ANTIQUITY HAS ITS ADVANTAGES
Okay, I checked out the old guy on the phone this afternoon and he is definitely insane - my kind of insane that is, which I personally would maintain is normal, though I know most would differ!
After 20 years of leading a church that is now well established, he's thinking of blowing it all, packing up his Bible and laptop and moving to another part of the state to start from scratch. And he's 54 years old!
I love it.
What the heck! Life's too short to let it be boring.
I encouraged him to keep praying about going for it and offered what little input and support I can offer along the way.
So all that got me thinking about what the advantages and disadvantages of age are when it comes to church planting ...
ADVANTAGES
1. Experience - hopefully you've learned a few things along the way from both the positive and negative segments of the journey thus far.
2. Security - you're not trying to prove anything to yourself or anybody by the time you get to my stage in life.
3. Urgency - you don't have decades ahead of you, you're staring at the last lap and want to give it all you've got. This one has to count.
4. Freedom - there are not so many other people to think about, like children who need the support and care of a father. They flew the coop a long time ago.
5. Credibility - if you live long enough people think you know what you're talking about, even though in reality you're flying by the seat of your pants.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Irrelevance - you may well become disconnected with the world in which most of those you are trying to reach are living, since you yourself are headed into the golden years. The cure? Hang out with as many young church planting hotheads as you can and make sure your own leadership team contains people from younger generations.
2. Conservatism - breaking free and staying free from a lifetime of how you used to do church can present its own challenges. You can't go by the book, you have to be willing to burn it, to question all you have ever done and thought and see whether it has a place in today's church.
3. Weariness - as you get older you tend to slow down. Nothing wrong with that, so long as others can help carry the momentum. BTW it's even more important to take care of yourself physically as the years go by. Ask me! - I'm just breaking out of a lifetime of abusing my body by making it carry around far too much weight.
4. Possesiveness - you won't be around for ever. In fact you won't be there for that long, so it's essential for older church planters to be looking for the person who will take the lead when they need to step back.
5. Unreality - you're not Superman and neither am I. None of us is the exception to the rule, though we would like to think we were, so we won't go on for ever. Have an exit strategy. When I was younger I saw so many old pastors hanging on way after their best before date that I decided that at age 65 I will step back from a lead pastor role. Plan to get out the way before you kill the thing you've brought to life!
With those things in mind - don't you young puppies count the old guys out!
After 20 years of leading a church that is now well established, he's thinking of blowing it all, packing up his Bible and laptop and moving to another part of the state to start from scratch. And he's 54 years old!
I love it.
What the heck! Life's too short to let it be boring.
I encouraged him to keep praying about going for it and offered what little input and support I can offer along the way.
So all that got me thinking about what the advantages and disadvantages of age are when it comes to church planting ...
ADVANTAGES
1. Experience - hopefully you've learned a few things along the way from both the positive and negative segments of the journey thus far.
2. Security - you're not trying to prove anything to yourself or anybody by the time you get to my stage in life.
3. Urgency - you don't have decades ahead of you, you're staring at the last lap and want to give it all you've got. This one has to count.
4. Freedom - there are not so many other people to think about, like children who need the support and care of a father. They flew the coop a long time ago.
5. Credibility - if you live long enough people think you know what you're talking about, even though in reality you're flying by the seat of your pants.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Irrelevance - you may well become disconnected with the world in which most of those you are trying to reach are living, since you yourself are headed into the golden years. The cure? Hang out with as many young church planting hotheads as you can and make sure your own leadership team contains people from younger generations.
2. Conservatism - breaking free and staying free from a lifetime of how you used to do church can present its own challenges. You can't go by the book, you have to be willing to burn it, to question all you have ever done and thought and see whether it has a place in today's church.
3. Weariness - as you get older you tend to slow down. Nothing wrong with that, so long as others can help carry the momentum. BTW it's even more important to take care of yourself physically as the years go by. Ask me! - I'm just breaking out of a lifetime of abusing my body by making it carry around far too much weight.
4. Possesiveness - you won't be around for ever. In fact you won't be there for that long, so it's essential for older church planters to be looking for the person who will take the lead when they need to step back.
5. Unreality - you're not Superman and neither am I. None of us is the exception to the rule, though we would like to think we were, so we won't go on for ever. Have an exit strategy. When I was younger I saw so many old pastors hanging on way after their best before date that I decided that at age 65 I will step back from a lead pastor role. Plan to get out the way before you kill the thing you've brought to life!
With those things in mind - don't you young puppies count the old guys out!
posted by Roger Blackmore | 10:43 PM
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