Old Vs. New Part 2
The question as I see it for these 2 cultures of doing church is not so much “…is the old way or the new way(s) better” but instead “..can we cross the cultural divide of old vs. new and help each other?” And the answer, as I see it, is an emphatic YES. But HOW do we help each other?
Two examples come to mind. First, I saw an old friend at church yesterday. He and his wife surprised all of us at Broad River Community Church. We have been friends with him for years and our ministry has partnered with him numerous times. He felt God calling him to leave his ministry at a traditional church in a conservative southern town and step out in faith to plant a new church with the specific goal of making life-long disciples. His experience in the traditional church has prepared him to venture out into new territory, like a modern exploration of a new continent. He is scared but confident, nervous but excited. He takes with him the cultural and spiritual legacy of not only his former church, but the old paradigm. This for him is essential to being obedient and effective in the new church plant.
Secondly, my close friend Perry who is the pastor a large church in SC (newspring.cc) told me that his former pastor, Danny, called him this week to have lunch. Danny is the pastor of a small, traditional church of perhaps 300 people while Perry pastors a church of over 8,000. Danny is old enough to be Perry’s father, and ironically that is actually what he is doing. He is acting as a spiritual mentor and father to a young pastor. He is not jealous or envious of the size of the new church, but instead chooses to share his wisdom, lessons, failures and triumphs with a younger pastor who needs that sort of persepctive.
This is how we help each other. Older pastors with scars and stories not only invest spiritual wisdom in the lives of young pastors without the experience, they also find that through sharing their lives, envy-free, with the “new guys” that they themselves find healing and spiritual restoration. So I urge established, seasoned pastors to seek out the young lions that God is raising up and train them, mentor them, just talk to them like you care for them.
Several years ago, Rick Gage (evangelist) and Rick Stanley (Elvis Pressley’s brother) said something to me before I spoke at one of their summer camps. They said “We want to bring in young guys like you that God has annointed so we can give you the chance to learn the ropes. We are getting older and will one day be dead. We won’t be around forever, so it is our responsibility to see the next generation of guys prepared to take the ball and run with it when our generation is gone.”
I could not say it better, and I could not agree more.