By: Denny

No doubt we’ve all seen running relay races. There are 4 runners on a team competing against other teams. The race is run on an oval track in 4 stages called legs with each runner traversing the same distance, which is usually one lap. The first runner starts off running the first lap carrying the baton. The baton is a short stick-like object which they must carry the whole distance around the track and pass it off to the next runner, who will be  waiting to receive it before they can begin their leg of the race. The transition, passing off the baton, is critical and the timing must be perfect and without a hitch. The way this is accomplished is as the runner carrying the baton approaches the end of their leg, the next runner starts running beside them to match their speed. Without looking back they run with their receiving arm behind them and an open hand. The runner passing the baton places it in their hand and releases it as the next runner simultaneously grabs it and takes off on the next leg. The process is repeated with each successive runner. The last runner finishes the race for the team. The coach has a strategy as to what runners they position in each of  the 4 legs. They would put the runner who has the ability to get out in the lead quickly, to start the race. The two middle runners must have the stamina to continue and even increase their pace. The last runner must likewise pace themselves reserving enough energy to pour it on towards the finish in order to win the race. I don’t claim to be an expert and know all the rules of relay races, but I’m able to make some general observations. The baton, though just a stick, represents the team as a whole. Each member of the team is responsible for carrying it while it is in their possession. It doesn’t belong to just one person who runs the entire race by themselves. Once the race starts, they don’t lollygag around the track. They run with focused purpose. There is a time for releasing it and a time to grab the baton. The start/finish line marks that spot during the race where it must be passed. The runner isn’t supposed to keep the baton beyond their appointed leg. Once passed, the race is over for that runner, and they cheer on the next runner. The baton must not be dropped while carrying it or during the transitioning from one runner to the next. To do so could cost precious time, causing the team to lose the race. If a runner does drop it, they quickly pick it up and get back in the race. They don’t quit and walk off the track. To do so would deprive the other remaining runners of their opportunity to do their part and would nullify the efforts made by the previous runners. The other team members don’t criticize them either, realizing it could happen to them also. Though encouraged by the fans in the bleachers, a runner’s motivation isn’t to please them, but only to do their part for the team and the satisfaction of knowing they have given their best.

Our pastors, Will and Joyce, having given their best, passed the baton last Sunday to the next runner, Assistant Pastors Adam and Katie. Will and Joyce didn’t start the church, but have been running faithfully for the last 35 years carrying the baton that was placed in their hands. They knew their leg of the race was coming to an end and expressed it many times in previous years. Every pastor has been given their own specific calling with the corresponding anointing to fulfill it. Some pastors may start a church, some pastors bring growth and increase, while others run with a burst of energy in their leg. That burst of energy usually involves and requires a change of pace, which can be uncomfortable for some in the congregation. Pastor Adam has been running alongside and keeping pace with Will for the last few years, so when it became his time for the baton to be placed in his hand, he was prepared and ready to grab and run with “It” (IT being the church). I have never witnessed a smoother transition of leadership passing the baton than what took place in our church. On Saturday, two receptions, one public and one by invitation, were given for Will and Joyce on their passing off the baton. It was a time of rejoicing and yet sorrow as tears were shed on both accounts. There was nary a dry eye in the Sunday service as Will preached and said goodbye. They think or say they are retiring, which in a sense they are. They are no longer pastors. As true followers of Christ, do any of us really retire. Oh, we may leave a job we’ve had for years, but in our serving the Lord we move from one phase to the next, releasing one and picking up the next baton he places in our hand. We are wise to recognize when one phase ends and another begins, Will and Joyce have done that. During our lives of serving Jesus and His Church, we may receive or pass on several batons, while running on different tracks, different races, different paces, with different teammates. One of the most touching moments for me was when Will stood before the congregation and told us that he no longer was to be called Pastor Will, but simply friend. Jesus told his disciples (John 15:15) “I now call you friend.” To me that expresses a closer relationship beyond Master or Pastor. Going a step further, Will pointed to Adam and Katie saying, “These two are your pastors now, and you will address them as Pastor Adam and Katie.” He called everyone there to hold him accountable for ever meddling in the church going forward, which he promised never, never, never to do. He also gave a strict exhortation to those who would come to him with any criticism or complaint against the church or the new pastors, whether right or wrong, he didn’t want to hear about it and would always side with Pastors Adam and Katie. Talk about a clean baton pass and release not many other pastors would be willing to do, thereby proving himself to be the man of integrity we’ve known him to be, and who we love and respect.

