C h a p t e r9

Collect Your Inheritance!

Leave a legacy of spiritual children

H

ave you ever heard of the Shakers? They were a religious group
that flourished in early 19th century America, building large com-
munities in the eastern United States. Because of their peculiar trembling at their meetings, they were called the Shakers. Today, the Shakers are history. The most visible trace of the group remains in the simple, well-made furniture they manufactured. Why did this once thriving group so rapidly die out? Because of a peculiar theology they practiced: The Shakers believed in, and practiced, celibacy above marriage. They had little opportunity to multiply. Soon, even the religious revivals which had brought many converts to Shakerism lost momentum, and the group declined in the late 1800's.

When a spiritual posterity is stunted like it was for the Shakers, we reproduce no children and our legacy dies. Without raising up spiritual fathers and mothers in our generation, we are in danger of losing the next generation.

My extended family gathers every year for a reunion--aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, and nieces who are all connected to the Kreider family tree. When my grandparents were alive, I noticed how they seemed to look at each other with a twinkle in their eyes at these family gatherings. They knew we were all there because of them, and it gave them deep satisfaction to see their posterity.

The Lord wants to see spiritual families continually reproducing in each generation down through the ages. He has a generational perspective, and we must too. Paul, the apostle, was thinking in terms of four generations when he called Timothy his son and exhorted him to find faithful men to whom he can impart what Paul taught him to the next generation: "And the things you [second generation] have heard from me [first generation] among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men [third generation] who will be able to teach others [fourth generation] also” (II Timothy 2:2).

Paul was thinking about his spiritual posterity and speaking as a spiritual father to his son Timothy who would give him spiritual grandchildren and great grandchildren. The entire Bible was written from a family perspective. It was natural for Paul to think in terms of spiritual posterity because that is how biblical society was set up and the way God intended it to be.

God has called us to birth a spiritual lineage

In Genesis 15:1, when God spoke to Abraham about a promised spiritual seed, He said, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” When God gives us a spiritual revelation to be spiritual parents, we need not be afraid. We may make mistakes or sometimes get hurt by people we are helping, but we have a shield to protect us. God will be our great reward.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old when God gave him the promise that he would be the "father of many nations” (Genesis 17:4). This covenant also promised that his descendants would "multiply as the stars of heaven” (Genesis 26:4).

True, this covenant is speaking about the covenant between God and Abraham and the Jewish people. But Galatians 3:29 says that those who belong to Christ are "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Therefore, as believers, God wants to birth in us "nations,” too. These "nations” or groups of people, who come to know God because of our influence, will be our spiritual lineage--they are our posterity in God's kingdom. We have been promised it because we are children of promise. Our God desires to give us a spiritual posterity.

Our inheritance of spiritual children

This promise of spiritual children is for every Christian! God has placed us here on earth because He has called us to become spiritual fathers and mothers in our generation. With this comes the expectation that our spiritual children will have spiritual children and more spiritual children and continue into infinity.

Our inheritance will be all these spiritual children that we can some day present to Jesus Christ. No matter what we do--whether we are a housewife, a student, a worker in a factory, a pastor of a church, or the head a large corporation--we have the divine blessing and responsibility to birth spiritual children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We are all called to impart to others the rich inheritance that God has promised.

A few years ago, I ministered at a training conference to equip church leaders to become effective spiritual fathers and mothers at a four-year-old church in Lincoln, California, pastored by Daren Laws.I was amazed at what I experienced there. This fledgling church was already 600 people strong and was focusing on training spiritual fathers and mothers to open their homes to minister to young Christians. More than 80% of the people in the church were new believers. Even the mayor and his wife had come to faith in Christ.

When a person came to Christ, he or she was immediately invited to a home church (small group). There the new Christian was connected by relationships into the body of Christ. A spiritual parent nurtured the new believer until he could become a spiritual parent himself, and a new generation of believers was birthed! Daren and his team did not focus on church programs but instead on Jesus and on spiritual parenting.

