I am 32 years old. In January I will be 33. This is not a plug for gifts or recognition, but it is to make a point. In the three and a half years that my wife and I have been in Hawaii, we have seen God bless the church that we pastor. Legacy Church has grow from sixteen “members”, with an average attendance of twenty to thirty people, to a church of an average attendance of one hundred and fifty and just over 200 that consider Legacy their home church. This is not a testament to how wonderful we are, but a testimony of what God can do and will do.
I know that there are some who will read this and say, “Leadership plays a large part in what God is able to do.” Others will say, “Don’t downplay the role of the pastor.” I agree with both of these statements. In fact, that is the whole point of this article. Though all glory and honor goes to God, we do understand the part that we play. God has chosen to work through us, His people. He needs those who are willing to work in His fields which are white unto harvest, but He needs people who are smart in how they operate.
The point of telling you my age, (my wife’s age will remain top secret though she is younger than I), is because the majority of Legacy is older than we are. Actually, all but one of the leadership staff is older than us, including the Youth Director. We are young leaders.
Why is this something to be noted? Because most young leaders who have been called into ministry have gone to Bible School, been tutored by an elder minister, or a combination of both. We have spent years serving our elders and watching them operate in ministry. We have heard them speak to people, demand and get respect from the church, and almost instantly achieve results. Many of us have admired the way it seemed so easy for our mentors to harness the combined energies and resources of the people of God to gain great strides in the Kingdom, only to find that when we attempted to do the same, nothing positive came of the effort. In the remainder of this article, I offer you a case for possibly changing the way a young leader leads.
The young leader is elected into the pastorate, they step into the pulpit and begin to do what they have seen done by their mentor, expecting the same result. The response is, “Yeah right, you punk kid.” Maybe no one actually says those words, but the response is the same. The young leader is crushed! These people elected them, they said they wanted their leadership in the pastorate. Now three months later there seems to be no connection and no one knows what went wrong. Attendance falls or never grows, they continue on in faith, preaching stronger and demanding more, (because that’s what the mentor did), only to lose more ground. They become depressed, disheartened. Some settle for less than what God truly had for them, and others simply give up altogether. I have known, spoken with, watched, and heard about young leaders who have a calling of God on their lives who take a church or start a church and this has become their story. It should not be! In fact, the story of the young leader seeing the awesome power of God at work in their ministry and great growth coming forth from their efforts should be the rule rather than the exception. Those who lead while young should experience great results and see God do great things in their lives. Why is it often not the case?
We know that the early church had young leaders involved, because Paul commissioned Timothy to be his liaison to and ultimately pastor, churches that Paul had either begun or developed great influence in. Paul took the time to develop Timothy, and even when not present, Paul gave instruction to Timothy so that he would become effective in the Kingdom of God. It is not the intention of any mentor to keep their student from achieving, but in the church world it is quite common that young leaders, who come from strong leaders, fail in their attempt to put into practice what their mentor had instilled in them. The very sad reality is that many fail to try again, and the Kingdom of God loses one more powerful leader, who’s legacy will become one of “what might have been” instead of “what actually happened”. This is a situation in which no one wins and all lose.
It is my opinion that much of this could be avoided by simply taking time to learn how to work with the people of God, and to actually lead as young leaders. We are taught how to be good servants, good assistants, and good saints, but not necessarily young leaders. We are impressed with much theology and biblical concepts. We are well versed in whatever theological slant our mentor feels necessary to impart, (I am not saying this negatively, but understand its reality), but how much teaching is actually done on the realities of leading? Many of us have read leadership books and know that leadership is not simply what you do when you are in front of all those who you lead. We know that each conversation has meaning and purpose. Every dinner and birthday party weighs heavily upon our level of success or failure and our ability to communicate with those who are peers, our seniors, as well as our juniors will launch us into the success that God has planned for us or cause us to plummet into the abysmal world of hard work without success. How many classes, conferences, or workshops however, have been about your ability to connect with these groups?
No, my concern does not lie in our ability to understand the specific elements of what leadership should be, but in our awareness of how to specifically act out what we know in a way that would be effective. This brings out the question, “Is there a difference between how the young leader leads and how the elder leader leads even in the same environment with the same goals in mind?” The answer is unequivocally, “YES!” To say otherwise is to show an extreme misunderstanding of human nature.
The reality is that different age ranges respond differently to input from people who fit certain age categories. We all are accustomed to being led by those who are older than ourselves. From the time that we are born all of our teachers and mentors have been our elders. Usually it is not until a person is much advanced in life that they begin to make the switch from elder leaders to younger leaders. Because of this biological fact, leading from an elders standpoint is instantly easier than leading as a young leader.
Their doctors, lawyers and pastors and others to whom they look for guidance begin to retire and they find themselves surrounded by younger people. Some adapt well to this change, but many do not.
The young leader trying to motivate and guide the individual, who is their senior, finds themselves at an instant deficit. They must work, understanding that the one they desire to lead, is often asking themselves the question, “Does this very young person actually know what they are doing?” There is no way the young leader can match the experience of this individual, in some cases the elder knows more about the scripture than the leader, and in the realm of wisdom, often times the elder has the leader beat hands down. For the young leader to attempt to lead the elder as their mentor lead them is utter foolishness.
The young leader working with someone his or her own age battles different issues. There is the issue of pride. Those who are to be lead don’t always want to hear answers or suggestions from one they feel is on the same level of experience that they currently have achieved. Their question is, “Why do you think you know more than I do?” They will listen to one who they find admirable is some way, and if the young leader has gained notoriety in some way, people their age are more apt to listen and heed. This however is rarely the case in young leaders as their lives have often not been exposed to enough opportunity for them to shine and stand out. For the young leader to attempt to lead this one in the same way as their elder lead them is completely ridiculous.
Last but not least you have those who are younger. I am a man who has been accused by those who know me best of being born at forty years of age. Serving as a youth pastor for several years revealed that while I was willing, I was not very adept at it and in His mercy, God opened up a different area of ministry for me. The young leader has a slight advantage in leading this demographic if the leader fits into the “mold” of what is fashionable, cutting edge, or is gifted in something that the youth respect. However, leading this group of God’s people in the same way as their elder lead them (i.e. - grandfather figure) is asinine.
Why write about this subject? Because there are many young leaders who are living frustrated lives. Not for lack of anointing, energy, or desire, but because they are trying to do things in the way their elder modeled for them and they never developed their own methodology of working within this inter-relational structure called the Kingdom of God. The simple reality is that the young leader must learn to communicate, encourage, and energize each of these demographics in a way that is effective. It is then and only then that the young leader will begin to achieve the great things that God has designed for them. In the next few articles, I will attempt to address each of these broad demographics and discuss a few things that I believe all young leaders should know. I don’t believe I have all the answers here, but believe the conversation must be had. Also, God has helped us with some understanding. The things I will bring to you for consideration are “discoveries” I have made through trial and error or revelation which I have attempted to put into practice. I also believe that many of these “discoveries” have allowed us to develop a growing church in a relatively short amount of time. I pray that they are a blessing and any comment, concern, thought, or theory is welcome.
