Why Would I Want the Baton You Are Passing?
A couple months ago I led a conference at Bethany University on the themes in Off-Road Disciplines. The last chapter of the book is called “Legacy: The Discipline of Passing the Baton,” and deals with the way Paul raised up Timothy to lead the next generation. You can find an abbreviated version of this chapter online.
While the event was small, the discussion was fairly heavy dealing a lot with how, when, and if older leaders are going to turn over the reins to the young. Will they graciously invite younger leaders into positions of influence, or, will they ask the question that one couple put to me at another event: “How can we leave the church to these people?”
Our time together in conference sessions was OK, but we needed something—a real world experience of crossing generational lines. And we got one. Rusty St. Cyr, Bethany’s campus pastor, invited our group of mostly older leaders to join an informal student “chapel” service in the school cafeteria. We took the opportunity to mix my older folk in with small groups of students to discuss the whole issue of baton passing. Almost everyone had a very positive, and very eye-opening experience.
Except me. Just before we formed the groups I was interviewing a student leader about the kinds of questions we should ask on a subject I thought I knew inside and out, until he asked me this: “Why would we want the baton you are passing to us?
He went on to point out that many of his twenty-something peers are decided to take control of their own economic lives by forming or joining start-up companies. They have no intention of waiting around for Baby Boomers to give them opportunities within the Boomer-designed system.
That hurt. In countless hours of writing and talking about baton-passing, I had assumed the whole time that we had something that younger leaders wanted to inherit. But what if that’s not true?
For Discussion:
1. Is the notion of “baton passing” just a Baby Boomer conceit? Would the Church be better served by more “start-up’s”?
2. Is the Emerging Church an example of being offered the baton and saying, “no thanks”?
This blog originally appeared in Monday Morning Insights.
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Off-Road Disciplines
In Off-Road Disciplines, Earl Creps reveals that the on-road practices of prayer and Bible reading should be bolstered by the other kinds of encounters with God that occur unexpectedly—complete with the bumps and bruises that happen when you go “off-road.”
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Earl Creps—a popular speaker and leader—is director of the Doctor of Ministry program and associate professor at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS) in Springfield, Missouri. He has been a pastor, ministries consultant, and university professor. Along the way, Creps earned a Ph.D. in communication at Northwestern University and a doctor of ministry degree in leadership at AGTS.
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I think too often the “baton” is not a package of timeless spiritual truths, but rather a collection of cultural practices and ministry programs. Any leader who expects to hand off yesterday’s techniques to be perpetuated by the next generation is woefully out of touch with the pace of change in our postmodern culture.
I think that when deciding to pass the baton on to our generation (me being 23) that the older generation needs to realize that the church is going to look completely different from what they have had for so long.
I mean think about it. The Baby Boomer churches bare little resemblance to the first century Church in Jerusalem. The Church as far as technique and structure has been continually evolving from day one. So why would it be any big surprise if my generations way of “doing” Church, is possibly somthing totally off the map to a Baby Boomer Christian.
The focus should be more on imparting spiritual turths to my generation, and realizing that techniques change.
As I read your chapter I see the pride in my own generation (I’m 26). In the technological and informational boom we have elevated the 20 somethings on some great pedastal. Yes, the Church must change, and the systems to contextualize must transform with it. At the same time, I think that if we fail to recognize the great wisdom in both the accomplishments and failures of the Baby boomers we become blind guides with great zeal.
I don’t mind be handed a tradition or even a set of values, as long as I am free to fun in the direction I feel called to run. Batons link me to God’s metanarrative—history. But much like actual relay races, it takes communication and trust to make this happen effectively on both sides.
The real problem that I see is that the “baton” is not an objective message for me. While some of the “baton” (aka the Gospel message) is transcultural, much of it is internal and subjective. This makes it difficult for the giver to understand what part of their baton is necessary for the passing. In addition, the receiver gets confused on what part of the baton the giver is expecting them to carry. This is where the communication and trust become important…at least in my view.