I like how Abraham responded when the Lord showed him the stars in the heaven and promised him descendants as numerous as the stars: "And he [Abraham] believed in the Lord...” (Genesis 15:6). What did he believe the Lord for? His inheritance! We, too, need to "believe the Lord” for many spiritual children. We can trust God to do it. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen when we trust in God's faithfulness.

One time after ministering at a church in Dallas, Texas, a young man ran up to me holding a Bible, and wanted to tell me his personal testimony: "My folks are not Christians, but recently I opened up this Bible I found laying on the coffee table. After reading in it, I realized I needed Jesus. I gave my life to Christ and then drove around with my Bible in hand looking for a church family. I found a church building near where I lived and walked in.

"The first person to greet me was a young lady, and after telling her my story, she called her father over and said, 'Tell my dad what you told me.'

"The dad listened to my testimony with interest and then examined the Bible I held in my hands. 'Fifteen years ago,' he said, 'I witnessed to a man I served with in the military. He declined to receive the Lord, but agreed to take the Bible you are holding. The man I witnessed to was your father!'”

The young man went on to tell me that he was now preparing to marry the young lady he met at the church building, and they were excited about serving as cell group leaders. Their spiritual lineage would continue. What an awesome story of spiritual posterity in God's kingdom!

We are promised an inheritance of spiritual children. God wants to give us an inheritance of spiritual children. And He will do it through the generations. He is a God who has a heart for families and is concerned about the generations to come.

Healthy families will multiply

The Lord wants us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). Our God is a God of multiplication. Multiplication is a fact of nature. As a farm boy, I once counted the kernels on a healthy stalk of corn and found there to be 1200 kernels in the first generation. Do you know that by the next generation there will be one million, four hundred and forty thousand kernels of corn?

In the same way, healthy cells in the body multiply and result in growth of the body. A living cell is in a state of constant activity.

The church in the book of Acts multiplied rapidly because they understood the value of small "cell” groups in homes to aid in nurturing believers through spiritual family relationships. They functioned in close relationship with each other, just as cells in the body function. This healthy activity and interdependence resulted in healthy growth for the early church.

As the Lord restores spiritual family life into His kingdom today, the church in our generation will also multiply rapidly. We must be ready. We must properly train and prepare spiritual parents and sons and daughters so that Christ may be formed in them. Romans 8:19 says, "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” When Christ is fully formed in His people, creation is even going to sit up and take notice!

Paul was longing to see his spiritual children in Thessalonica and says in I Thessalonians 2:19-20: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.” His spiritual children were his glory and joy--his inheritance! Paul rejoiced like a winner receiving a garland of victory (crown) at the games when he thought of his spiritual children and grandchildren that he would present to Christ.

I carry photos of my children and grandchildren in my wallet. They are my joy and my posterity! When I look at them, I know I had a part in their being on this earth. Our spiritual sons, daughters and grandchildren are our spiritual posterity.

A spiritual legacy

Some time ago, I was in Barbados training church leaders and believers in many of the churches on the subject of spiritual parenting and cell group ministry. The day I was to leave to come back to the USA, Bill Landis, a missionary living with his family in Barbados who leads Youth With A Mission's Caribbean ministry, asked me to his home before going to the airport. Bill and his family, along with a team of leaders, spend their time training and equipping Christians to become spiritual leaders in the Caribbean. On this visit to Barbados, Bill told me some interesting history of this tiny island nation.

He explained that, years ago, many in Barbados came as slaves to the island from West Africa including the nation ofThe Gambia. Now, after receiving Christ and being trained as missionaries, Barbadians were being sent to their ancestral country ofThe Gambia to lead Muslim Gambians to Christ. With a common heritage, it was the ideal match. Then he said something that moved me deeply, "Larry, do you realize the people being reached in The Gambia are a part of your spiritual heritage? You were one of my spiritual fathers.”

