Leadership is about the next generation

August 2019

Leadership is about the next generation...

It’s a ‘season of stretch’ for Elim, according to General Superintendent Chris Cartwright, as he leads us into the 2020 vision.

For Elim 2019 is a year of alignment – we are about to enter a season of stretch from 2020 and beyond, but if we are to see God continue to move in power through this next season, we must enter aligned, as one movement, with one mission and as one generation.

Yes, we are one movement, we have one mission, but the central phrase is that we are called as one generation. God wants to do something through this generation; he is a generational God. God has never rescinded the promise to pour out his Spirit and accelerate his purposes through ordinary people. We are playing catch-up with the Holy Spirit as he brings a greater revelation of what he is about to do.

Simon Sinek says, “Leadership is not about the next election... it is about the next generation.” God’s view is not on our immediate concerns and vision for where we are, God is seeking a generation to rise up and partner with how he is pouring out his power and Spirit across the nations.

In Acts 13 there is a moment in time, in the genesis of the Church, where we see the Christians being sent out from Antioch to pioneer new ground. They set out on a journey led by the Holy Spirit. Paul and Barnabas visit Lystra and begin to tell an intentional story of heritage, telling of how the forefathers of their nation had been used, raised and equipped by God.

What Paul was doing as he was on the move was urging people to understand this imperative message and join in with the mission of the Church, the mission of the heart of God. Paul was part of a move where Jesus commissioned ordinary men and women to go out and reach the nations.

Jesus calls real people, in real places and promises to adventure with them and change them as they go. Paul was part of a group of people which would change the world in an ongoing way of releasing kingdom, glory and grace.

It is possible for God to move in one generation – to change everything. It is God’s way. God – on the move with Paul and Barnabas – begins to give them an urgent message and mission to the Gentiles because he knows once they get to the nations, they will never go back to a smaller story. In this process, Paul begins to put the spotlight on David, saying, “When David had fulfilled the purposes of God in his generation, he slept.”

David was called the man after God’s own heart. Why is it important that Paul speaks of David as he is reaching people? David was only able to fulfil the purposes of God in his generation because above everything he was a worshipper. David didn’t just do his bit, he accomplished everything God had for him.

I wonder what it would be for Elim to accomplish everything God wants us to accomplish. This is not just an individual call, it’s a collective calling – may Elim be spoken of as a generation that fulfilled the purposes of God.

We need to understand generations like never before, we must understand God’s heart for them. Generations matter to God, they are his idea and God moves through them. They are all about life; the word comes from genesis; it’s about passing on the promise of life and new life being birthed into the future.

Jesus is longing for this generation to pass on the genetics of heaven into the future, to birth life into the next one! There is a shift going on, we will not allow our children to drift into unbelief on our watch. This is a season right now which needs obedient people who will move the heart and purpose of God.

My consistent prayer is that this next generation would be reached and God’s will shall be fully fulfilled. There is a whole group of people in our communities who do not understand the genetic story and they don’t have the love of Jesus – there is an urgency which is being birthed.

It is not enough for us to preserve things as we have known them, but God is calling us to move forward courageously as a Spirit-empowered movement, aligning our leaders and churches to one purpose, to change the spiritual landscape wherever we are. Every generation deserves to know Jesus for themselves.