by Bruce Gordon
17
Being a Great Follower
If anyone serves me, he must follow me;
and where I am, there will my servant be also.
If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
JOHN 12:26
A LEADER RECENTLY SAID TO me that he was fast coming to the conclusion that the vast load of work is done by followers rather than leaders. I responded that statistics state it’s as high as 90 percent.[1]
Recently I was speaking on followership, and in my research I found that there were only 362 books on followers. On leadership, there were more than 150,000 books listed, and this number is growing as more and more articles and books are published on leading.
Yet there’s a growing disillusionment with leadership, especially in those who are younger. I hear this over and over as I travel. So what’s the problem? Jesus’ words in John 12:26 remind us that He places great value on being a good follower. In fact, one can’t be a good leader unless one is a good follower (Matthew 20:27).
I don’t think we’re good followers. It seems to be a topic that’s scarcely written on or talked about. Skillful followers are self-starters who think independently, notice and solve problems, help their directors meet goals, and deliver criticism to higher-ups when needed.
Here are five characteristics of being a great follower:
Great followers have a clear understanding of who the leader is. They know who they report to when leadership accountability channels are clear.
Great followers obey direction and don’t need to control everything. They’re able to receive directives and act on them.
Great followers are servants. God is not looking for leaders in the sense we generally think of. He’s looking for servant-hearted followers. When God finds a man or woman who is willing to be molded into His servant, the possibilities are limitless.[2]
Great followers are humble and self-reflective. They’re good listeners, willing to be transparent, and willing to admit mistakes.
Great followers are loyal. They don’t gossip or speak ill of the leader. They may not always agree with the leader, but they speak with the leader privately about any differences in opinion.
May we in the 55+ age demographic model followership and servanthood.
Questions
How would you define a follower?
Why do you think there are so many more resources for being a leader than being a follower?
During your life, has it been easier for you to be a leader or a follower? Why?
Why do you think Jesus put such importance on following well and serving others?
What can you do to be a great follower? What impact can you have as a great follower?
[1] Robert Kelley, The Power of Followership, (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1992).
[2] Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda (Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2001).
18
A Changing Retirement
They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green.
PSALM 92:14
I GREW UP ON A FARM in northern Ontario. My father’s first love was farming, but because he couldn’t make it as a full-time farmer, he worked at a local steel mill for twenty-five years. He retired from the mill to live out his passion as a farmer. My father believed that farmers never retire.
My father resisted the cultural standard of working hard for twenty-five to thirty years and then retiring so that you can really begin to enjoy life.
My father was ahead of his time when he said to me, “Bruce, retirement is changing. How you work will change, and God will use you in different ways.”
I believe that we are products of our fathers, which can be both positive and negative. In my case, I agree with what my father said about retirement. It is changing. Rather than being a time of endless entertainment, retirement can be a time of great fulfillment and productivity. This time is a training ground for heaven, and this work is good for us. I like to view retirement as a time for ministry, a time during which God will use us to bless others.
In his book Aging Matters, R. Paul Stevens reframes retirement and gives us five perspectives to consider and reflect on.[1] Let these five perspectives spark a paradigm shift within you. Instead of viewing retirement as an ending, shift your thinking so that you consider yourself beginning a grand adventure. Consider these five perspectives as you embark on your retirement journey:
Retirement can be a useful shock. It can nudge a person into self-evaluation. While adjustments must be made, sometimes these adjustments are necessary, albeit unexpected.
Retirement can be a time of spiritual personal growth.
Retirement can open great opportunities for volunteering that fit one’s gifts, talents, personality, and life experience.
Retirement can become a critical time to reevaluate one’s vocation.
Retirement can become a time of transition from aging to “saging,” a time when you use the wisdom you have gained through your life experience to help others.
Questions
How does your view of your earthly father affect your view of God your heavenly Father?
In what ways is retirement a shock? What adjustments have you made or do you need to make?
Do you know anyone who has reframed retirement by choosing an unusual path? What can you learn from their experience?
Considering your own retirement, what have you learned that might be transferable to someone younger who is coming up behind you?
What actions do you need to take in this area during the next few months?
[1] R. Paul Stevens, Aging Matters: Finding Your Calling for the Rest of Your Life (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), 16–17.