BTW: this post on your xanga has some pretty impressive dialogue. Looks like the younger guys are mostly interacting there. Do you wonder why that is?
Part 2
To answer your question about the Emergent church. I don’t think they are saying “No thanks.” Much like the pop-retro movement that skipped past the gaudy 80’s and made the 60’s/70’s/ the new cool/vintage, Emergents are looking back and saying “I want that guy’s baton instead.”
As a youth worker I have seen this generation of teenagers are looking for what Jesus calls “the gold refined in the fire”. They have seen so much fake in the church, so much human wisdom and power, and said, “If that’s all there is I don’t want it.” In my experience so far, if we have anything worth passing on then they are very interested, but there is a lot of skepticism as to whether we actually have any real “gold”. I can’t really blame them. If what we did didn’t work for us then why should it work for them.
Bravo Steve!
I think we need to pass on Jesus to the next generation. His love, His life, His healing power, His salvation, His BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT with the EVIDENCE of speaking in tongues, (a topic sadly forgotten in the Assemblies). I have preached in nearly 180 churches in the last 3 years, and can count on one hand the times I have heard a prophetic utterance or a message in tongues. Why in the world would the next generation want to receive a Baptist Baton? They want reality and power!
good comments.
Earl, I have to be honest, even though I’m unsure about how “good” of an attitude this is, I share that person’s feelings about the “baton”. I have no interest in taking any batons of any churches where I have worked in leadership. yuck is the word that comes to mind.
I’m not sure if this is youthful arrogance or positive “entrepreneurial spirit” but either way, my heart is to move forward with what God has placed in me to create something new – keeping what is timeless but abandoning all else and I’m not sure “taking the baton” really works in that context.
The section in your book that dealt with this was good except it only works if the baton passers understand that they are passing the baton to someone who is equally capable of taking the baton AND they have to be willing to release convention…I have yet to meet any senior leadership person who is like that.
I have no problem building on the legacy of others and fully recognizing their contribution to God’s Kingdom but as Steven said in comment 1:
“I think too often the “baton” is not a package of timeless spiritual truths, but rather a collection of cultural practices and ministry programs. Any leader who expects to hand off yesterday’s techniques to be perpetuated by the next generation is woefully out of touch with the pace of change in our postmodern culture.”
Great conversation. I’ve just started out in a leadership position in an AG church at the age of 31. Recently I returned from a retreat, where I was both surprised and encouraged to hear concerns and thoughts that largely mirror the tone and themes of what is being said here. It seems to me, at the moment, that many younger AG pastors are indeed taking the baton being passed to them, and merely adapting some of the language and methods of the previous generation to meet the needs of the current generation. While the “mode” always needs to fit current needs, what I hear from younger pastors is that what we really need is a re-think of our theology, where nothing is off the table. We need to re-think tongues and intial evidence, we need to re-think healing, we need to shed the cultural and political baggage we have so quickly accumulated despite having initially resisted it as a young movement. I am truly amazed how often I hear AG pastors under the age of 40 tell me how “they are not married to a denomination”, but yet refuse to ask the hard questions that go beyond cosmetic changes for one simple reason: job security.
If the generation that currently has the baton wants a vibrant future for their church, then they must be willing to let us ask the questions and discuss the issues that will let God out of our theological boxes in the same way that our grandparents and great-grandparents walked out on some theological limbs that were viewed as “heretical” by their mother churches. The baton that we need is the trust from the previous generation of leaders to do the theological exploration necessary to ensure that our movement doesn’t become just another fading reclic on the landscape of religious movements. If we are going to be relevant in twenty years from now, we must ask the questions that could get us fired, or there may not be a church worth being hired by in the future. (And yes, I do find mixing the words “hire”, “job” and “church” unappealing.)
I’m 21 and majoring in Music Ministry and Church Business Admin. at an AG institution. As an AG pastor’s kid for my entire life, I have seen a lot of the old methods, ministries, and techniques that make up the current “baton” that is in limbo.