In my lifetime I have received and passed some batons, but none in a running relay race. If you have read any of my previous blog writings, you know that I have retired from a 50-year career of truck driving. My father was a truck driver and together we were a two-man team for two years when I first started. He passed on to me the baton of his years of knowledge and experience in driving and released me to run with it on my own, which I did. Sadly, I wasn’t able to pass it on to my two sons because trucking wasn’t their thing, and that’s okay. However, they were raised in the instruction and fear of God founded on Biblical truths. That was the baton I passed on to them. Nobody can literally pass their own personal faith baton to another. We can point them in the right direction, but each person must discover, and come to their own faith, and run with it. My wife and I were called to and did Children’s Church for many years and carried that baton with us to the churches we attended. We came to a point that we recognized that both our age and methods were obstacles that hindered us from reaching a generation raised in a digital world. We had to release and pass the baton to those who God was calling to grab and run with it, and get out of the way. One of the things that causes a church to remain static and hinders it from moving forward, is when someone claims possession and ownership of a ministry, position, or function that they’ve held forever. Just as tragic is when people try to grab a baton that hasn’t been extended to them, and which they aren’t called and/or qualified to receive. The Bible records a few such instances as examples for us.

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were Levites. God had appointed the Levites alone to carry the Ark of the Covenant and do the work of the tabernacle. Similarly, Aaron and his sons were appointed by God to minister exclusively as priests before the Lord in offering sacrifices in the Holy Place. Korah and his buddies rebelled against Moses and his authority presuming they could also be priests. They were trying to grab a baton that was not meant for them, and the earth opened up and swallowed them, their families, and all their belongings alive and they perished. (Numbers 16) God handed the baton to Moses choosing him to deliver His people from their bondage in Egypt. Joshua ran alongside Moses and received the baton to lead them into the promised land.  God stripped the baton from King Saul because he was not faithful in carrying it, and gave it to David who was. Even though David dropped the baton several times, he picked it up and got back in the race. The Apostle Paul, in writing 2 Timothy, states that the leg of the race he has run is near completion and he exhorts and encourages Timothy to get ready to receive the baton from him. Jesus knew that the purpose He was sent on earth to accomplish was nearing fulfillment. He had hand-picked the twelve who ran alongside Him, and now eleven would be receiving the baton. Judas disqualified himself and left the race through his betrayal of Jesus. It is God’s desire that the baton be passed smoothly and not dropped, whether it comes directly from Him or passed from one person to another person. May we never become baton twirlers who do all kinds of acrobatics playing with their batons out in front and drawing attention to themselves as if leading a parade. Neither should we be like a maestro who conducts and directs an orchestra with his baton, controlling every movement and never letting go of it. Let us be found to be good stewards of what He’s handed us and run our leg of the race with all diligence, receiving the prize that awaits all who do. For some, and you know who you are, it may be time for you to stop being just a fan in the bleachers and get in the race. God has a leg for you to run and baton for you to carry, but it begins with you getting up to speed and running alongside Him. Perhaps you’ve dropped the baton so many times, and the devil is telling you to just leave the race. Not only is he shouting that you’re not good enough, but he criticizes and accuses you before God. The reply to him from God is the same as what Will said, “I don’t even want to hear about it!” It’s encouraging to know that our Father always sides with His children. Are you His? Remember this, It’s not so important that we finish first, but that we finish right. Are you right, with God? Don’t linger, because this could be one thing you will regret later if you drop the baton of opportunity He’s extending to you today.