’s all of that to me! The nature of our relationship was birthed through the blood of Christ. So this is where it begins; this is the bedrock of my identity.  

In my case, he has given me ways to imitate him as a father, a son, and a brother. My wife and I explored how we were reflecting our relationship to God as parents, as loving and honoring children, and as siblings. In ministry, these God-given relationships are often placed on the back burner. It is a great time to evaluate not only what you have done in ministry, but also what ministry has done to you. 

Next, since transition takes many things out of your hands, it’s time to ask, as God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?” Discover what remains that God has not released you from. Be the best steward of what you have before looking for new things to fill your hands.  

Finally, as you have always done, look at where God is working and join him there. Proximity is more important than production and if God is truly there, production will come. 

I am re-becoming a child of God. It’s a hard thing, but it’s truly a good thing!