The Deposit Principle

A few weeks ago I went to a Dodger game with Pastor Rod — my first pastor.

The game was good. The two and a half hours in the car were better.

Somewhere in that traffic, talking the way you only talk when neither of you can go anywhere, it became clear to me: this is where it started. My love for the Word of God. My instinct to open Scripture before I open a spreadsheet. The conviction that God actually has something to say about Monday. Rod didn't hand me a curriculum. He handed me his passion, and it transformed my life.

Paul described that transfer to a younger leader this way:

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others." (2 Timothy 2:2)

Notice the chain. Paul, to Timothy, to reliable people, to others still. Four generations in one sentence.

Pastor Rod and Me at The Dodgers

EVERY LEADER IS SOMEONE ELSE'S RETURN ON INVESTMENT

In business we are careful about succession. We plan for staff changes, consider legacy and train for the future. We understand that an organization only survives what it successfully passes on.

We are far less deliberate about it in our own souls.

As a I considered what makes me effective in my role, I could see the investment of other people all over the blueprint of my life. Pastor Rod's deposit is still generating returns three decades later, and he made it in a season when there was no way for him to predict it’s results.

That should do two things in us.

First, it should make us go back. Scripture is direct about this: "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith"(Hebrews 13:7). Remembering is not nostalgia — it's stewardship. Make the call. Send the note. Honoring a person honors the God who sent them. And do it now, while they can hear it.

Second, it should make us look around. Who is currently further along than you — in your marriage, in your parenting, in your leadership — and close enough to speak into it? Not a podcast. A person. If you can't name one, that's not a character flaw; it's an open assignment. And who are you taking with you? The young project manager, the new hire, your own kids, are all watching how you carry the authority God entrusted to you.

We stop asking, "Who reports to me?" and start asking, "Who am I taking with me?"

Rod invested two and a half hours in a car with me, thirty years after he needed to. That is what discipleship looks like — and it is just as valuable on a job site as it is in a sanctuary.

You are somebody's inheritance. Spend accordingly.