Honestly, I see a battered, tattered, and dented baton that has lost it’s shine and shimmer. A baton that is so abused it has become almost unusable.
Tha main issue I have with our denomination is it’s lack of relevance to culture in almost every aspect. That is a debate that many have undertaken to give orderly accounts and my rantings will do nothing to further.
My second issue is much more important—the preaching of God’s Word. Even “good” sermons in the AG are not exegetical. Expository or topical, it doesn’t matter; exegetical is the key to preaching God’s Word. I joke with my friends that a good AG sermon hits you with a 2×4 at the end—because every sermon ends in Acts 2:4.
It has been said of Rev. Charles Spurgeon that he preached a lot of great sermons from the wrong passages; the AG has a lot of ministers doing the same.
Most older AG pastors had unqualified and possibly under-eduacated professors—if said pastors were even educated at all (Many times these individuals can study on their own and become great pastors—I’m not faulting anyone for lack of opportunity if they have tried on their own). Their sermons usually concern one of the 16 Fundamentals (of which I beleive 15.5 personally) so they are not unbiblical sermons; however, NOT EVERY PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE IS COVERED IN THE 16 FUNDAMENTALS. Just because your sermon covers a Biblical truth DOES NOT make it a sermon from the passage you read.
We need to have pastors that are humble enough to admit that they are not the all-knowing hermeneutical authority and that their interpretations are not always correct. Buy “The Expositor’s Bible Commentary” for goodness sake and see what cultural and historical factors play into the actual interepretation of the passage! IT is the Word of God—do your best to give it the study it deserves before you try and bring it before a congregation.
What I have said applies to both older and younger generations; however, the older generation has established the precedent of unbibiblical teaching that needs to be broken.
I don’t want to seem too negative—there are a lot of positive things going on. However, most of what I see could be easily improved if we would humbly study to show ourselves approved rather than relying on what we think is the Holy Spirit. We need to rely on the Sprit at all times, but we need to do our part as well. The Holy Spirit never gives a different interpretation of Scripture than the original intent of the author; it is our duty to appropriately interpret the Word of God with the Holy Spirit’s help.
I don’t want a tainted baton, I want a baton that represents a fellowship of believers standing together worldwide, holding reverence for the Word of God, mentally capable of interpreting the Bible correctly, encouraging one another until the return of Christ, and reaching people with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! Amen.
I am a credentialed minister with the A/G and recently in a committee meeting that I am “overseer” we got on the discussion of what exactly is Post-Modern and why should the church be concerned with such things, specifically a member asked why she should care about the “next generation”....her point is that it is the job of the young adults in the church to reach the younger generation….I am thinking to myself, WHAT YOUNG ADULTS? This is the problem with regard to Baton passing….I am almost 35 and am caught between two generations and am in ministry. I pastored a church that was 99 percent a Builder generation church….these people were fearful of youth and for that matter 20/30 something culture…an over-arching theme in dealing with generational ministry is the fact that there is little trust between the generations and little room for understanding…I truly believe that with regard to leadership, “baton-passing” is a function of a ministry gift given to the church—the apostle. Not every leader is really equipped to build up those coming behind him/her…this is why the church sorely needs all of the ministry gifts present and functioning and why there is little “baton passing” truly happening in our churches. The expectation is that a “pastor” be able to lead worship, counsel, preach, teach, and be a janitor is just plain un-Scriptural….but nevertheless this perception is out there and is quite prevalent….Not every leader is a leader of leaders….not every pastor is able…I said it….able to raise up people or pass the baton….when you find one, like I have in the last year, all pride and ego and whatever delusions of grandeur concerning your “call” or sphere of influence must be sacrificed to learn and be ready to be the baton “receiver”....This, for many of us is part of “taking up our cross” by sacrificing our precious “ministry” to serve and learn to submit to authority…God ordained authority mind you….and those lessons are priceless and more importantly is the Scriptural model.