By Jared Johnson
“That’s why no one will remember your name.”
The statement was meant to be a rebuke and challenge from the hero Achilles in the movie Troy. But for believers, it should be a non-issue. We are all interim ministers. Every one of us is “going where everyone on earth must someday go” (1 Kings 2:2, New Living Translation). Each of us—elder, staff member, and volunteer—must find someone else to “sit in our chair” someday.
Healthy things grow. This applies to the future preachers of the gospel we raise up and to the future elders we identify and equip. Jesus touched on this truth in Mark 4:28 when he said, “The earth produces the crops on its own.” A farmer creates a favorable, healthy environment for his crops, and in that healthy environment, God grants growth (see 1 Corinthians 3:6). The same happens in the local church. When we work to create a healthy church culture, the Lord grants the growth. He calls people to serve as next generation leaders.
Yet, how do we know if we’re healthy? When we go to the doctor, we first see a nurse who takes our vital signs (blood pressure, pulse, temperature, and weight). These four measurements help the doctor assess our health. Similarly, leaders can evaluate four vital signs that speak to the health of the local church.
Students
Think about your next generation ministry. Are there babies in the nursery, children in kids’ church, middle schoolers filling your youth group space, and high schoolers meeting in mid-week small groups? Are young people actively ministering alongside adults in the nursery, in elementary classes, and on your music teams? Have they been challenged, empowered, and entrusted with ministry roles to whet their appetite for working in the church? From birth through 20-somethings, “take the pulse” of student ministry.
Statements
What statements are people making onsite and online about your congregation, both externally (people in the surrounding community) and internally (worshipers)? Are comments positive or negative, friendly or confrontational? Jesus said, “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say” (Matthew 12:34). What an individual thinks and feels about the local church will be expressed to others. Do people view your church as a healthy place?
Struggles
What types of struggles do you experience? Are different generations disrespecting one another? Do you have a church-defining conflict among just a few individuals, similar to Euodia and Syntyche whom Paul confronted in Philippians 4? Is the church struggling to meet budget or unable to accommodate all the ministry activities occurring on your campus because of limited space? The types of struggles we experience say much about how healthy or unhealthy we are spiritually.
Statistics
What do the numbers reveal? Do we count “nickels, noses, and notches” (i.e., offering, attendance, and immersions/transfers)? The big three are important, but our metrics should include other statistics as well. How many small groups are there and how many people participate in them? How many people have taken a spiritual gift assessment and how many people are serving as volunteers? How many people went on mission trips year-to-date?
If the doctor is concerned about one or more of our vital signs, our physician may order additional tests to help diagnose our condition more accurately. Similarly, if we’re concerned about our church vital signs, we can take a deeper dive into assessing our church health. Consider conducting a church health survey through Natural Church Development (naturalchurchdevelopment.org/). This simple and inexpensive ministry tool measures eight categories of church health and ranks them from strongest to weakest. For more information on how to use such an instrument, please contact us at e2. We’re certified by NCD to help individual congregations establish an action plan leading to increased health. After all, healthy things grow—including the church.
Humility is a key to the passing of the baton. The church belongs to Jesus and not to us. Jesus loves, supports, and perpetuates his church. He did so before us, he is doing so today, and he will faithfully do so in the years ahead. Do we trust him to lead his own bride, providing next generation leaders, or do we desperately need to maintain control? If we have a difficult time recruiting, equipping, and empowering younger leaders, could it be due to our pride? There comes a time when we must hand the keys to the next generation, and if we fail to do so, there will be no one younger to whom we can give them.
One struggle we may face in onboarding younger staff and elders is that they will not be like us, and their style of leadership may differ from ours. Nobody is a carbon-copy of anyone else. Paul told his readers that he and Titus “have the same spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way” (2 Corinthians 12:18). Yet even though Paul and Titus “did things the same way,” Paul had to give Titus 19 different directions in his pastoral letter to the younger preacher. (Email me at [email protected] for a list of them.) Paul and Titus walked in each other’s steps because both were following the same King. Their ministry styles may have been markedly different, but there is nothing wrong with that.
I don’t need anyone to remember my name. I’m not trying to leave a legacy. Rather, in the strength of the Spirit, I’m trying to add just a bit to his.
Jared Johnson serves as Operations Director for e2: effective elders, overseeing e2’s resource library and intellectual property.
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