- Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that! . . . If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap into hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees… Let not one go there unwarmed, or unprayed for. (Charles Spurgeon).
- He who has God has everything; he who has everything but God has nothing (Saint Augustine).
- Worship is humble and glad, worship forgets itself in remembering God; worship celebrates the truth as God’s truth, not its own (N.T. Wright)
- Coherence comes from a deep centre, which is the heart. Ultimately it is the heart of the human being connected to Infinite Spirit. When the self is connected to the heart, and the heart is connected to God, you have coherence. (Kabir Helminski)
- Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. (John Piper)
- The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation (Dwight L. Moody)
TEXT: Judges 2:10 ‘After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel’.
Psalm 145:4 ‘One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts’.
There is a verse/song I am currently finding on my lips, ‘I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.’ (Psalm 89:1)). It is through the culture that what is known and valued by one generation is learned and shared by the next generation. Somehow as people consciously and unconsciously communicate, some valuable beliefs fall through the cracks while there are new beliefs adapted. According to Noam Chomsky, humans acquire language by unconsciously storing information in the brain which can later be used for many types of written and oral communication. He also believes in the importance of children acquiring and developing effective language skills during early critical development stages. Chomsky is of the view that all cultures have a unique and valid form of knowledge and social organization that make them function effectively in their generation. What would make a whole generation not know what was valuable to the previous generations? Is it necessary for one generation to know what was valued in the previous generations without being locked in the past? What made a whole generation of the children of Israel not pass on the knowledge necessary for their descendant to know who God was?
WHAT ARE SOME CAUSES OF INABILITY OR UNWILLINGNESS OF ONE GENERATION TO DISREGARD WHAT THEIR PARENTS VALUED?
Political and territorial expansion – People tend to abandon their beliefs when a powerful entity effectively caters to their needs. The powerful entity may be used for self confidence that make them admirable. Think of a cult or oppressive regime, that offers a sense of belonging and purpose, leading members to suppress their prior beliefs. ‘Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them.’ (Joshua 23:7). “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess . . . you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. ‘(Joshua 7: 1-5). Once the foundational beliefs are shaken, then since nature abhors a vacuum, the search for beliefs and values to fill the space becomes the next drive.
World culture – The glitters of what is foreign become so attractive that one gives up on the family and institutional values that shaped their lives. Parental influence is marginalised and at time biblical verses are misused. The family values and living arrangements that have worked for years are replaced with others such as institution like education or work, it is the belief that it is the individual who shape their lives. This is particularly in a living arrangement where individualism is over emphasised due to such transitions as urbanizations. Though Martin Luther said, ‘Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying’, the beliefs lived are learned from diverse sources. ‘Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you’ (Exodus 20:12)
Language differences – There are cultures that tend to use more non-verbal ques, proverbs, and other condensed doses while others use more words. As communication styles are shared some important concepts can be lost. Power distance are major factors that can affect cross-cultural communication. God made it clear that the children of Israel should live in close proximity where the children would ask about the stones that they had picked from River Jordan. The stones were to be the teaching tools and an opportunity to recall God’s Sovereignty, love and mercy (Joshua 4:5-7; 20-24).
GENERATION DELINK DISORIENTS PEOPLE
When people who have been given the right to become children of God (John1:10-13), rely on security from sources other than God, they lose sight of who they are and the effects ripple through every part of their lives. To act on what is determined by the beliefs learned and shared outside the word of God can lead an entire generation to wrestle with anxiety, confusion, and loneliness. Anger, jealousy, and general lack of joy even when people are active in what they understand as ‘ministry’ or working for God. This is because they believe that they can build their lives on a foundation that constantly shifts beneath them. As God’s children, our prayer should be: ‘Since my youth, God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and grey, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.’ (Psalm 71: 17-18). Do not allow the fears of old age, politics, or changing systems deceive you to doubting the centrality of the Living God in your life.
GOD’S UNCHANGING PLAN IS STILL ON
God has a specific design or plan for the world, and that He desires to see it fulfilled on Earth. This design often encompasses the creation, purpose, and ultimate destiny of humanity and the world itself. ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10). The bible links forgetting with ingratitude as root problem in people’s idolatry, arguing that forgetting God and His blessings leads to a heart that turns to other things for satisfaction, ultimately resulting in idolatry (Deuteronomy 4:9).
Generations are important to God because He views history and His purpose through a multi-generational lens, not just as individual moments in time. God makes promises that span generations, and He intends for His word and values to be passed down, shaping future generations. He cares about the spiritual well-being of future generations, ensuring the legacy of faith continues. It is the responsibility of the present generation of Christians to highlight what matters for eternal life across generations. How people label themselves is not the most important value. You can be the generation of the aeroplane, or those born during the internet or artificial intelligence, or Genz or X or A, but the basics remain. ‘And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death’ (Revelation 12:11). The singing style can be a disruption if the communication is not focusing on the core Christian beliefs and values, including faith in Jesus Christ, love for God and neighbour, and a life lived in obedience to God’s word. This involves actively teaching and modelling these principles to younger generations, sharing the hope of salvation, and demonstrating the transformative power of faith in daily life. People from older generations might believe they are better than younger generations that could be rooted in cultural, social, and psychological factors such as nostalgia not necessarily God’s sovereignty It is also possible to glorify the past without necessarily identifying who God is and what He has done. Social talks that emphasize greater values, stronger community ties, or better moral standards without having God as the centre is one way of making people forget God. Remember backsliding is not turning, but just slowing the pace and you realize you are not together with the other travellers.
The same God who was active in previous generations is alive and active today. In your everyday communication and interaction, do you bring to memory God’s faithfulness, grace and mercy. You may need to get personal and create opportunities for others to ask the reason for the ‘stones’. The stones could be in form of photographs or books in your shelf, or stories that you tell, etc. Forgetting leads to sinning because it leads to false beliefs, false hopes, false idols, and false promises. These not only hinder our holiness before God but harm us by stealing our joy in God. We will either remember and follow God in worship and obedience, or we will forget and move towards some idol taking His place. Understanding the importance of passing down the story of God’s faithfulness and the lasting impact of our actions, demonstrates what matters for eternity. Would it bother you to think that 100 years to come there may be no trace of God’s saving grace in your community?
“O my friends, we are loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelising the world and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected!” (Oswald J. Smith)