On Passing the Baton

Thoughts on Christian ministry and leaving a legacy:

All Christians should want to pass the baton – to leave a spiritual legacy. They should want to have a spiritual influence that continues after they are gone. They should want their children and grandchildren for example to know about, and hopefully walk in, the Christian faith. I of course hope for that and work for that as well.

But there are two other much more particular items I want to bequeath to others, one of which I will speak to more than the other. Now that I am getting old (I turn 115 next year – well, maybe not quite), I have to seriously ponder what to do with two major things I have worked on for so long.

One of course is my library – a rather large, and if I may say so, a quite good library. I cannot take it with me, and at this point my children do not seem to be really interested in it. But I must speak quietly here, as I do know that some hardcore, evil book-lusterers do exist.

It may well be the case that they daily check the obituaries to see if I have finally flown the coop. They then could rent a few large trucks, come to my place, and remove thousands of hefty volumes. Sure, they would need a small army of volunteers to help them in this strenuous endeavour. But such covetous Christians certainly do exist – and some of you know who I am referring to!

So that is something I do think about. Hopefully I still have a few good years left in me, so I do not just yet need to make a final decision on this, but one day I will have to get more serious about the matter. Ideally some overseas Christian schools in poor countries could benefit greatly from it – at least the theological titles – but the process of getting the books there would be quite an effort – and headache.

Whither CultureWatch?

But the second particular baton-passing item I have in mind is this very website. Presumably when I go, it will just more or less wither on the vine. At the very least, I would imagine someone would need to keep financing it to be hosted somewhere in cyberspace.

As with many ministries, this is a highly personalised one. That is, it consists of me, myself and I. This piece happens to be the 6,874th article found on this site. All of them have been written by me. Thus, they all have my own style, interests, writing ability (or lack thereof) and so on. So is it worthwhile to even think about, and then look for, a possible successor?

Is it desirable to try to see this site keep on going after I am gone, or should it just be laid to rest? While it has had a good viewership over the years, the more new bloggers, writers, podcasters and video commentators that come on the scene, the more stiff the competition becomes, if I can put it that way. Why come to my humble site when there are so many other great ones now out there?

What might be needed to keep it going

Nothing may come of all this, but if someone were to come along and take over CultureWatch one day, a few requirements at least might need to be mentioned in order to have some sort of smooth transition:

-Being more or less on the same page of course would be necessary. One need not agree with every point of view expressed here, but broad agreement on most of the main issues would be a must. Thus of course the person would need to be a Christian first and foremost, as well as a conservative, concerned about the life issues, the culture wars, the woke agenda, the expansive state, and so on.

-Some familiarity with the articles posted on my site thus far would of course also be helpful, knowing what I have said about things, how I said it, and so on. That includes not just political or cultural pieces, but theological and spiritual ones as well.

-Perhaps being able to write in many if not most of the 100 different categories that I have on my site would be a plus. One minute I am penning a piece on Marxism, and the next, a devotional article. I write on so many issues, whether philosophy, or politics, or ethics, or literature and the arts, or Christian apologetics, or the culture wars, or Islam, or theological matters, and so on. I cover a lot of territory. Thus being able to move all over the place (recall that I might be a jack of all trades and master of none!) would be useful.

-I of course am a keen reader, and it shows with well over 800 book reviews. Only those who are avid readers will be interested in continuing a work like that of CW. Those who dislike reading need not apply here!

-I suppose I mainly write for the average Joe – and Josephine. My gift might be to make difficult or complex matters more easily understood and accessible for most folks. But hopefully some of my more scholarly or academic pieces will please those in academia and the like as well. Being aware of who your audience is or what your niche market might be is always important. If you only do scholarly-type articles, you might lose many of my readers and followers. If you only do really easy to understand pieces, you might lose some other readers as well.

-As should be apparent, I seek to have at least one new article up every day. If the next person to take over CW could only manage one a week or so, that may or may not work. Of course with so many great thinkers and writers out there, someone who wrote just one piece a week, but offered superior articles to my humble offerings might be just what CW needs.

