I work with a European organization that focuses on the next generation. At a recent annual gathering in Norway an attendee could not escape that focus. We spent a day in AWANA training – learning how to develop “lasting faith” in the generations behind us. We heard consistent reference to recent surveys that reveal the growth of faith among the Gen Z folks, especially young men…Bible sales are up, baptisms are up, church attendance is up in the UK. Similar reports are coming from other European nations. The next generations are being drawn to the one true God in a quest for something to believe in that will not betray them.
My organization also has a recruiting tool that gives younger believers the opportunity to explore the role God has for them in the church – church planter and church worker, missionary, leader and more. After 9 months of meeting on Zoom and in person, doing copious amounts of preparation between meetings, the participants should have some sort of sense of calling on their lives, whatever that may be.
All of the above references faith statistics and metrics on a grander scale – the faith community at large. But let’s scale that down to us as individuals and families – what about us as parents and grandparents? We’ve been given an amazing opportunity to pass on our faith to our families, to pass that “faith baton” to them to keep running the race until the finish. We are admonished to speak of God to our families at every turn, when we are on the road, in the home, going and coming. Speak of God, speak of his Son and the Holy Spirit, share stories from our faith lives, reference scripture, have discussions about faith topics and how faith impacts lives. Go to church together, read the Bible together, have devotions together, pray together. Leave an imprint on your family that they can clearly discern – my parents and grandparents were followers of Jesus!
As my mom aged (and with great grace, I can add) she bemoaned how long she was living, saying that she was quite prepared to be in heaven with Jesus and those who had gone before her in death. She lived to be 100, so she had released many to the Father, especially in her last decade. I regularly had talks with her about the worth of her life, the impact she and my father had had on my own faith journey, and reminded her that if God was leaving her here with us, she still had purpose for His Kingdom. I created an acronym using that word “PURPOSE” that she kept in her Bible (which she could not read well for some years before she passed away). The first P stood for Prayer…and we talked about how important it was that she prayed for our family – her children, her grandchildren – that God still heard her and moved because she was praying.
The list went on, but you get my point. Whether we are still vital and active in retirement, or find ourselves limited by illness, responsibilities and finances, we still have purpose. Without doubt, one of the most important purposes we have is to speak Jesus to our families – going and coming we speak Jesus. (Song: I Speak Jesus). We continue to walk in faith as an example to them, we pray for them, we encourage their own faith walk or pray for God to pursue those who are not walking with Him. Our entire family – 6 adults and 7 grandchildren – are headed off to a family vacation next week. I’m excited about many things about our trip, but the most important is that we can all speak “Jesus” to each other.
As I continue to challenge us (myself included) in this blog – WE HAVE WORK TO DO! And the most important is right in front of us. Let’s pass the faith baton to our families in loving and compassionate ways, let’s live a life that draws them to want to know the Jesus we know, let’s find every opportunity to bless them with the truth we have to share with them – the truth that Paul talks about in his letters – that Jesus died, rose from the dead and sits with the Father, has all authority on heaven and earth, and that we are dearly loved by our Creator.
“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6: 7
Don't Waste Your Retirement 