As I sat on the plane returning to the United States, I was dumbfounded at the significance of Bill's words. Years ago, long before I was a pastor or a writer or a church leader, I was a young chicken farmer who led a Bible study of young people. During this time, I had become one of Bill's spiritual fathers.

Bill was now a spiritual father to those he had discipled in Barbados; and the Barbadian Christians who were now going to Africa and leading Gambians to Christ were a bit like my spiritual great grandchildren. Generations to come would receive God's promises because a chicken farmer had been obedient to God's call to disciple a bunch of teenagers more than twenty years ago. Yes, this was part of my spiritual legacy. As I pondered this reality, I was deeply moved by the Lord. It was as if I was the recipient of a large inheritance!

A sweeping revival is just around the corner. God's people need to be alert to accommodate the great harvest this will bring into the kingdom of God. Spiritual parents will need to be ready to obey His call and take these young Christians under their wings.God has called you to be a spiritual parent. The Lord wants to give you a spiritual legacy. You may not feel ready, in fact, you may feel unprepared.Nevertheless, God's call remains on your life.

Restoring the New Testament pattern

Although for the past 1700 years, much of the church of Jesus Christ has strayed from the truth of relational restoration between fathers and sons, the Lord is breathing a fresh word in our generation to His people. Rather than having the focus on meetings and buildings which promote programs to encourage the spiritual growth of believers, He is calling us back to be His family and get back to the New Testament truth of building families. Many believers are meeting house to house in small groups throughout the world because the Lord is restoring this sense of family to the body of Christ. Christians are again beginning to relive the book of Acts. They are seeing the importance of empowering and parenting the next generation.

Parachurch organizations have understood this truth for years. Organizations like the Navigators, Campus Crusade For Christ, and Youth With a Mission applied Ephesians 4:16 in their ministry operations and found that if everyone is trained, the body of Christ will expand and grow: "...the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share....” The body of Christ is meant to intricately fit together like the human body. When all members are working, the body of Christ will be healthy and grow.

Jesus wants His church to be restored to the New Testament pattern of family life. He ministered to the multitudes but focused on a few. These disciples changed the world! I believe we are living in the days of preparation and restoration. God is preparing us for the job He has for us to do. We are pressing on "to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me [us]” (Philippians 3:12 NIV). As we press on and determine to follow the pattern Jesus has set before us, He promises times of refreshing and restoration: "Repent therefore...so that times of refreshing many come from the presence of the Lord...until the times of restoration of all things...” (Acts 3:19,21).

New wine for new wineskins

In the early 1970's, a group of young people (mostly 16-22 year olds) and myself started a friendship-evangelism ministry in our area. God laid a burden on our hearts for the unchurched youth in a neighboring community, and we were up for the challenge. We wanted to make a difference in the world we lived in and show the love of Jesus to those who rarely heard His name except in a profane utterance.Through one-on-one friendship evangelism utilizing clubs and coffeehouses, the fruits of our labor paid off. Many young people came to Christ.

Although we tried for a very long time to get these young people involved in our local churches, it just was not working. The existing churches were not flexible enough for these new Christians. Why? New Christians need new structures in which to grow. Jesus said, "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Luke 5:37-38). The new Christians were like new wine, still in the process of fermentation. When put in old wineskins (existing church structures), they were not compatible.

Of course, we did not know about the truth of new wine and new wineskins then. But God was faithful. We opened up our home to "father and mother” these kids, and soon young people were crowded in our living room every week. From these inauspicious beginnings, small groups were birthed. As we broke down into small groups to train these kids, we were preparing them for the next generation of believers. It was hard work and required commitment, but it was worth it to see them grow in God and reach others.

Today, I have the privilege of serving as the International Director of a worldwide family of churches that had its beginnings through this small group ministry.

Thirsting for new wine

I believe the Lord is preparing to pour out His Spirit and bring revival to the church in these last days. There will be a greater awakening to the things of God in our communities, and multiplied thousands will be drawn into the kingdom of God. When the Lord pours out this new wine, we must have the new wineskins prepared or we will lose the harvest. The new wineskins (church structures) of the early church were simplistic: people met from house to house.