19
God’s Calling
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
PSALM 71:18
I RECENTLY HAD DINNER with an old friend. He’s an academic and consultant who has traveled the world.
Over a four-hour period, we caught up and shared stories. I listened as he talked with enthusiasm about his next assignment in South Korea. He is seventy-six. I resonated with his words and commented that he’s more called now than he ever has been.
My father taught me to love the Psalms. Psalm 71 was one of his favorites; he underlined and marked it in his Bible, which I now own.
Dad would say to me, “Christians must always be ready for the possibility that God will unexpectedly act in their lives, regardless of age, and suddenly they are again on adventure with Him.”
The Old Testament is full of these stories of God calling men and women into adventure with Him—even to old age and gray hairs. Here are five lessons we can learn from these accounts:
God intervened in unexpected ways in their lives. He still does this today.
These men and women maintained their identities with all their own strengths and weaknesses. God used them in spite of themselves.
Many of these men and women were senior in years and still active.
These men and women continued to be open to learning.
These men and women prepared for death and had trust in God. They believed that death was simply a door that they would pass through; they were not afraid of it.
Did you notice the action words in these five points? The men and women God called into adventure were active, open, and prepared. Take a lesson from their example and remember that we never retire from our God-given calling. Your calling will stay with you until God takes you to be with Him.
Questions
How do you distinguish between calling and career?
What is one area you could become involved in that would use your gifts, experience, and passion?
What can you do to be active, open, and prepared to live out t
he calling God has given you in this season of life?
20
Life’s Transitional Stages
And he is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything he might be preeminent.
COLOSSIANS 1:18
DENISE AND I ARE WIRED to be goal oriented. We have set goals as a family since our boys were in public school. It probably drove them a bit nuts as we encouraged them at the beginning of each new year to set goals for the coming year.
Our goals change throughout our lives as our experiences, abilities, and interests change and develop. Christian life coach Bobb Biehl asks us to look back and then ahead in increments of ten years.[1] Looking back can reveal things that have shaped and formed us. Then looking ahead for the next decade helps us to further develop a focus on what we want to change and to identify things that could hold us back from becoming the person we’d like to be.
Biehl provides us with a descriptor of each decade of our lives from the 20s to the 90s. I’m intrigued by his summaries and share them below, starting with the 50s. As you consider each stage of life and the goals that you might set for yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thinking so that you become more like Jesus and understand what God desires for you in each season of life.
50s—Stride. Your career is established. You may be feeling old, so you begin paying more attention to your health. This is the decade to become a mentor and to continue to have a mentor. Think about and write down the milestones that have shaped you into who you are today.
60s—Strategic. Your energy and drive begin to decrease; however, strategic thinking increases. This can be the most productive decade of your life through influence, accomplishments, and spiritual maturity.
70s—Succession. We need to give thought to estate planning and be available for significant mentoring opportunities. This can be the second most productive decade of your life. With today’s health care advancements, those who are seventy-five have as much energy as their parents did at sixty-five.
80s—Joyful Uncertainties. We experience fewer demands and less stress. We have nothing to prove and should be secure in our faith with loyal friendships established. At the same time, friends and acquaintances have increasing health issues or are dying. Our own personal health can be uncertain and there could be financial concerns.
90s—Increasing Marginalization. There is a decline of physical abilities, and heaven is frequently in our thoughts. Life goes by so quickly, and when we look back ten years, it seems like yesterday.
Colossians 1:18 gives us a great reality: Christ is supreme. May He be everything to us in our seasons of life, whatever decade we find ourselves in.
Questions
What’s the one thing you’d most like to learn in this decade of life?
What’s one thing you learned in the last decade that has most impacted who you are at this point in your life?
What do you want to have accomplished for God by the end of this decade or the next?
What Scriptures have been a particular blessing over the decades of your life?
How does this devotional help you focus on God’s best for this decade?
[1] Bobb Biehl, Decade by Decade: Life Is Surprisingly Predictable (Mount Dora, FL: Aylen Publishing, 2019).
21
You Are Strategic
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
JEREMIAH 29:11
DURING MY TEN YEARS at Campus Crusade, now called CRU, I was privileged to have one-on-one times with Dr. Bill Bright, the founder.
I remember one of those times when Bill looked at me and said, “Bruce, every soul is precious to God; however, not every Christian is strategic. Make sure your life is strategic.”
