3 Things My Generation Longs For...

I had the privilege of having lunch with Gary Cox today. Gary pastors First Christian Church in downtown Fort Myers, FL. I came into the meeting excited to be able to ask questions of a guy who has been in the area doing what I'm doing for more than 18 years. I consider Gary a mentor and a friend.

I went right at him with questions and he gave some incredible responses about how he is different from 5 years ago, lessons he's learned in leadership and pastoring, raising up & sending out leaders, and lessons he's learning in vision casting on a local church level! Amazing stuff. Maybe I'll blog about it in more detail soon...

After more than an hour of answering my questions, Gary asked me, "What would you, a 32 year old pastor, say to me, a 50 year old pastor, if you could?" (Which was amazing to me by the way.) I knew my responses would have to do with my generation as a whole, and not just me personally... I said 3 things which led us into the 2nd hour of our conversation together:

1. "My generation is desperate for your generation to believe in us." B/c of the abandonment issues we face, generationally, we are longing for members of our parent's generation to believe in us! We desperately long to know that you believe in us. That you believe we can do what you do. That you believe that what we do has value and is recognized as worth-while. I believe that is huge for my generation.

2. "My generation is desperate for a chance to play." Don't just tell us you think we CAN play, actually pass us the ball. Nothing speaks louder of your belief than when you give us a chance to play. The following is an excerpt from a book that has made a profound impact on my vision for the local church:

"Most young Davids within the Christian world start with an innocent heart before God and a trusting attitude toward churches. But when they discover cumbersome systems and unnecessary processes that don't contribute to effective ministry, these disillusioned Davids quickly decide they can do more elsewhere. Therefore, our local churches may unnecessarily be losing some of our brightest and best future leaders."

I cannot even begin to tell you how that paragraph above has shaped who I am as a leader. I want so desperately to be a believer in "young Davids." If I can impart nothing else, to the leaders at NLC, I want to impart belief. John Maxwell calls leaders, "Dealers in Hope." Man, I want to be that! May it be said of me one day, that "Matt Keller sure did believe in the leaders God placed around him."

3. "More than principles, we just want access to the Real you!" I can't even begin to tell you the value that was added to me today just by getting a chance to sit for 2 hours and watch Gary Cox tell stories, and reflect on lessons he has learned. Seeing experience in his eyes, and watching the way he processed through life-experiences was just flat out compelling! I think my generation would love to have access to leaders who are where we dream of going. I think that's why I have such an "open door" policy when it comes to Church Planters. I'll schedule time with any church planter who genuinely wants to pick our brain. There's no sacrifice I won't make for them. B/c that's what I longed for 5 1/2 years ago when we were just starting out. Gary gave me access today, and I'm so thankful for it!

By the way, he picked up the check... which is just dead wrong!

I am the richer (& so is our church) b/c Gary Cox gave me access to him, for real, for 2 hours.

Thanks Gary for a great lunch, (like Gary even knows I have a blog!!!)

Matt