Our Faith — Across Generations
February 24, 2010
Many adult Christians have promoted the gospel, established churches, and encouraged tens of thousands of lost, hurting, and hungry souls. But that is one generation. What of the next? At forty-six, I realize that (statistically speaking) my life is half over. Several other West Broadians share my assessment. As such, we ask a hard question: is there someone to carry on God’s work when we are no longer alive to do so? Is there another generation that will proclaim Jesus? Recent research presents an uncertain answer to that question. One study found that young people painted the church in a very poor light. Specifically, eighty-five percent of respondents viewed present-day Christianity as hypocritical. Young adults view the church with increasing suspicion, distrust, and even hostility. The Barna Group indicated that a third of the young people they polled said that Christianity “represents a negative image with which they would not want to be associated.” Whoa! What’s going on, here? It’s quite simple. To a large degree, young people have seen the harshness of our faith, but they have not seen the holiness. They have observed our rituals about the Lord, but they have not seen our relationship with the Lord. They have witnessed our talking about the Bible, but they have not seen us living according to the Bible. Nevertheless, there is hope, friends. As we “older” Christians become the people we need to be (Tit. 2:1-3), younger Christians will see God’s Spirit in us and readily take the church by his power to levels of which we never dreamed (Acts 5:14). Amen! —JLNJR (Resource: Gospel Advocate Magazine, 9/09, 25.)
