“What on Earth is God Doing . . . where on Earth is He . . . ?”
She was savvy and brilliant, bold and beautiful . . . a 23 year old business woman looking me straight in the eye! Her questions were poignant . . . things which I always took for granted about God were mysterious to her. Buddha was in but the Most High God seemed to be out!
I knew I was looking at an angry, empty, disillusioned heart that had been raised in a Christian home and Sunday school. Religious cliché’s spoken in Christian-ese were definitely inappropriate in that moment as the questioning continued:
“You say ‘God told you’! How did he tell you? How did you know it was God!
He never, ever, speaks to me. If he’s ‘filling the earth’ I sure haven’t seen Him!
My heart was disturbed! Sleep has been intermittent in the night hours as I lay awake asking God for wise insight into this young woman’s heart. How can one be honest, insightful and really wise without doing more damage to this seeking yet untrusting soul?
I had written the words of an African American pastor we heard back in the nineties while attending a Pastors conference in
“In the 1950’s a Satanic Group in
Since the early seventies there’s been a sinister communication breakdown in the church between the generations. This young ladies parent’s were born in the sixties, at the very time a new teaching program called Departmentalization was birthed and bought by evangelical churches of all denominations. The plan was: “Take the children out of the sanctuary and teach them according to their age. Separate them from their parents and grandparents.” I remember being bothered in those years while pastoring several churches where ‘departmentalization’ was the ‘in-thing’. Everyone was doing it!
Could it be that we, the parenting generation who, back then, swallowed hook, line and sinker a false teaching that has deprived our grandchildren of a personal knowledge of God that seemingly was not passed on to them. Today we are paying a high price for the souls of our children. We have ignored God’s directions for generational transfer of His Truth and Ways to succeeding generations. Must we repent? I think so. God Help Us to reConnect with our young once again!
Greta, a friend of mine in Calgary wrote me and suggested that I read this blog.
I agree with you. I agree that each generation is to pass on the faith, especially through shared worship and shared ministry.
When Moses said, "do not forget the Lord (Dt 6:12)," he was concerned about cultural forgetting, – about the result of failing to pass on experiences of worship and the story of God's redemption to the next generation.
Intergenerational small groups – ones which include children along with their parents – can make a great difference in the lives of both generations. In a recent study of such groups, I found that there were a number of factors that would help these groups to be successful. The most confident groups were groups that shared in worship, that allowed time for the adults needs to be met and for the children's needs to be met, that included individuals from the elder generation (grandparent age), that allowed the youth to share in ministry, and that celebrated and enjoyed eating together.
Thank you for drawing attention to such an important concept!
Lucas van Boeschoten