Passing the Baton

I went to the Isaac Newton Christian Academy breakfast with Dr. Jeff Myers yesterday morning. Dr. Myers teaches at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. I have heard Dr. Myers at Worldview Weekends at New Covenant and in Cedar Falls. He also teaches at the two week Summit Worldview Conference. Jon attended Summit this past summer and Dr. Myer was one of his favorite speakers.

Dr. Myers personal ministry is the Myers Institute. He has a vision to mobilize one million adults by the year 2015 to pass the baton of culture-shaping leadership to the next generation. Mentoring future leaders is his passion. His Passing the Baton initiative seeks to help followers of Christ to make a good "hand off" to the future generation.

Dr. Myers recounted how the 2004 U.S. Olympic women’s relay team was the fastest in the world. Commentators said that if they just showed up to the finals, they would walk away with the gold.

But in the final round, the unthinkable happened. Marion Jones failed to complete the pass to Lauren Williams. Because of a missed baton pass, the race was lost. Because the race was lost, the gold medal was lost—for these two athletes, perhaps forever.

As I get older, I reflect more on what I'm going to leave behind. My life will be measured not by how fast I ran, but what I pass on the those who follow me. That's because the race of life isn’t a 100 yard dash. It’s a relay. You only win when you pass the baton to the next generation—to our children and to the young people in our church, school, at work and in our neighborhood.

Each generation only gets one shot at making a good hand off. The great historian Will Durant said, “From barbarism to civilization requires a century. From civilization to barbarism needs but a day.” I want to leave my little part of the world a better place. I want to make sure that my baton pass is a good one.