If you don't know, I enjoy watching Track & Field competitions on television. I know, lame right? Well I'm that guy, and I do. My favorite events are the relays (where four men or women run varying lengths and transport a baton around the track). Relays are the only time in Track & Field that people actually utilize teamwork, and it's one of the few times that the fastest/strongest athletes don't necessarily win. The past twenty (or so) years of the United States Men's 4x100 relay team illustrates this point perfectly. In previous competitions our men's team has been favored to win or at the very least medal almost always, and yet, often they have fallen quite short. One year the baton was dropped during an exchange and the team was disqualified. Another time the baton was handed off too late and the team was disqualified. Once the hand off was done so poorly that it cost the team the victory. Needless to say in relay events the exchange from one runner to the next is very important.
One of the best examples of a good "hand off" can be found in the Bible in the book of Kings (starting with 1 Kings 19:19-21 and moving into 2 Kings 2:6-14). In these two passages we see the passing of the prophetic torch from Elijah to Elisha. The first passage finds Elijah seeking out and calling Elisha to be his successor (while still in Elijah's prime) and Elisha responding by symbolically making a break with his past, in order to fully commit to the call. The second passage finds Elijah nearing his end, and yet offering to further mentor Elisha by asking "Tell me, what can I do for you". We also see Elisha affirming his commitment to the call to be Elijah's successor by remaining with Elijah every step of the way, and then picking up Elijah's mantle. The key steps in the two passages can be summed up simply as follows: Elijah calls, Elisha responds, Elijah mentors, Elisha picks up the mantle.
In the church this calling, responding, mentoring, and succeeding process is vital. The saying is true that the church is always only one generation from extinction, and all it takes is one generation (either those who have gone before or those who are coming) to drop "the ball" for things to fall apart in a hurry. In the church, we don't often use Elijah and Elisha titles for these two groups, but rather descriptors like "the old guard" and "the new folks" suffice. The old guard are those who have been there and done that. They are the ones who are reliable and know how things are done. The new folks are more often seen as being occassionally inconsistent, and needing to learn a thing or two. But the so called "new folks" are uniquely gifted to lead the church into a changed and changing world. Let me say this again, the Elisha's of the church are uniquely gifted to lead the church into a changed and changing world.
Having said all this, the questions for the old guard (the Elijah's) are Who's going to seek out and call the successors? Furthermore, Who will mentor those successors and ask "what may I do for you?"
For the new folks (the Elisha's) the questions are Who's willing to burn their plow and break with their past? Furthermore, Who will pick up the mantle and lead the church?
Regardless of who you are this final question needs to be asked: the church is filled with a decreasing number of Elijah's (old guard), while the world is full of uncalled and uncommitted Elisha's (new folks), What are you going to do about it?
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
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