Ray Blunt

I am in the "third third" of life, hopig to finish well and to pass on to the next generation any wisdom I have been graced with in life and in learning from my many mistakes. The next generation of leaders is what concerns me. Seeing people who will serve others rather than themselves is a task my generation has failed at in many ways. In that sense, the parallel stories I have tried to tell, those of William Wilberforce and Thomas Jefferson, clearly illustrate why England was transformed in moral responsibility to the point that slavery ended peacefully while the "land of the free" failed at the same point--to its lasting spiritual and social poverty. If I have one insight to pass on, it is that leaders grow leaders, disciples grow disciples, and mentors grow the next generation of mentors. Such relationships shape character and culture after they pass on. All of my earlier public service, teaching, and writing led up to this conclusion. Jossey-Bass published the earlier findings--derived from interviewing those shaped by their former leaders. Eight years of studying the lives of Wilberforce and Jefferson only confirmed that. Five years later, in Elders at the Gate, I seek to speak into my generation that our call is to persist, to come alongside those younger to share the lessons of life through the simplicity of friendships they hunger for.

It may be ironic or God's sense of humor that someone who has reached beyond threescore years and ten teach high school students, but was the work I was called to do for a season--that and with BJ, my good and wise wife, advising young couples starting out in life how to avoid some of our mistakes. For that task, the Christian worldview is essential truth. Nothing less than a heart transforming relationship with the Author of creation and the model Leader who served by giving his very life in our place is the clear Truth.