Down through history, there are those who duplicated this working method of the early church with positive results. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, set up thousands of "class meetings” where people met in homes to grow in God during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He once made the comment, "More has happened in people's lives in close fellowship than in ten years of public preaching.”

In the twentieth century, David Yonggi Cho from Korea, and now the pastor of the world's largest church in Seoul, also followed the New Testament's church's example of small groups. I believe our Lord's strategy to prepare for the harvest is still the same--He wants to use common ordinary believers who have encountered an extraordinary God to meet together as spiritual families from house to house to disciple and train, preparing for the harvest.

Many Christians today are thirsting for this great influx of new wine--new believers pouring into His kingdom. God is placing a desire within spiritual fathers and mothers to welcome these believers into the kingdom and then train them as spiritual sons and daughters. Small groups provide an ideal structure for this kind of training. The cell group is meant to be a spiritual family with the leaders and other spiritual moms and dads in the group taking responsibility to train the spiritual children. The purpose of a small group is to develop and produce mature Christians. When a young man and woman come together at the church altar to be married, there is an expectation that they will eventually have children. The same principle applies to spiritual families. When people are in love with Jesus and with each other, spiritual children are the result. The expectation, of course, is that these children will eventually grow up and reproduce on their own. Mature believers will parent spiritual children. Eventually the children grow up and start their own families.

Although cell groups, Bible study groups and other small groups are wonderful wineskins for spiritual parenting, the small groups in themselves are not the answer. In other words, it is not the structure itself that is significant, but the relationships occurring within its per-imeters. If the people in the small groups do not practice spiritual parenting, they can find their groups quickly becoming as boring and as lifeless as any other structure. The life comes in the active father-son and mother-daughter relationships taking place within the group.

The need of the hour

Many churches are waking up to the need of the hour. They are providing small groups where relationships can be nurtured and people can grow spiritually. In the small groups, people pray together and focus on reaching others for Christ. The believers practice hospitality in their homes and know one another as real people. Each believer assumes the responsibility to help a younger Christian grow in his new life in Christ as they meet together for prayer, Bible study, and to discuss questions about life. Real spiritual parenting happens when believers are either being discipled or discipling others. This forces "consumers” or "former spectators” to become active spiritual parents.

In his book, The Vanguard Leader, Frank Damazio emphasizes this point, "Religious consumerism tempts the church to direct its energy to satisfy the expectations of members as if they were simply consumers. Rather, the church should focus its energy on accomplishing God's primary purpose: developing mature believers and reaching the world with the gospel.” 1

Every saint can parent

My friend Jim Pesce started a new church, Harvest Family Community Church, in Keswick, Ontario in 1996. Jim and his wife Deb are committed to practicing the principles of spiritual fathering and mothering. More than 84% of the members in their church are new believers who have come to Christ since their church started. Already they have ten cell (family) groups for spiritual parenting. Jim and Deb are dedicated to mentoring them so these "children” can go on to parent others. Their personal insights here show us how they started from the ground up to train new believers to be spiritual parents:

My wife Deb and I have discovered that it is those people we fathered that are the ones who go on with the Lord in devotion and ministry as we multiplied ourselves through them. So, at the start of our new church, Deb and I spent most of our time with about six newly saved couples. We not only ministered as a team but chose to spend free time together having fun. This is important. Most new Christians need more care and support than instruction.

We've also discovered that the ones we brought to Christ are the closest to us. They have our "spiritual DNA,” they share our vision and our hearts and have our full trust. Because we are like family, there is much room for acceptance, correction, and patience to cover the many offenses we cause one another. They need to know that we will be with them over the long haul and accept them with all their flaws and sins. We love them for who they are, not for what they can accomplish for us.

We believe in them! Only byspending time with others can they "catch our spirit.” Our passions become theirs as they walk with us in ministry situations.

