Room to Grow
- Brittany Ulman
- Mar 21
- 3 min read
“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of Him, two by two into every town where He Himself was about to go.” Luke 10:1 ESV
Have you ever noticed how often Jesus gave His disciples space to lead and practice what He had taught them? They, in turn, did the same with disciple-able people they encountered, as did Paul, his letters rife with leaders he launched.
As older siblings, we are called to equip the next generation to be multiplying disciples. Therefore, we must give them the space to lead and practice what the Father is teaching them.
How are they to know how to lead unless given opportunities to lead? How are they to know and exercise their spiritual gifts unless they are given space to do so?
Jesus knew mere head knowledge alone would not be enough for the disciples. They needed to live out what He had taught and modeled. His mission was not to develop hearers or even speakers of the Word only, but doers of the Word. And in order to do, one must have space to move. How else would they continue the movement He created?
One of the greatest gifts God has given me is leaders who have created space for me to mature in my faith and try new things. Even though I was still a relatively new believer, my pastor asked me to lead our church’s Wednesday evening Bible study while he was away. My mentor, Sue, did something similar when she asked me to teach her Bible study, which was full of women 50+ years my senior. Jeff Kephart, Director for the Missionary Church East Central Region, has also given me a seat at the table in many ways, one being to serve on the ECR Reproduce Team.
In each of these scenarios, I felt drastically unqualified, but the experiences allowed me to see it’s not about whether I see myself as qualified but God as sufficient. They also allowed me
chances to submit to God’s authority, witness Him move and increased my trust in Him to embrace other opportunities.
Like Jesus and the early Church, these people gave me room to grow and helped me along the way. They didn’t micromanage me or force me to fit into a mold, but instead coached me and
allowed me to spread my wings. In other words, they set the stage and let God do His work in and through me.
As older siblings, we are called to equip the next generation to be multiplying disciples. Therefore, we must give them the space to lead and practice what the Father is teaching them.
I have tried to continue this with the next generation. For example, last year I invited my Sunday School students to teach. So far 2 have done so (one asking to teach again already) and 1 will soon. Sharing Jesus with others grows your faith in a special way, and I am excited these youth are eager to experience that.
This principle is even more crucial for this generation because many of them fear failure more than the older generations, for many reasons but namely the increased pressure for perfection.
Like we did at their age, they need space to grow. They also need to know it’s okay to fail. But to get to that place, they need the space. We have been tasked with not just raising up the next generation, but equipping them to launch. Let’s give them the room and watch God spread their wings.
References:
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
コメント