“We Need Each Other: We Prayerfully Value All Generations”<\/p>\n
By Richard Goad- Pastor of River of Life Church, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma<\/strong><\/p>\n John was pleasantly surprised. His wife had just handed him the phone. Their daughter\u2019s call wasn\u2019t unusual. She called once a week. Her conversations were almost always with her mom, and they usually ended with, \u201cTell dad I love him.\u201d But this time she wanted to speak with him.<\/p>\n \u201cHi, Dad,\u201d she said. \u201cJenny (his granddaughter) has an assignment. She has to write a story about her hero. She wants to write her paper about you. She\u2019ll need to interview you. Is that okay?\u201d When Jenny said \u201cHi, Grandpa,\u201d he told her he was surprised but honored at the request. Don\u2019t you love the innocent honesty of second-graders? We recognize these because we have all seen them\u2026and lived them. The challenge is finding the value of the person who is in the midst of one of these life-stages. Too often, we give attention to the flaws and immaturity (or \u201csuper-seasoned\u201d senectitude) of the other person without an appreciation of not only who he is but for God\u2019s plan for his future.<\/p>\n I remember the days when \u201cLet no man despise your youth\u201d (1 Timothy 4:12) was a very important Scripture passage for me as the youngest pastor in my conference. Now, \u201cThe elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching,\u201d (1 Timothy 5:17) has special significance in my spirit.<\/p>\n Both attitudes are biblical \u2013 and necessary. The reality is we need each other. Young people need caring and wise mentors whose deep-rooted concern for the continuance of ministry produces a heartfelt willingness to invest in them. And \u201cseasoned veterans\u201d need not only to be appreciated for ministry done but for the gifts still possessed that should remain a blessing to the body of Christ.<\/p>\n Barnabas is one of my spiritual heroes. His introduction in Acts 4, when he lays an offering at the feet of the apostles, demonstrates the meaning of his name, Son of Encouragement. Barnabas would continue to invest in the ministry by cultivating his spirit of encouragement in the lives of young men who were in the early stages of walking out the call they had on their own lives.<\/p>\n Most notable of these was Saul, who would become the Apostle Paul. Many in the early church were cautious in accepting Paul in their ranks because of his earlier activities against them. But it was Barnabas who took him under his wings and guided him toward the ministry that profoundly impacted the spread of the gospel. Ironically, when Paul later had a problem with John Mark and refused to allow the young man to participate in another mission trip, Barnabas wisely understood his spiritual gifts were now more needed as an investment into the development of the younger man. He made the decision to do for Mark what he had done for Paul before.<\/p>\n I am personally in a season of transition. New Year\u2019s Eve, I shared with my congregation that the Lord had shown me a truth that I was obliged to heed. I\u2019ve always understood life to be a race, or more specifically a marathon, which is to be run faithfully with endurance. But the Lord revealed to me the greater truth \u2013it\u2019s a relay race that we are running. We carry the baton for a season but others were running the race before us and passed the baton to us. We are obligated to be prepared to hand the baton to another. This is the nature of Kingdom building. We all have our assignments to complete and they are not completed by refusing to grace the next persons with what has been entrusted to us.<\/p>\n As in any relay race, there is a lane of opportunity to pass the baton properly. If done too early, the team is disqualified. If the pass comes too late, that error also produces disqualification. If the baton is dropped and not handed forward, everything comes to an abrupt halt.<\/p>\n Therefore, let us run our race with a commitment to others, including the next runner to come (with our encouragement), knowing that the last leg can only be run by Jesus Christ, who is the One who can bring the victory home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":3615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757,4,1,140,37,3],"tags":[704,365,766],"class_list":{"0":"post-3612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allgenerations","8":"category-discipleship-ministries","9":"category-general","10":"category-senior-adults","11":"category-womens-ministries","12":"category-youth-ministries","13":"tag-all-generations","14":"tag-mentoring","15":"tag-richard-goad","16":"entry"},"title_es":"Nos necesitamos el uno al otro","content_es":"\"Nos necesitamos unos a otros: valoramos con oraci\u00f3n a todas las generaciones\" Por Richard Goad, pastor de la iglesia River of Life, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma<\/strong> John qued\u00f3 gratamente sorprendido. Su esposa acababa de darle el tel\u00e9fono. La llamada de su hija no fue inusual. Ella llam\u00f3 una vez a la semana. Sus conversaciones casi siempre eran con su madre, y generalmente terminaban con \"D\u00edgale a pap\u00e1 que lo amo\". Pero esta vez quer\u00eda hablar con \u00e9l. \"Hola, pap\u00e1\", dijo ella. \"Jenny (su nieta) tiene una tarea. Ella tiene que escribir una historia sobre su h\u00e9roe. Ella quiere escribir su art\u00edculo sobre ti. Ella tendr\u00e1 que entrevistarlo. \u00bfEst\u00e1 bien? \"\" Por supuesto \", dijo, con la mezcla adecuada de alegr\u00eda y humildad. \"P\u00f3ntela\". Cuando Jenny dijo \"Hola, abuelo\", \u00e9l le dijo que estaba sorprendido pero honrado por la petici\u00f3n. \"\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 me elegiste?