The greatest struggle we face in fathering is choosing to say "no” to the many other demanding voices that would keep us from choosing to spend quality time with those special few we are fathering. Busyness is the destroyer of spiritual parenting.

In the last four years of mentoring ministry, we multiplied our cells, and today have 22 people capable of leading and growing cells. This shows the power of mentoring considering the fact that we started from scratch with almost all new Christians.

Just as their name contains it--Harvest Family Community Church is a spiritual family that consists of spiritual parents and children. They have discovered that every saint is called to parent as they grow to spiritual maturity.

Omar and Pat Beiler, serving for the past seven years as missionaries to Austria, are a couple that grew an existing church by mentoring several young people from the university in Vienna. This small Bible study group expanded as the Beilers became spiritual parents to the subsequent young believers. Four years after starting the small group ministry, they invited me to conduct a training seminar for them. I was amazed! They had 400 people attending 36 small spiritual family groups scattered throughout their city. There were 75 young leaders attending the seminar who were already producing spiritual children of their own. This church, that has focused on spiritual parenting, had become the largest free church in the history of the nation of Austria since the days of the Reformation, all within four years!

The timing of God for fathering

As long as the earth remains, Genesis 8:22 tells us, there will be seasons. Life is filled with seasons of time. I would never think to swim in a lake during our cold Pennsylvanian wintertime. It is simply the wrong season to do it. Likewise, in the summertime, my snow shovel is put away. I don't need it until the winter season.

Timing is paramount. Jesus worked in his father's carpentry shop until the time appointed by the heavenly Father for Him to begin His public ministry. Jesus infuriated the religious leaders of His day by His claims of deity, and they wanted to kill him immediately. But "...his time had not yet come” (John 7:30 NIV) and Jesus continued to preach until the time came for Him to leave this world (John 13:1). Abraham looked expectantly for a city designed and built by God, but lived in a tent like a mere visitor because the timing for God's promise was not right. Moses missed the timing of God by 40 years when he killed an Egyptian. But God gave him another chance, and the timing was right 40 years later when the Lord called him at the burning bush to lead his people out of bondage.

God's timing to becoming a spiritual parent is paramount. His timetable or schedule is much better than ours. He is much more concerned about the process than the end result. God sees a beautiful diamond in each one of us, but He has to cut out those impurities in our lives to make us sparkle (to look like Jesus). The junk in our lives must go before Jesus can shape us. Whatever the Lord can find in our lives that does not look like Jesus must go.

Becoming more like Jesus is a journey, not a destination. Over time and a sometimes bumpy road, we will see results. God will use us in our time of preparation. We need to make sure we have oil in our lamps like the ten virgins in Matthew 25. We need to be faithful to what God sets before us.

The Lord is patient with us during our preparation time. When I came to the Lord as an eighteen-year-old young man, I spent time memorizing scripture because I believed it would prepare me for a future time. As a young married couple, my wife and I were missionaries to needy people in South Carolina for one year. This time of preparation was invaluable as we learned to practice compassion and servanthood firsthand. Later, as a pastor of a church , I was being prepared even then for my present role as an overseer of a team of spiritual fathers and mothers who serve church leaders of an international family of churches scattered across five continents.

I love to hold my grandchildren in my arms and look into their tiny faces gazing back at me. I am part of their biological inheritance, but what will their spiritual inheritance be? I believe they will experience that flow of generational blessing and inheritance from parents to children. By God's grace, they will develop spiritually as both their natural and spiritual fathers and mothers take the time to mentor them. God's desire is for the heart of the fathers to turn toward the children. Only then will we see a rich inheritance handed down.

In the next chapter, let's look at some practical ways we can develop spiritual parenting relationships so we can pass on an enduring legacy and inheritance.

Notes

1 Frank Damazio, The Vanguard Leader, (Portland, Oregon: Bible Temple Publishing, 1994), p. 135.

Остання зміна: четвер 9 серпня 2018 13:04 PM