“I feel like I’ve struck gold. Or won the lottery.”

“You are enjoying your new church, I gather.”

“Honestly, they are wonderful. I’ve just been there six months, but already they have shown themselves to be a classy bunch. They’re so different from the other two churches I pastored, I don’t know what to think.”

“I love hearing this. And hear it all too seldom.”

He said, “You know my father has been ill. He lives in Tennessee, and they’ve called in Hospice. That means six months or less to go. Well, my church told me to go up there as often as I feel like I need to, to spend time with my folks. I’ve taken them up on it, but I’m always back for Sunday services and usually Wednesday nights too.”

“They sound understanding.”

“That’s not the half of it. They even took up a special offering to help with my car expenses with all this traveling. I mean, I’ve never heard of a congregation being so kind.”

“How’s the church doing?”

“That’s the other great part. It’s thriving. We’re adding new members almost every week, and everyone is so excited. I can’t wait to get there on Sundays.”

I said, “Do you know why this church is that way?”

He said, “Well, the short answer seems to be that they’re Christians.”

I laughed and said, “I don’t have to tell you of all people that not all Christian churches do church right. Some of them are really hard on their preachers and staff, demanding a lot and giving very little in return.”

He said, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“The reason that church is so gracious and Christlike in the way they treat you is that they’ve been taught well in the past. They’ve had some godly, mature leaders–I’m talking about both pastors and laypeople–with their heads on straight, who had no axe to grind, no anger toward God or one another. They lived by the rule, ‘What is the loving thing in this situation?'”

“You knew this church before I came here?”

“I knew of it. It’s not in my jurisdiction, not in our association, as you know. But they have a reputation.”

He laughed and said, “The last two churches I served also had reputations! But not the kind anyone would want.”

I said, “Something happened some years back in that church that forever made it a gold medal winner in my book.”

“That was before my time,” he said. “What happened?”

“The pastor walked into the deacons meeting one evening and made an announcement. He had just found out that his teenager daughter was pregnant by some boy in the neighborhood. He told the deacons he was handing in his resignation. His exact words as I got the story were: ‘I’ve been trying to teach you how to lead your family, and it turns out I don’t even know how to lead my own.'”

“Wow. What a burden that must have been–for him and his family as well as the church.”

“Now, from what little I knew of that church, I would have expected the deacons to tell him to clean out his desk and be gone the next day. But I didn’t know them. They grew a mile in my estimation by what they did next.”

“I saw the resolution which the deacons passed and every one of them signed. It said something like, ‘Pastor, you ministered to us in our time of need and now we’re going to minister to you in your hour of need.’ They rejected his resignation and stood by him to a man. The congregation supported this action of their deacons and they did not lose a single member from it.”

“The pastor and his wife kept that baby and adopted it as their own. He grew up in that church. And the people loved the little mother and showed her the grace of God when they could just as easily have turned their backs on her.”

He said, “I can see them doing that. We have some pretty wonderful older members. They’re the ones who would have been the church back when that happened.”

I said, “I wish people knew that when they lead a church to be gracious and Christlike, they’re honoring Christ and blessing people and building a solid reputation in the community. And just as important, they are building a healthy church for the future.”

“You think that’s why they’re so generous to my family these days?”

“No doubt about it. Right at this moment, up in Heaven, there are some former members who led your church a generation ago, people who were Christlike and mature and gracious, who are smiling at the legacy they left. They taught the young members well and now they’re coming through like champs.”

“You think they see how their children and grandchildren are treating me, their new young preacher?”

“I do indeed. And I think they are thrilled.”

“It sure is great to be on the receiving end, I’ll tell you that.”

“Now, pastor, one more thing. From time to time, explain to your people how this process works. That the legacy of the last generation bears fruit in this one, that when they were gracious in their behavior and generous to those who need help, they were setting the standard for the time to come.”

“You think I need to tell them this?”

“If you don’t, they’re liable to think it’s this way everywhere. One of these days, some of them will move to another town and join a church and discover how rare this kind of Christlike graciousness is in churches. But if they know the importance of leading a church to be generous and kind and how that bears fruit down the years, they can speak up and help other churches to get this right.”

“I had not thought of that.”

“Well, look at the last two churches you pastored. The ones with reputations they need to live down. What if some wonderful, healthy, mature Christians joined those churches and helped to change the way the members think. The next pastors could have an entirely different kind of ministry there.”

He said, “That would be a miracle.” He thought for a moment, then said, “You think I need to brag on my people for this?”

“That’s often a good thing to do. But ask the Holy Spirit. We can overdo the praise thing and end up with them thinking they’re something special, a little better than other churches. When that happens, the church starts to become self-centered and the devil moves in. Anything can happen after that.”

“Be sure to single out your key leaders,” I said. “Speak to them individually. Let them know what a blessing their support was for you and your family.”

“One of the greatest blessings a church can have is a handful of key leaders who have their hearts set on Christ and their heads on straight. Count your blessings, my young friend.”