Lead in Light of Eternity: The Jesus Model by Dr. Stacy T. Rinehart is a book that I firmly believe will challenge and prepare every faithful older Christian to take up the baton of mentoring the younger generation to build up the Kingdom of God.
Throughout the generations of the church, God’s Kingdom has looked a bit like a relay race, with each generation passing on the baton to the next by mentoring, handing down the teachings of the Bible, and training a new wave of leaders to guide the church with the mind and priorities of Christ. In this relay race, Jesus is our model for mentoring and discipleship. He prescribes our method; he defines our mission; and he inspires our faithful action.
Like Paul mentored Timothy, and Timothy was to pass on the experience and insight he had gained from Paul to the faithful men and women in his day, so we are called to lead in this generation. This process is the way that God has chosen to communicate the gospel and reach everyone with the truth of salvation.
Dr. Rinehart’s book will open your eyes to the importance of this leadership role that God has given us. But, the first hurdle we need to overcome in fulfilling our responsibility is dealing with our own self-doubt, especially in light of our past mistakes. In the first chapter of Dr. Rinehart’s book, he offers his rafting experience in the Grand Canyon as an analogy to how we should let Jesus inspire and motivate us. He writes:
“Leadership in the kingdom of God is much like this raft trip. It’s the big-picture view that will keep us moving forward, facing the rapids of opposition or sinful pride or our own nagging sense of inadequacy. Without perspective, we may not be able to get down that river well – or guide and shepherd others.”
He then lays out how leadership in the church differs from leadership in human affairs. We lead with eternity in mind, he writes, while the world around us is interested only in the here and now and reflects a leadership style that is altogether finite in its scope. The corporate CEO, for example, is interested in profits for the current quarter and maybe for the coming year; the leader in Christ, however, is working toward expending this short life for building up treasures in Heaven and receiving Jesus’ approving words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
“Each of us will have only one audit before Jesus – this is the final audit,” writes Rinehart. “Leading in light of eternity is leading with this in mind. The destination is clear. The fact that Jesus will audit me orients how I lead, live, and minister in this life. It informs me of what I value as a leader, how I spend my time, and what is acceptable for me to do or not do.”
Rinehart reminds us that our flesh, our sinful nature, will always contend against us and try to disrupt these heavenly minded goals. True leadership calls us to be ever vigilant against the flesh’s tendency to creep into our affairs and shift our focus away from what really matters. By being open to the continual transformation of our character in Christ, we can ensure that our ministry does not become contaminated with our own values and heart issues that lead to failure. Rather than building our own empires under our own control with elite leaders, it’s imperative that we learn to build up the kingdom of God through grace in a collaboration with others. This, as Rinehart defines it, is leading from the inside out – leading from a heart transformed by Christ and a walk that’s in step with the Spirit of God.
Rinehart asks us to imagine what our response would be if we had just one day remaining to live. If we choose to take on Jesus’ burden, then we can say our focus has indeed come under the reign of God. We would find ourselves interested only in glorifying God and developing leaders who will carry on the work that Jesus first gave to his disciples. We would find ourselves finishing our leg of the relay race in a way that honors the King.
In the book’s final chapter, Dr. Rinehart expounds on the seven goals of kingdom leaders: success redefined; upside-down leaders required; evaluation criteria clarified; eternal reward system revealed; multiplying leaders modeled; focus action mandated; and no exemptions. In summarizing each point, he brings his work to a close by laying out the burden of Jesus’ model of leadership for anyone who heeds the call to go and make disciples of all nations. All believers are called to become both disciples and disciple-makers, but not all will commit. By reading this book, you will understand this call with greater clarity and be more prepared than ever to commit to this challenge that God has laid before everyone who calls on his name.