Young Leaders - My World

Recently I had a stimulating conversation with a friend of mine who is a youth pastor at a local church. We talked about how the fall of Ted Haggard has really shaken up a lot of people, especially pastors. We talked about how we were reexamining our passion for ministry. We talked about how it is so difficult to keep your focus on people and impacting individual lives when you are caught up in running an organization and handling a leadership team. Both of us recommitted to getting involved in individual people's lives and doing what we can to offer our lives as "living epistles being seen and read by all men."

This conversation also brought a lot of my life into focus in terms of the phase of life that I am in right now. Right now, I am in a place of confusion and disillusionment. We talked about how necessary it is for anyone who is following Christ authentically.

I was reminded of a portion of the book I have been reading, Emerging Churches. This is a portion in the second chapter and they are talking about the pattern that they have seen among the young emerging church leaders across America.

During this time of change, emerging church leaders sometimes struggle when asked to identify themselves. They may look back to what they are emerging from more than they look forward to what they are emerging into. That is to be expected. One must dismantle the old, clear the way, before one can build something truly new. Looking back helps these leaders see what must be discarded and what must be retained. In this process, emerging leaders first speak of being "post" something, either in reference to to various traditions of the church or in reference to the broader culture. However, we have found the the "post" phase, which may last two to four years, is not the final destination of emerging church leaders but simply a necessary stop along the journey. Rebuilding will come, but it cannot be rushed.