Replication

One of the biggest challenges in leadership is moving on. On my first full day in the office of a recent youth ministry job, the Pastor sat down with me and posed the question, “Now that you are here, how do you plan to leave?” What?! What do you mean leave? I don’t even have all my boxes of books out of the van and you already want me to leave? Now, while that may not be the best conversation to have with a new employee, it is a very viable and honest question to ask. How many times have we seen very successful people in both the church and secular worlds, step down from leadership and the church or business they were running tanked?

Replication is hard to do, especially when it is based on something as unique as a human being. If you hadn’t realized, we are all crazy different. One of the areas that the church has historically done a terrible job at is bringing up new leaders. Most church leaders gained all their experience the good, ole-fashioned way…OJT…On-the-Job-Training. Not only are leaders often times not trained very well, but they are also put into positions of Leadership long before they are actually ready and then are given nothing to guide them including a list of expectations.

In the first chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul commends Timothy for his upbringing and home training. Paul recognized something in Timothy’s life, a gift that was present from God. It is because of this gift that Paul takes Timothy under his wing with the sole purpose of training him up in the ways of the faith so he could send him out to do the same for others. Timothy was left in Ephesus to oversee the early churches that were being established there and in the surrounding region. Paul had worked with Timothy over a period of time, providing him opportunities to serve and also to see service in action. In this section, we see Paul lifting Timothy’s spirits in an attempt to encourage him in the midst of a challenging and possibly disheartening time.

After Jesus, Paul was the model for New Testament mentoring. He was constantly taking young men under his wing to equip them and send them on their way. Paul understood two essential truths in the reality of life: 1) He was only one man, therefore could only go and do so much by himself and 2) He would someday no longer be around. These two truths drove Paul to find younger men to invest in so that they could carry on the burden of sharing the Gospel long after he was out of the picture.

Rick Warren speaks a lot to young and up-and-coming leaders and has been instrumental in a number of mentoring projects at Saddleback Church. In a recent Podcast, he speaks to the importance of having four types of people in your life.

Listen to the Catalyst PodCast with Rick Warren Here

So, one last question: Now that you are here, how do you plan to leave?