Dear Friends,
In 1903 the Dewey Palace Hotel opened in Nampa, Idaho. Built by the developer and silver mining baron William H. Dewey it was a marvel of elegance more likely found in the big cities of the east than a railroad town of the old west. The structure dominated the skyline of Nampa until 1963 when it was torn down because no one wanted to spend the money necessary to renovate it. The building was built for comfort and beauty but not longevity and this became its demise.
In Joshua chapter 1, God is giving Joshua his charge as he takes leadership of the people of Israel. The final charge to Joshua is to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (vs. 9). Joshua must lead this people with courage and strength because there will be many enemies, inside and out, who will oppose what lays ahead. Time and time again the people will oppose the changes he is making and instead suggest they should return to the familiar good old days. So Joshua must not be discouraged because the task before him will take longer and be more difficult than he could ever imagine. In fact, the people of Israel would never fully possess the promise land in Joshua’s lifetime.
Leaders, like all people, want quick results. We want people who will follow our vision with enthusiasm. So to get them to follow we are tempted to build grand structures which promote our glory and satisfy the longing for comfort of the people in front of us. All the while we are building a legacy which will be torn down by the next generation who has no desire to invest in our past glory.
Many years ago while I was in college I was riding back to the hotel from District Conference with a legend of faith in the Free Methodist Conference of which I was a part of at the time. His name is Cliff. This man, already well along in his years, told me of a decision he made when he was my age and was trying to change the church but was experiencing opposition from the old guard. He made a promise to himself that when he was the old man he would use his power not to block the changes the next generation was going to inevitably make but would instead use his influence to support what they were doing, even if it made him uncomfortable or he didn’t completely agree with it.
Every generation will change and press against the systems and structures built by the previous. It’s always been this way. We who are part of the generation building the structures today have a choice we get to make. We can choose to build legacy which must be torn down by the next generation or we can choose to build foundations on which the next generation will build upon. We can choose to be a William or a Cliff.
What are you building?
Blessings,
Pastor Stephen
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Photo Source: http://www.idahopress.com/app/artwork/beforeafter/46_b_DeweyPalaceHotelNew2.jpg