\", Pregunt\u00f3. \"Porque no pod\u00eda deletrear a Schwarzenegger\", respondi\u00f3 ella. \u00bfNo te encanta la honestidad inocente de los estudiantes de segundo grado? O la b\u00fasqueda de la independencia de los j\u00f3venes adolescentes? \u00bfO la confianza de \"no necesito que me digas qu\u00e9 debo hacer\" del estudiante de \u00faltimo a\u00f1o de la escuela secundaria (si puede obtener sus calificaciones en la historia)? O, por supuesto, el \"It's-Our-Time\"; \u00bfTuviste-Tu-Tu-d\u00eda? Actitud que se enfrenta con el esp\u00edritu \"Bueno-Eso-No-C\u00f3mo-Lo-hicimos\"? Reconocemos esto porque todos los hemos visto ... y vivido. El desaf\u00edo es encontrar el valor de la persona que se encuentra en medio de una de estas etapas de la vida. Con demasiada frecuencia, prestamos atenci\u00f3n a los defectos y la inmadurez (o senectitud \"super-experimentada\") de la otra persona sin apreciar no solo qui\u00e9n es sino el plan de Dios para su futuro. Recuerdo los d\u00edas cuando \"nadie menosprecie tu juventud\" (1 Timoteo 4:12) fue un pasaje b\u00edblico muy importante para m\u00ed como el pastor m\u00e1s joven de mi conferencia. Ahora, \"Los ancianos que dirigen bien los asuntos de la iglesia son dignos de doble honor, especialmente aquellos cuyo trabajo es predicar y ense\u00f1ar\" (1 Timoteo 5:17) tiene un significado especial en mi esp\u00edritu. Ambas actitudes son b\u00edblicas, y necesarias. La realidad es que nos necesitamos el uno al otro. Los j\u00f3venes necesitan mentores prudentes y atentos, cuya profunda preocupaci\u00f3n por la continuaci\u00f3n del ministerio produce una sincera voluntad de invertir en ellos. Y los \"veteranos experimentados\" necesitan no solo ser apreciados por el ministerio realizado, sino por los dones que a\u00fan poseen y que deben seguir siendo una bendici\u00f3n para el cuerpo de Cristo. Bernab\u00e9 es uno de mis h\u00e9roes espirituales. Su introducci\u00f3n en Hechos 4, cuando hace una ofrenda a los pies de los ap\u00f3stoles, demuestra el significado de su nombre, Hijo de aliento. Barnabas continuar\u00eda invirtiendo en el ministerio cultivando su esp\u00edritu de aliento en las vidas de hombres j\u00f3venes que estaban en las primeras etapas de abandonar el llamado que ten\u00edan en sus propias vidas. El m\u00e1s notable de ellos fue Saulo, quien se convertir\u00eda en el ap\u00f3stol Pablo. Muchos en la iglesia primitiva fueron cautelosos al aceptar a Pablo en sus filas debido a sus actividades anteriores contra ellos. Pero fue Barnabas quien lo tom\u00f3 bajo sus alas y lo gui\u00f3 hacia el ministerio que impact\u00f3 profundamente la difusi\u00f3n del evangelio. Ir\u00f3nicamente, cuando m\u00e1s tarde Paul tuvo un problema con John Mark y se neg\u00f3 a permitir que el joven participara en otro viaje misionero, Barnabas sabiamente entend\u00eda que sus dones espirituales eran ahora m\u00e1s necesarios como una inversi\u00f3n en el desarrollo del hombre m\u00e1s joven. Tom\u00f3 la decisi\u00f3n de hacer por Mark lo que hab\u00eda hecho por Paul antes. Personalmente estoy en una temporada de transici\u00f3n. La v\u00edspera de A\u00f1o Nuevo, compart\u00ed con mi congregaci\u00f3n que el Se\u00f1or me hab\u00eda mostrado una verdad que estaba obligado a escuchar. Siempre he entendido que la vida es una carrera, o m\u00e1s espec\u00edficamente un marat\u00f3n, que se ejecutar\u00e1 fielmente con resistencia. Pero el Se\u00f1or me revel\u00f3 la mayor verdad: es una carrera de relevos que estamos corriendo. Llevamos el bast\u00f3n por una temporada, pero otros corrieron la carrera antes que nosotros y nos pasaron el bast\u00f3n. Estamos obligados a estar preparados para entregar el bast\u00f3n a otro. Esta es la naturaleza de la construcci\u00f3n del Reino. Todos tenemos nuestras asignaciones para completar y no se completan al negarse a agraciar a las siguientes personas con lo que se nos ha confiado. Como en cualquier carrera de relevos, hay un carril de oportunidad para pasar el testigo adecuadamente. Si se hace demasiado pronto, el equipo queda descalificado. Si el pase llega demasiado tarde, ese error tambi\u00e9n produce la descalificaci\u00f3n. Si el bast\u00f3n se cae y no se entrega, todo se detiene abruptamente. Por lo tanto, corramos nuestra carrera con un compromiso con los dem\u00e1s, incluido el pr\u00f3ximo corredor que vendr\u00e1 (con nuestro aliento), sabiendo que el \u00faltimo tramo solo puede ser dirigido por Jesucristo, quien es quien puede traer la victoria a casa.","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/02\/We-Need-Each-Other.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-Wg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cOf course,\u201d he said, with the proper mix of joy and humility. \u201cPut her on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWhy did you pick me?\u201d he asked.
\n\u201cBecause I couldn\u2019t spell Schwarzenegger,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n
\nOr the search for independence of young teens?
\nOr the \u201cI-don\u2019t-need-you-to-tell-me-what-to-do\u201d confidence of the about-to-graduate high school senior (if he can get his grades up in history)?
\nOr, of course, the \u201cIt\u2019s-Our-Time; You\u2019ve-Had-Your-Day\u201d attitude which comes up against the \u201cWell-That\u2019s-Not-How-We-Did-It\u201d spirit?<\/p>\n