Next ‘09 | Men Considering Ministry

“For (the Apostle Paul), gospel-centered meant gospel transfer.” –Dave Harvey

“I can very much relate to the description of Timothy: humanly speaking, hopelessly unfit.  I need a t-shirt with that on there…What God calls you to, God will give you the grace and the strength to carry it out.” –Jared Mellinger

Unlike the other sessions, this breakout told a story.  This story was about a man passing on the baton to the next generation.  You could almost say this was the goal of the Next Conference being played out in the Church.  One generation gives wisdom and trains the younger generation to hold fast the gospel.  When the time comes, the younger generation steps up and continues the work of the Church, to preach the gospel in all the nations and to endure until the Lord’s return.

Dave Harvey and Jared Mellinger spoke before a relatively small crowd (compared to the main sessions) about a major transition in their Philadelphia church.  In October of last year, Dave Harvey stepped down after pastoring the congregation for nearly two decades and handed off the senior pastor position to 28-year-old Jared Mellinger.  Like when C.J. Mahaney transfered his responsibilities at Covenant Life Church to Josh Harris, this story was not about giving the job to the wisest or the most experienced man on the staff.  Covenant Fellowship Church’s pastoral staff has many people older and more experienced than Mellinger.  But the priority in this transfer, as Dave Harvey noted, was to make sure that the gospel would move forward, that Covenant Fellowship “would not be a one-generation church.”

And this passion for equipping the next generation for the gospel is one of the main aspects to pastoral ministry.    “Descendants will serve Him,” David writes in Psalm 22:30-31, ” the next generation will be told about the Lord.  They will come and tell a people yet to be born about His righteousness–what he has done.”  This desire to tell others about the Lord reveals your passion for the gospel itself.  Gospel transfer means ensuring the Great Commission will continue long after you are dead.  After all, the Apostles’ faithfulness to evangelize and transfer the gospel to their next generation ensured that two thousand years later, we in a distant land would learn of the Good News of the Savior.

With that in mind, Harvey gave five things to consider when you consider a call to Pastoral Ministry or a giant role in the local church:

1) Study and delight in the gospel
2) Be honest about your desires - you must tell others about what you feel God’s called you to and with yourself, that you are not seeking the pastor’s role for Man’s praise.
3) Interpret your desires for impact as a call to cultivate faithfulness – learn from the parable in Luke 16:1-10, that whoever is faithful in little is faithful in much. Be faithful with whatever you do.
4) Make sure you have a place for your burdens – ask for help and guidance.
5) Remember that vision is defined through service.

I had the chance to encourage Dave Harvey briefly after the session. While it was good to build him up in faith with those two verses in Psalm 22, he built me up by a single comment: “It is encouraging to see you use God’s Word in that way.” The Word of the Lord will help you build up your younger leaders in the church. It is the ultimate guidebook for anyone who feels hopelessly inadequate, humanly speaking.