It has been six years since I became the Senior Pastor of Mariners Church, following my predecessor (Kenton Beshore or “KB”) who served Mariners faithfully and with incredible skill for 35 years. KB is worthy of respect and honor, and I am very thankful for him. He is still on our team as one of our teaching pastors and we meet for lunch every month. At this point we have had lunch at least 72 times, so there is a lot of wisdom I have learned from him. Here are six nuggets that stand out from my first six years in Southern California.
1. Spend time with people who help you love the Church and community.
Once I asked KB his thoughts about spending more time with some friends, people I like, who lean towards being overly evaluative of church—not our church in particular, but the “always evaluating church” type. KB said, “Don’t spend much time with them. Your heart needs to be refreshed with people who love the Church.” He has said the same about spending time with Christians who only bash California and never see any of the beauty or the beautiful work of God. “Be with other believers who help your heart enlarge for the mission of the Church in Southern California.” Super wise.
2. Play chess, not checkers.
On decisions I have run by him, he reminds me to not think “short-term” but to think several moves ahead. As a leader, it is always wise to ask, “What decisions are going to be in front of me after I make this decision?”
3. “I am excited about this teaching series because you are.”
Whether teaching through a book in the Bible or a series that begins with life issues people are struggling with, KB has helped me understand that my passion for a teaching series is really important. If the pastor is not excited about the message being taught, it is highly unlikely the people will be.
4. Leader Eric needs to manage teacher Eric well.
KB has helped me think about “teacher Eric.” If my role was only teaching, what would help teacher-me be the most effective? “Imagine if ‘teacher Eric’ worked for you—for ‘leader Eric.’ If an afternoon bike ride would help ‘teacher Eric’ pray and prep for a sermon, would you encourage ‘teacher Eric’ to go on a ride?” The answer is an obvious “yes.” But sometimes, I feel guilty going on a ride in the afternoon because there is so much else to do. KB helped me see that I have a tendency to manage myself with less liberty and grace than I give to others.
5. Don’t stop being a student pastor.
We both have youth ministry and college ministry in our background, and early on KB encouraged me to use what I learned in youth ministry with the Church as a whole: teaching that can be applied tomorrow, creativity, risk and adventure, and fun.
6. You need your study break more than you think you do.
I have taken the month of July as a study break for the last six summers. Study break for the Senior Pastor was a practice and rhythm that KB put into place before I became the Senior Pastor. My first summer I considered not taking the study break, and shared that with KB. In my mind, I was new, there was so much to do, and I had not “earned it” yet. KB said, “You need this more than you realize, trust me.” I did. I took that first study break and he was right. God met with me, overwhelmed me with what I would be teaching in coming months, and I enjoyed some extra time with my family.
The blog could likely be 72 points long, but those are six nuggets of wisdom that stand out!
