Seven years ago, I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, worshiping to Hillsong’s New Wine, when the Holy Spirit fell upon me and I heard Him say, “I’m going to bring new wine out of you.” It felt like everything around me stopped. I asked, “Well, Lord, what’s the wineskin?” But He didn’t answer.
For a few years, not every day but pretty regularly, I would ask the Lord, “What about that new wine? What about the wineskin? What does that mean?” I knew it would be something transformative. I knew that it was going to change my future, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I felt Him reply, “Don’t ask Me about the new wine. I’m not going to tell you.” Initially, I thought it must be only for me. But during the pandemic, God downloaded much of the content that has become my latest book, The Acceleration Mandate.
What God ultimately downloaded into my heart, and it felt like He dropped paragraphs in my soul in just a moment, was that it’s not my job to build the new wineskin. My generation built its wineskin. It’s now old, stretched out, ready (in essence) to be thrown away. But if we will humble ourselves, God will move our aged wine into the next generation’s new wineskin, and we’ll be able to accelerate them.
To me, the wineskin is a distributor of the gospel. There’s nothing sacred about the wineskin. But historically, it’s been made sacred and brought great division. I’m so thankful that the Holy Spirit made it clear to me because I would have asked the next generation to move into my wineskin. It would have been unintentional, but it would have happened. But since the Holy Spirit dealt with me, I’m willing and ready to take my wine and pour it into the new wineskin.
In Malachi 4, it says that God is going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. If it doesn’t happen, the earth is going to be destroyed. When you consider how divided the church has been throughout history based on preference, it’s easy to see the children and fathers at odds with each other. I remember that being the case when my generation was stepping into ministry. Our new wineskins were fought against by our elders. We weren’t celebrated or given room. We were commanded to take our new wine and put it in aging wineskins. This slowed us down. It stopped many of us. We made mistakes we didn’t have to make. This is what happens when there’s division between the generations.
Carey Niewhof recently said that there are 160,000 churches transitioning in the next five to seven years. If we repeat what has been done in the past, it’s going to be catastrophic. What we’re stepping into isn’t just an isolated church transition; it’s a generational transition of leaders. There’s a shift coming.
One thing the Holy Spirit dealt with me about was to move away from the presumption of leadership. He said, “Don’t touch their wineskin. Don’t touch it even in your thought life.” In other words, have no opinions about any way I lead your leaders to reach their generation because it will be as imperfect as yours was. Wineskins aren’t sacred. They’re just containers. When you lead for thirty-plus years, as I have, it’s easy to presume God’s going show you what to do next, and you’ll bring everyone else along with you. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that if it’s God’s plan, but in many of our cases, the wineskin has been stretched out.
When I say that the attractional model of church is over, I mean it. We still hold to the values within it, but the next generation is going to reach their culture differently. What the Holy Spirit said to me took me from being a person thinking about how I would transition, how I would modify my leadership style, to thinking, “How do I serve them?”
The Holy Spirit said to me, “John, I’m calling you to trust Me in them like others trusted Me in you.” That changed my life. I remember when we started the church, there were a lot of areas that needed growth and change, but the Holy Spirit had given us something. He was in it with us. While there were aeras of weakness, we could trust that God’s grace was with us and He would prove Himself faithful.
Today, I see young ministers who are much more equipped than I ever was at their age. But they still need the grace of God on their life. They still need to hear His voice and obey it. And I need to accelerate that in them and add value and wisdom, aged wine, to their lives. I won’t tell them what to do, when to do, where to do, or how to do it, but I can be a mentor and a father to them.
So how can we as pastors pour our aged wine into the next generation’s new wineskins? Here are a few ways that I am doing this, and I believe God will bless you as you model the same.
First, I make it clear what a father should and shouldn’t do. When you have adult children, you still father them, but you father them differently. I work with a group and am personally accelerating them, addressing their lids, encouraging them, and networking them with men and women I have relationship and influence with. I say, “This person can help you where I can’t.”
Second, I pray with them regularly. Mondays through Thursdays, from 7:30 AM to 8:15 AM, I hold a prayer meeting. It’s open to a group of people and my staff, but it’s not mandatory. I do make it mandatory for my successor, Sean. I told him, “If I could go back, I’d hold more consistent prayer meetings with our church family and just pray about our future.” So I pray with Sean in that space. Then, we talk about whatever God is stirring in his heart.
Third, we have a solid continuing education plan. We’re careful not to bring the old wineskin into it. It’s more of a personal development tool, and it is yielding great results. My team is quick to assimilate to the opportunity to lead when they’re told, “This is now on you. God is going to use you.” We haven’t made the full transition yet. That will happen alter this year. But I’m able to sit in the lead team room, and Sean and I have already switched seats even though we are technically co-pastoring together. One of the precious results of this pouring into the new wineskins is the appreciation I’ve received from my staff, the respect as a father, and the love and affinity that I didn’t realize they had. Honestly, I am moved by the love that goes back and forth between all of us.
Pastor, remember that you can’t father without proximity. You can’t FaceTime being a father. You have to be present. Even after you’ve made the transition, keep attending your children’s church. Show them that you’re going to keep pouring your life into them. It’s better to give than to receive, anyway! Giving will take you into your final days with joy in your heart. And remember: A house united will accelerate. That’s what you want, Pastor. You want the house you’ve served to continue forward in strength and momentum. That’s possible when you’re willing to pour your aged wine into your team’s new wineskins.
Pick up your copy of Pastor Nuzzo’s book, The Acceleration Mandate, by following this link to Amazon.
This blog was created using content from the webinar The Acceleration Mandate: God’s Blueprint for Generational Impact.
