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It is true – you will reap what you sow

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acorn_to_oak“Movements are always sustained by the third generation. Visionary leaders can easily inspire a group of people to follow them. Sometimes those followers will take up the message and inspire others, but sometimes they don’t. And if they don’t, that new, revolutionary idea will die. It takes “grandchildren” for a movement to gain legs.” From the book A Multi-Site Church Roadtrip by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, Warren Bird.

I have been a pastor at North Park Community Church in London, Canada for the past 12+ years. During that time, beyond my work assigned to me as a pastor, I have come alongside about 16 guys over these years in a very intentional way. This has involved meeting with just two guys on a weekly basis for about two years. During this time we studied the bible, prayed, reflected on life, served together and in many ways became friends – the goal was that they would become active disciples of Jesus. It was also always my desire that these guys would not simply stop when I finished formally connecting with them but that they would in turn build into others guys as I had with them.

Now that I am more than 12 years into this experience in the same location, I have a unique opportunity to look back to truly see if what I have been doing is working – is the theory that I espoused to and worked hard at living out being shown to work itself out?

As the challenging quote above eludes to, it’s not simply that the guys I built into take on the work of discipling others, it must be demonstrated that the guys they built into also take up the cause and do the work.

It is with joy that I can honestly say that the 3rd and now the 4th generation are actually doing the work. That there are guys who really don’t know that I was the one who began something 12 years ago who have benefitted from its impact. That there are guys who believe that this is what they must do, that this is a calling that Jesus gave. That Matthew 28:18-20, as hard as it is to live out, is being lived out. That guys are coming alongside other guys, as Jesus came alongside a few men, and taking a few years to simply share what they know about reading the bible for life impact, and praying beyond themselves, and serving together for the betterment of our city and our local church.

Now I also want to be a realist, not all of the guys that I have come alongside are going strong. And not all of the guys that others have come alongside are engaging in this work either. We aren’t batting 1000, not even close. Yet the impact is growing. Men are stepping up to engage in the week in and week out work of meeting a couple other guys and showing them what it means to be a disciple. There is a movement happening as defined by the quote above. The 3rd generation is taking hold of the baton and moving it forward. And for this I am excited.

Our church’s mission statement says that we will “inspire, support and mobilize”. How often do we want to continually be inspired, yet who wants to do the hard work of support that ultimately sees others mobilized as well. Let’s not sugar coat life-on-life discipleship – it is hard work. And yet, as one who is now looking back on 12+ years of work, I can honestly say that a movement has started. That he who began a good work is carrying it on to completion. That faithfulness to the cause is resulting in good fruit. That I’m actually sowing what I have been reaping – it is true what Jesus spoke of.

I don’t know how large this movement will grow to. I don’t know how much of a difference it will make and how much it will influence others to also take up the cause. And yet, it doesn’t matter. My call is to make disciples and to do what I can to motivate those I build into to also disciple others. What they do with it will be between them and God. I am simply called to faithfulness to what I believe Jesus instructed me to do. I am but a mustard seed. God can cause it to grow to whatever extent he will choose. I declare this day that I will continue to be faithful and will look forward with anticipation knowing that a movement, no matter how small, has begun.

For the kingdom.

I’m the daughter of a pastor and I still love the church.

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Pastors KidRecently someone made a comment to my dad, “You’re a pastor, and your kids still like the church. How did you manage that?” My dad wasn’t sure how to respond so he asked me to blog about it – so here are my thoughts from someone who is 21.

It’s unfortunate that so many pastors kids (PK) don’t love the church (it actually boggles my mind since I love it so much) When people find out I’m a PK, the first question is always about if I like being a PK or not – which is a bit weird since if you were the child of an electrician or a teacher, my first question wouldn’t be if you like being their child of not. But because so many PKs have rebelled against their parents and the church, people become curious if I’m one of those statistics. Well I’m happy to announce that I’m not (and neither is my brother).

As I’ve reflected on this, I’ve realized a few things that my parents have done (whether intentional or not) that has kept my fire for my faith and my desire to see the church thrive.

  1. Openness. My dad was always very open with us growing up, and still is. He would explain things that were going on in the church, and talk about how he was handling it and why. We got a very real, but also a very exciting picture of the church, and what the church can and needs to be. Because of this, I was able to hop on board to help be a part of that journey of becoming a thriving community of believers. I wanted to see the transformation that my dad talked about – I wanted it to be tangible in my life. I’ll be honest though, jumping into that journey may sound fun and idealistic (and it can be), but it is also messy and frustrating and hard. There have been many times I would release all my puzzling thoughts and feelings to my dad at Crabby Joe’s (the Eckert hang out), and he would calmly listen (at least from the outside he was calm) and then explain to me what could be happening beneath the surface – why people acted as they did, how I can appropriately respond, and what scripture tells us.
  2. Who they are in public, is who they are in private. My parent’s faith is real. It is not just a show inside the church, it is active inside our home. My brother and I witnessed our parent’s having their personal quiet times, and listened to them talk about what they were learning. We were able to see with our own eyes the commitment it takes on a daily basis to grow closer with God. It wasn’t just talk – there was action. As the daughter of a pastor who sometimes gets the inside scoop, knowing that my dad’s faith in strong, and that he is constantly striving to live like Jesus, I have full confidence in his ability to lead a congregation. I am not ashamed to be his daughter, because he is not a fake, and therefore I don’t need to be a fake.
  3. Opportunities galore. My favourite part of being a PK is that I get first dibbs on all sorts of crazy things – and some of those things come from my dad volunteering me to the front office staff to do some work (being a student still, I am able to do this – and it helps that the front office staff are fun to be with). I’ve been able to work with a lot of the pastors in their ministries, and try out different roles as well. Going on a bit of a tangent (I promise it will all make sense in a minute), I’m so glad to be out of the high school age. During that time, you are trying to figure out who you are, where you fit, and what your passions are. I had the amazing opportunity to figure out who I was in the walls of the church. I was constantly surrounded by people who loved me, and would speak loving truth to me to keep me on track. I was also never allowed to be bored since there was always work that needed to be done somewhere. Not many teens gets this chance, but seriously, for all the high school students reading this, I highly recommend getting involved in the church and surrounding yourself with people who will love you through the mess of teenage years.
  4. Never forced. I have read about situations where PKs leave the church because their parent’s demanded them to be involved in all sorts of activities and things they didn’t want to do. So on one hand, PKs have all these opportunities at their fingertips, but on the other hand, if it’s forced, it’s not fun. In our family there was always gentle, yet firm encouragement to get involved and build relationships with people, but ultimately, if we didn’t find joy in doing something at all, we didn’t have to do it. And when we were involved in places, our parents didn’t stand over us and watch our every move – and they didn’t ask our small group leaders for updates on our personal lives (at least I don’t believe they did). They let us grow and develop and figure out who God created us to be – not who they wanted us to be.
  5. Our church is awesome. As much as I love being a PK, I wouldn’t love it as much without a church community that is hands down amazing! The relationships I have with people in the church are far better than I could’ve ever imagined. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Well my parents had a massive village to help raise my brother and me. The people there have helped shape me into who I am today, and walking with them through this journey of life is a blast. So North Parkers, thanks for being awesome – let’s continue to be awesome for the generations to come!

Looking back over those points, I realized that these are things that shouldn’t be special for PKs. They should be things that all kids experience. Sure, I have more of an ‘in’, but I know plenty of people at our church who aren’t blood related to any of the pastors, yet they have made it a priority to be a part of the church family and to step up and lead (leading doesn’t mean just in the front) – and when that happens, the church will thrive, and when the church thrives, the world changes.