To Pass or Not to Pass the Baton

I only met Jeff Myers one time, but it was a memorable meeting. I came away from that meeting impressed with a man whose heart was passionate about passing the legacy of faith from one generation to another. In his book, Handoff, Jeff expresses his concerns about the failure of the boomer generation passing the baton to the next. He writes, “In every significant social institution—the church, the government, commerce and the family—the current generation of leaders is failing to pass the baton of leadership to the next generation.”

I am also privileged to have the acquaintance of another dear friend who is the founder and president of A Chosen Generation. Chuck Stecker believes we should not be passing the baton. He suggest we keep it because we should still be running our leg of the race. In his opinion, passing the baton has become an excuse for older generations to drop out of the race altogether and sit on the sidelines.

So who’s right? They are both right. Jeff uses the pass the baton analogy for the process of intentional mentoring and discipleship. Chuck is addressing the misunderstanding of the baton analogy to emphasize the importance of staying in the race and finishing well. Both are committed to sharing the same message through opposite applications of the same illustration: we must resolve to engage inter-generationally to build the kingdom of God by training the next generations to know and walk in the truth.

Unfortunately we are not doing a bang up job of training the next generations, partly because we are more content to live segregated than connected. Jeff Myers is right when he describes this problem and the resulting tragedies that often result. “This is not a failure of institutions. It is a failure of community: a disconnect between generations, a lack of communication, a smoldering resentment, and a popular culture that stokes the fire.”

The reality is that someone will train our children, youth and young adults. Chuck Stecker believes that is why we must not pass the baton until the race is over. Parents, grandparents and the entire church family are responsible for training and preparing our children for adulthood and the ongoing process of maturation. If we don’t do it, who will…and are we willing to accept the consequences?

Let me hear from you. How do we effectively ‘pass the baton’ to the next generations without leaving the race ourselves? Do you think the older generations in our culture today have abandoned their responsibility to actively engage and disciple the next generations? Why or why not?