Jump Start # 3697
1 Corinthians 11:23 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread”
Our verse today is about the Lord’s Supper. Paul quotes Jesus. Paul was not in the room when Jesus said those words. Paul was not a disciple when this took place. Built within this passage is the concept of legacy. Handing something down to someone else. One generation passes the baton on to the next generation. We find the words, ‘receive,’ and ‘delivered,’ used here. This carries the idea of a rely race.
Four guys running, one at a time, as fast as they can. The first person carries a baton in his hand. He hands it to the second person, who takes off as if the devil were chasing him. He hands the baton to the third person. He runs as fast as he can and gives the baton to the fourth person. High school track has rely races. That’s where I first ran the rely. Some get to do this in college. A few, very few, go on to the Olympics.
Four runners. One baton. And, that instant when one passes it on to the next person, is the critical part of the race. The runners can literally trip over each other. They can drop the baton. One can take off running and he doesn’t have the baton in his hand. The race can be won or lost in that moment of passing of the baton.
This verse today sounds very much like a rely race. Jesus starts it. He hands not the baton, but the Gospel to Paul. Paul then delivers it to the Corinthians. In time, they were to pass the Gospel message on to others. Across oceans, and here we are today, walking by that old, old Gospel. We stand upon the shoulders of many faithful men and women who gave heart and service to the kingdom.
Legacy is something that isn’t talked about as much as it ought to be. It takes a bit of vision, planning an gumption to develop a legacy plan. Who will be the next shepherds? Any thought given to that? When one looks at the churches in Revelation 2-3, it is easy to see that some batons were dropped. Ephesus, the loveless church, left their first love. No one starts a church like that. They begin because they are passionate about the Lord. But in time, that passion wasn’t carried on. The baton was dropped. Sardis, the lifeless church, declared dead by the Lord. No one begins with death. It takes energy, desire, goals and plans to start a congregation. But the baton was dropped. Sardis died. Laodicea, the lukewarm church. No church begins that way. It takes people who are on the ball, dependable and will sacrifice to get things rolling. Lukewarm simply won’t do that. The baton was dropped.
In a recent podcast at home and in a shepherding class on the road, I talked about the “Principle of the Baton.” There are three steps:
First, before the race begins, there has to be an understanding, practice, training to pass the baton. I remember spending tons of hours, not running around the track, we had that down, but in exchanging the baton. Making it smooth. Understanding how far the runners could run, knowing which hand to put the baton in, and getting out of the way so no one falls down. Practice. Practice. Practice. Spiritually, it’s mentoring, showing, teaching.
No one comes out of the stands and fills in. It looks easy, but it’s not.
Second, there has to be a trust factor among the team. One handing must trust the one who is receiving. The Lord trusted Paul. Paul trusted the Corinthians. Receiving and delivering. Passing the Gospel. Passing the baton. In the high school days, it was worked out which person ran which leg of the rely. Did he start? Was he in the second slot? Third? Was he the one finishing? Once that was figured out, we never changed positions. I knew who was handing it to me and I knew who I was giving it to. We learned how the next person wanted the baton placed in their hands. We worked and worked until we knew each other. There was a trust factor among us. And, in developing the legacy model, the same is necessary. One generation trusts, respects and has compassion for the next generation. If the older generation resents the younger generation, then they won’t pass the baton. They will keep it for as long as they can. If the younger generation doesn’t want anything to do with the older generation, the baton will fall.
Third, one must let go of the baton when it is passed on. The handing of the baton should not be a tug of war between the two runners. Disaster will happen, if that happens. A smooth transition, one giving and one taking. Paul received and Paul delivered.
There are two models that every church is given. One is the Biblical model. That’s what we find in the word of God. That cannot be changed. We worship on Sunday. There are specifics that God expects to be done. Generation upon generation, that Biblical model remains the same. But there is also a generational model. The generational model is how the Biblical model is carried out. We worship on Sunday. What time? How often? Bible classes? Bible class first? Last? Those are generational models that can be tweaked and adjusted for each generation.
There were congregations holding Sunday evening services in the 1800s. Not many, but a few. But with World War II, so many brethren were shift workers in plants and couldn’t get off on Sunday mornings. Congregation made adjustments and held Sunday evening services. That was a generational adjustment to fit a need.
Those passing on the baton must realize that the next generation may do things differently. As long as the Biblical model is in tact, it’s ok. In fact, the next generation may do things better and more efficiently than the previous generation. That can be hard to take, but one generation must let go of the baton so the next generation can run. That’s the way it is in the home. That’s the way it is in business. And, that’s the way it must be in the congregation.
But before that baton is passed on, there are steps, principles that can make the process smooth, good and right.
I received…I delivered…
Roger