Each One Teach One

The Wonderful Joanne and I were blessed by spending last weekend with a bunch of wonderful young people, helping them learn more about the good news of God's grace in Jesus Christ, and his desire to share that same good news with everyone on the planet.  I was inspired by the love shown by all those young folks for their friends who don't yet believe and can't participate in the divine relationship we've been given (Eph. 2:6).  And I was thrilled to see the older leaders bringing those young people into leadership.

Recently I was awed by the testimony of a young woman, about age 25, telling how she had been working in camp ministry for several years.  She realized that it was time for her to step aside from the ministry she truly loves (and is very good at) in order to make room for teenagers who were showing leadership.  She's transitioning from doing the work, to teaching multiple others to do it.  They'll come up with ways to do it that she (or I) would never have thought of, and we pray they will also bring others into leadership.

Paul told Timothy to pass along what he had been taught, multiplying leaders four generations deep:  "You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others." (2 Tim. 2:2)  The job of every Christian servant is not simply to enjoy the work we get to do for Jesus, but always to be looking for others who can do it and who will pass it on to the next ones. 

Water gets to the top leaf of tall trees because each water molecule bonds to the next one, creating a chain that pulls more molecules along, even against gravity.  They move upward because the water at the top is being 'breathed out' by the leaves, and a water molecule evaporating from the leaf draws another one up.  As servants of Jesus we should bond, like those water molecules, to someone who will slip seamlessly into our place when we move to whatever God has for us next.  We may feel a sense of loss as we give up what we've enjoyed doing; but it's not really ours to keep anyway, it was only ours to pass on.

Whatever place of service you have, in church, or your home or outside of it, can you name someone you are bringing into service?  If not, how about asking God for someone you can mentor, and asking him to show you how to do it?  It may be the most rewarding thing you've ever done!