So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well. (2 Timothy 2:2 NET)
Sick and…
Today I grew officially tired of answering questions. Sometimes it seems as if that’s all I do. (That sound you hear is the dry snort of commiseration from parents and teachers everywhere.) In the midst of answering yet another query, my e-mail in-box dinged. I clicked over, grateful for an excuse to stop writing yet another answer.
Only this note wasn’t an additional question. It was an invitation to a memorial service for Roy Zuck. Dr. Zuck helped me found the first higher education extension that I led. Thinking for a moment on his life and incredible work led to considerations of his entire generation of Christian leaders. Richard MacAfee, Sumner & Celeste Wemp, John Reed, Stan & Max Toussaint, Dwight Pentecost, Jim & Ruth Pryor, Howard Hendricks, Don Campbell, John Stott, Neil & Joanna Ashcraft, John Corts, Bob Lightner, Wendell & Martha Johnston, Bob & Bill McKenzie, Jonathan Garnett – each of these wonderful people invested in me, some of them heavily. No doubt I am forgetting to list some of this remarkable generation who blessed me, an oversight for which I deeply apologize in advance. Yet despite any oversight, the powerful point remains: there exists a large group of wise people who worked hard to help me grow up in Christ.
They answered my questions – thousands of questions! They cared for this young pup who didn’t know a thing, who wasn’t even born when most of these saints already had more than 20 years of great ministry under their belts. They reached across the generations and shepherded my soul. Many taught me. Some chastised and corrected me. Others supplied funds for my education and enterprises. A few were mentors of a very intentional nature. Most importantly, they taught me to lead by following Jesus and expounding His fantastic scripture.
The Glory of Their Times
Roy Zuck was actually one of the ones with whom I interacted the least. Yet his passing coupled with the recent departure of Prof Hendricks hit me hard. I felt the separation Lawrence Richards described – a sense of loss that propelled Larry to write the greatest baseball book ever penned, The Glory of Their Times. (Read it!) I don’t have time to write the histories of these precious leaders, though they were (and those living still are!) the glory of their times. I hope one of you does write that book.
I do, however, have time to continue their legacy. I have time to pay forward their remarkable gifts to me. I have time to happily answer more questions.
God bless,
Wayne