By Benton Heisler, West Michigan Conference Director of Connectional Ministries
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| Benton Heisler |
The marketplace is flooded with pleas to eat, wear, give, go, tell in a card —all as expressions of love.
Valentines Day invites us to be certain to demonstrate in every way possible our love toward those most dear to us.
John Maxwell in his book, The 21 Laws of Leadership, lists ‘The law of Legacy’ as number 21.
I once heard him teach about these “laws” and their biblical examples and he emphasized that Jesus was the greatest example of this law.
The Church is the steward/trustee of this legacy of love.
Jesus commissioned us in Matthew 28 to fulfill this legacy when he said: “Go and make disciples in my name…”
It meant, “Go and teach of how God’s love is for all God’s people…all the world.”
“Go and tell them their sin is forgiven.”
“Go and demonstrate this love in your actions to feed, clothe, visit, cast out demons, work for justice and heal relationships.”
At their sessions this spring the West Michigan and Detroit Conferences will focus on ways to implement this legacy of love as we continue to discover ways to be in ministry with the poor.
Leadership in both conferences is also collaborating on a pilot initiative designed to help our congregations be more vital, healthy, and fruitful. We believe this initiative has the potential to foster important transformation in patterns of growth and effectiveness.
Some congregations will be able to make the necessary changes that will contribute to their growth or at least lessen their rate of decline. Others may come to the difficult point of determining that their season of serving may be at an end.
My desire is they will be led by God to discover the process and make the decisions that will help them either move forward in confidence or end with hope as they recognize the legacy their congregation leaves behind and contribute to ministry in other settings which move forward as God does a “new thing”.
This past Christmas I shared two Heisler family heirlooms with our daughters. They are the sixth generation to hold them in trust.
The 1800’s farmer and his wife who carried these two watches in the pockets of their vest and dress have long since passed away. There has been a significant change in the family’s vocations over time.
None of their descendents farm any longer. Among my relatives across these six generations there have been school teachers, college professors, nurses, a doctor, a lawyer, musicians, home schooling mothers, a jet propulsion scientist, artists, an automotive engineer, an electrician, a carpenter, a pastor and a librarian.
All of these persons have continued the legacy of Christian faith and found ways to express the love of God in the world.
I hold great hope for the Church.
I know it cannot look the same as it did when family chapels dotted the countryside and the circuit rider arrived on a horse.
But I do believe the Church, you and I, are able to become the next generation in Christ’s legacy as we share the Gospel in new spaces, with new faces and in new ways. As the hymn writer puts it; “I love to tell the story, will be my theme in glory, to tell the old old story, of Jesus and His love.”
With whom will you share the legacy of this eternal message of love?
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