Generations

Recently at the 71st General Assembly of the Church of God, the primary theme was our great heritage.
We celebrated the fact that 120 years ago a few men gathered in the hills of North Carolina and laid the foundation for what would become a worldwide movement. We recognized and celebrated the powerful role that the Azusa Street revival played in empowering this great movement. We took time to honor the great pioneers of the faith who have sacrificed so much along the way to help build the kingdom of heaven. We also acknowledged some of the mistakes made along the way: legalism, racism, emotionalism and spiritual arrogance. We discussed the great need to raise up the next generation of pioneers and along the way I think many of us realized that the grand old COG now finds itself facing a dilemma that many churches are facing today. How do we honor and celebrate the past, yet plan and prepare for the future?
The issue of transition is always a touchy subject, whether it is in the world of sports, the business realm or the church. I witnessed this first hand at the General Assembly as I heard some of the younger crowd complain about the older style music and watched some of the older crowd sneer as a video was shown depicting some of the more unconventional church planting efforts that are taking place around the country. Needless to say neither one of these attitudes were cause for celebration.
These attitudes shouldn’t have been surprising because every generation seems to favor it’s own “stuff.” Each generation thinks they know it all and that their methods are best. There is no doubt that there have always been “generation gaps” so to speak. It is just a little harder to swallow when you see these attitudes in “Believers”.
Personally I find myself at a very interesting point in my life. I am middle aged, at 42. (I’m shooting for 80 then I am going to start slowing down a bit.) I am not over the hill but I am sitting on top of it. (This can be somewhat painful at times.) I have now been married half of my life. I have also been a Christian half of my life and I have been in the ministry half of my Christian life. In my walk with God I have been accused of being a legalistic conservative and a liberal backslider. So, from my middleman vantage point I can see good and bad on each side of the aisle. I admire the faithfulness and fortitude of the older generation whose dedication has brought us to where we are today as a movement. And yet I detest the legalism, denominational pride and haughtiness that at times they have expressed. I am inspired by the enthusiasm and openness of the younger generation and yet I worry about their willingness at times to compromise the basic truths of scripture in the name of relevance.
In the end what really gives me hope is the fact that I believe that the true born again believers of both generations share a deep love for Jesus. I believe that it was this zeal for Jesus that led some earlier generations to fall into vain traditions and legalist bondage. I also believe that many of those whom some would contend are living “too close to the world” are driven by a deep desire to reach their fellow man with the good news of Jesus Christ. My prayer is that I can learn from them both.


Ps 79:13
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. (NIV)