-This site is an interactive blog site. So it is not just a matter of posting articles fairly regularly, but dealing with all the comments that come in. Every single comment has to first be read, and then a decision must be made if it is tossed in the bin or if it gets posted. My clearly stated commenting rules help determine what goes and what stays. And then if a comment is printed, it may need to be responded to. This can be, in other words, pretty much of a full-time job (there are 91,000 published comments here). If someone wants to just commit a few hours a week to this site, that likely will not work so well.

-Because this is ultimately a Christian ministry, it is not just a matter of writing a lot. Prayer is essential here, since the enemy does not want a site like this to exist, and plenty of hostile and angry folks out there want CW to come to an end. So spiritual warfare is part of this work, and recruiting others to keep you in prayer will be essential.

-When CW first began, I had around 8 folks that I asked to be part of an informal board of advisors. I could ask them questions if need be, or seek their advice on various matters. Over the years some of them have either moved away or passed away. So anyone seeking to run CW might need to also consider getting some wise and trusted folks who can serve in that capacity.

-As any writer knows, the more eyes the better, in terms of proof-reading. No matter how often we look over a piece, we can still miss things, so having a few others to volunteer to keep an eye out for typos, faulty grammar and the like is always helpful. I have had a few loyal friends doing this for many years, and they have been a real blessing in this regard.

-I already mentioned many new forms of communicating that were not around very much when I first started CW. Various online things like podcasts and videos are now all the rage. I have done some of these, but lack the technical know-how (and time) to do it all by myself. If a newcomer here wants to head down those paths, he will either need to have this expertise, or have friends who can help him out, hopefully on a voluntary basis. The trouble with not having paid help here is the volunteers can be busy and therefore unreliable at times. And you cannot really chew out someone for something if they are working for you for free!

These are just some quick thoughts on what CW 2.0 might require. As I say, in all likelihood it might just die a quiet death. A few folks might miss it, but there are so many other good sites out there today, many of which are much better than mine. But as stated, I am thinking in terms of leaving a legacy.

With some books written, I suppose they will stick around for a while after I pass away. But with nearly 7000 articles found here, it seems a bit of a waste for it to just all disappear into thin air, or get lost somewhere in cyberspace. Some of my articles at least have stood the test of time, and some of the pieces might have some enduring value.

But once I go, what happens to it all? So maybe this is just an appeal to a handful of folks to perhaps consider and pray about what role they might have to play in the days ahead concerning the continuation of CW. I do have one person in mind who might fit the bill. But everyone is busy, and those who might be really good in taking over CW are likely already doing their own good work.

So this is sort of a succession plan. As I say, it all might just die out after I die out, and that can be OK. Ministries do not need to go on forever. And many ministries do eventually go by the wayside after its leader passes on. Sometimes no real succession plan was put in place, or perhaps there was no one able to fully walk in the footsteps of the original man or woman. Or maybe it has served its purpose and is now no longer needed.

I guess I am just thinking out loud here. I have always disliked seeing things go to waste. I would have picked that up from my parents who lived through the depression of the 1930s. So it would be encouraging if there was some way to preserve at least some of what CW has done, even if only in terms of keeping some of these articles from disappearing altogether.

So if any of this is of slightly of interest to you, why not think and pray about it all? As I say, I have no plans of leaving planet earth tomorrow, but you never know when it will be your last day. About all I can do is keep in mind the words of the English missionary C. T. Studd (1860-1931). In a memorable poem he said this:

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

CultureWatch has been my full time Christian ministry for almost 20 years now. Whether it keeps going after I am no longer here, or no longer able to keep it going, is a moot point. In terms of passing on the baton, a particular ministry need not keep going on and on.

But hopefully in all of this a small spiritual legacy can be found. Perhaps a few have been helped and blessed and encouraged along the way. That is enough. And every now and then I do put CW on the altar, and tell God that if he wants me to bring it to an end, that is fine by me.

However, if it is meant to keep going, I will seek to do it faithfully and devotedly. All glory to God for any good it might have done over the years. If I hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23), it will be reward enough. But I also must bear in mind these words: “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty” (Luke 17:10).

[2084 words]