| Our verse to DATE the Word on March 28 (3/28) is Deuteronomy 3:28 |
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| Deuteronomy 3:28 says, “But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.” |
| Preparing the Next Generation to LEAD As Moses reviews what God has done for and with Israel and for him and with him in the first few chapters of Deuteronomy, he tells how God had INSTRUCTED him to get Joshua ready to be the next leader. Our verse to DATE serves as a great reminder that we are to not just pass the baton of leadership to the next generation but prepare them to RECEIVE the baton and then RUN with the baton. AS WE LEAD, WE ARE TO BE PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION TO LEAD! We can see this being done by Jesus. We can see this being done by Paul. There are numerous ministries and organizations that have passed the baton of leadership and did so in such ways that the ministries, and organizations did BETTER than the previous generation! As I have looked at Jesus and Paul and these various ministries it was clear that they were INTENTIONAL on not just leading in the present but were preparing those others to lead into the future when they were no longer here. Drawing from Deuteronomy 3:28 who might be your Joshua? If you were the Apostle Paul who is your Timothy? If we look at Titus 2:2-8 who are the younger men and younger women that you are pouring into? Maybe I labor too much here but being very practical is asking if you have someone to pass your baton to. If you don’t have a Joshua or a Timothy begin immediately to pray that God would bring a person into your life so that you may share your “learned lessons!” Drawing from Deuteronomy 3:28 we can see two essential actions to take with those we are mentoring or discipling. One is ENCOURAGEMENT and the other is EQUIPPING them to become STRONGER. The component of encouragement is letting them know you believe in them. It is the pat on the back when failure has happened and the reminder to LEARN from the LOSS. You can be an encouragement by providing a listening ear. Encouragement can be done by a call just to see how things are going. It is affirming their actions and appreciating the effort! The component of strengthening is a little more involved as you coach and train, in a word, you EQUIP them. You train them to LEAD themselves. You train them how to think about doing what is best for the organization. You train them to care about and for their people. You train them how to make decisions. You train them how to solve problems. And this list goes on and on! May I share a word about training leaders for the next generation? One of the best groups I have ever worked with in training for the next generation is Chick-fil-A. I listened closely one day to Dan Cathy, President of Chick-Fi-A, teach on the subject of CHANGE. In one hand he had a cell phone. In the other hand, he had a Bible. With the cell phone, he said we must know how to embrace new technologies and CHANGE in order to stay up to date. (Having grown up with a party line and now owning an iPhone I could appreciate his example.) With the Bible and he said we must also know WHAT MUST NOT CHANGE. How we learn God’s Word and how we teach God’s Word surely changes but what we learn and what we teach does not change. In other words, the methods may change but the message stays the same! As you mentor and prepare a next-generation leader focus on encouraging them and equipping them. Convey insights for WHAT they NEED TO BE a lot more than HOW they need to be doing it. Who they are is more important than what they do. Character is more important than performance. Methods change but the message does not. Verse to DATE the Word on March 28 (3/28) is Deuteronomy 3:28. It says, “But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.” Find your “Joshua” and encourage and strengthen him! Continue Strong being a mentor, And remember to DATE THE WORD |