God has strategic foresight for us and His ways are perfect, even more so in our season of life. Paul writes in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Here are four thoughts on being strategic for God.
Strategic Christians know their natural strengths and also their blind spots. I am amazed at how fearfully and wonderfully made we are (Psalm 139:14). We are designed to do God’s work and bring Him glory, and we are to be stewards of this uniqueness. This does not have an age limit. Some would call it “natural talents.” I call it diversity. Know your unique strengths, your diversity. It also helps to know your weak spots.
Strategic Christians know their spiritual gifts and how to mobilize them for the Kingdom. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts that enable us to minister with supernatural ability and impact for God’s glory. Know your spiritual gifts.
Strategic Christians build margin into their lives; they also know how to say no. Ensure that you discipline yourself to allow for unscheduled time. I frequently hear people use the word “busy.” I try not to use this word anymore because it speaks to a blind spot—that I cannot manage my schedule. I’m not questioning the value of all the things that busy people do. However, how can God possibly use us strategically if we’re always running flat out? It’s good to take a breath and simply reflect on Jesus’ life. His is an example of a life that had margin. The voice of the Holy Spirit doesn’t shout at us; rather, it whispers. Margin quiets the noise so we can hear the still small voice of the Spirit.
Strategic Christians have hyupomenō—an ability to be steadfast. I define this as “stick-to-it-iveness.” In the fast-food world we live in, we want to solve problems as quickly as possible. God wants people who will hang in there when there are no other options to choose. Being a strategic Christian means you won’t give up when the going gets tough. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never give in, never, never, never.”[1]
Of course, there are more ways to be a strategic Christian; for example, being a person of prayer, being a student of the Word, having the ability to build and maintain genuine relationships, nurturing intimacy with God, and more.
I pray that these ideas will help you begin to reflect on how strategic of a Christian you are.
Questions
Do you have an understanding of your natural talents and abilities? If someone were to ask you what you’re good at, what would you say? If he or she went further and asked what you’re passionate about, what would you say?
In what areas of your life do you need to stay the course? How can you be steadfast in these areas?
Where do you need margin in your life? Be specific. What steps can you take to develop appropriate space where it’s needed?
[1] Winston Churchill, Harrow School Commencement Address, October 29, 1941, https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/never-give-in-never-never-never.html.
22
How Do You Define Legacy?
His offspring will be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.
PSALM 112:2
AUTHOR JOHN MAXWELL WRITES this about defining one’s legacy, “Success means having those closest to me love and respect me the most.”[1] This is a powerful perspective as one reflects on legacy.
Everyone leaves a legacy of some sort. It’s up to each of us to determine what that legacy will look like. It’s wise to give some thought to how you define legacy and to consider what kind of legacy you’d like to leave.
Here are four questions to help you clarify your thinking about legacy:
Who are you investing in?
How are you investing in the marginalized? St. John Chrysostom wrote, “The rich . . . must hold their property as stewards for the poor.”[2] During three years of recorded ministry of Jesus, we find Him most often with the poor and marginalized of society.
Do you have a will as part of your estate plan? How current is it?
How are you practicing generosity for legacy purposes? Remember that your resources do not ultimately belong to you. You’re a steward of the resources that
God has entrusted to you.
Questions
Who in your life could you invest in? You may wonder why he or she would want your counsel; however, don’t underestimate yourself and your years of experience.
What would you like people to say about you at your memorial service? What do you need to implement in your life for those things to be true of yourself?
What would you like your children to know about the legacy you’d like to leave? How can you communicate this to your family?
[1] John Maxwell, “A New Definition of Success,” April 25, 2014, https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/a-new-definition-of-success/.
[2] St. John Chrysostom, On Wealth and Poverty, trans. Catharine P. Roth (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1984), 12.
23
Finishing Well
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 TIMOTHY 4:7
AS I WRITE THIS DEVOTION, I’m sitting on an airplane heading home after three full days facilitating a training for business leadership.
A man and woman are sitting behind me engaged in a rousing conversation. It’s difficult not to listen in. They’re in their mid 50s, and it’s obvious they are meeting each other for the first time.
The woman said to the man, “I will not retire.” To which he responds, “And what does finishing well mean to you?” She says, “It’s about dollars!”