In my last post I wrote about how professional teams balance two needs: the need to win and the need to develop talent.
The people of God must realize that we are involved in much more than a game. In fact, we are involved in much more than life itself. We are involved in helping write eternity. That’s not being dramatic; it’s being truthful.
Professional teams will invest heavily in coaches, facilities, and more in order to develop young talent. A guy like Aaron Rodgers gets to watch Brett Favre for a few years before becoming a superstar in his own right. Baseball players work their way up through the minor leagues.
Does your church have a system for developing the young talent in its midst? All too often, the answer is no.
As the church-going population continues to attend a smaller percentage of the churches (mega churches account for an increasing percentage of overall church attendance), this reduces the opportunities a young person might have to learn about ministry. If a sixteen-year-old is interested in becoming a preacher, where does he get his first crack at preaching? Not on a Sunday morning in a mega church. And definitely not on a Sunday night; those services are extinct, unless they are a duplication of the morning services.
The calendar of a pastor at a large church fills up fast. It’s not likely to have room for lunch with a high school student wrestling with a call to ministry.
Kingdom leaders need to think strategically about how they are raising up the next generation of church leaders.
Do we need more coaches? A farm system? Do we need to be intentional about creating environments and opportunities where tomorrow’s leaders can begin learning today?
I do know this: we need to come up with an answer. The future depends on it.