Someone recently said that sentence to my mom. The Church she attends is struggling to move to the next level, and this person felt they lacked the leadership needed to move forward.

My dad was never the most popular guy in the room. He tended to be direct, confronting, and stubborn. He could see what needed to be done and did it. He saw who was not carrying their weight and confronted them. He called people to service of the Lord at a higher level and pushed for the Church to move forward. He did this as a trustee, then a deacon and finally as an elder for most of his last 30 years. Now he is gone.

The statement to my mom was not a longing for the past but merely a question of the future, “Who will fill his shoes?” I understand the question because I talk with my Church leaders about it regularly. We wonder who is going to rise up to lead the Church and the people of God into the future?

Honestly, we don’t need another Fred Harris. He was one of a kind. What we need are men and women who are willing to lead the Church in the name of Jesus. We need people who will call Christians to live at a higher level. We need people like you to step up and lead the way into a greater future. We need you to be the kind of leader that leaves a void when they are gone.

As a son, I am proud of the legacy my dad left. I wonder, “Will your children be proud of your legacy of faith? Will people miss you when you are gone?”

There is still time to become the kind of leader that the Church needs today.