Adam Eakins, leader of a Baptist fresh expression of church, Quench, is part of Incarnate Network steering team. He writes on the need to take risks, "by giving permission to younger leaders to go and express church and faith in the way that God may have placed inside them." Adam explores how this might be achieved and raises the consequences of not acting.
The British 4 x 100m sprint relay team have got it wrong many times, on occasions quite embarrassingly. It seems that passing the baton between four highly trained athletes presented too difficult a task when covering 100 metres in around 10 seconds. However, at the Olympic Games in 2004 held in Athens it all came together. On an amazing night, we were able to beat the US team by a fraction much to everyone’s surprise and delight. It was great to see Colin Jackson mocking Michael Johnson in the BBC studio as he had declared that there was no way that the British sprinters could beat the Americans.
Passing on the baton in a relay race at those speeds requires skill, precision and timing. Get it right and it looks effortless. Get it wrong and there you are standing on the track unable to continue with the rest of the team looking on in despair. A successful change over requires two people working together, timing is very important.
Passing on the baton is a good illustration of leadership succession and in whatever field is a very difficult one to get right. How do we make sure that just like the sprinters we are working together and that the timing is right? As it has been said, “Success is not determined by what you go on to but by what you leave behind”. If that is the case then how many people who are now in key leadership positions are planning their own exit and are people already thinking about who will take over from them.
Even more challenging to most leadership is the idea that there are those who sit in our church totally frustrated and often bored. It is easy to class those people as not committed enough or just trouble makers. However, could it be that their boredom or frustration is rooted in the fact that God has placed something in them which the current church structure is stifling. So often we want people to reach a level of maturity or commitment before we allow them to take a certain position within our churches.
Here is a different way of looking at things. Often used as an example in this case is the risk that Jesus took when choosing Pete, Matt, Andy, Jim, Johnny and others to hang out with him for a few years and start a worldwide revolution. Yet in our churches how often do we take a risk by giving permission to a younger leader to go and express church and faith in the way that God may have placed inside them.
That is what happened to me. For many years in my early twenties I would sit in church bored, frustrated and uninspired by church. Never bored or uninspired by God but just the way Sunday had no connection to the rest of my life. It was like we went to this special place on a Sunday which was in a different dimension to the rest of the world. Thankfully our Pastor at the time saw passed my youthful arrogance and saw what I guess now I would call what God had placed in me. I believe there were 3 keys to this.
Permission – Just saying to the person – ‘you can do it, go for it’. So often we hold back because no one has said, ‘OK, you have my backing 100%’.
Freedom – This is where we have to allow people to go and do things differently to us and be thrilled with that being the case. We are not to be into cloning but releasing God creativity in people.
Accountability – We need to adopt what is called a loose and tight approach. Loose on control which is linked to freedom as mentioned but tight on relationship which develops accountability. In my experience this was the most important part of my journey where I knew those who loved me and wanted the best for me also were holding me accountable.
So if you are in leadership you may spend time planning your next challenge. However, many good works that could have an impact for the Kingdom may be lost or lay stagnant because of a lack of thought about succession. So is it time to think a little about whom you are handing on to and when? Who might be sitting there each week busting with God’s creativity inside them. Recently I heard a story about a leadership team meeting of a church network where the question was asked what would happen if the leader died. Someone spoke up and asked the more important question, what will happen if they don’t!
Questions
1. Who are the permission givers in your church?
2. What would need to change in you for you to be more of a permission giver?
3. How is succession being managed in church?
4. Who are the people who are going to be the creative ones in the future who need to be encouraged now?
