De-Generation Gap? (part 2)

  “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.” Judges 2:7

(Continued from Part 1)

Joshua, like Moses before him, was by his life, obedience to God and leadership, a powerful and sustaining influence among the people of Israel. While he and those of his generation, who with him, had experienced God’s deliverance and leading of Israel to the Promised Land still lived, the people were overall closer to God in their minds and hearts, and served the Lord in what He had commanded. This is not to say that there were no rebels or some who didn't choose otherwise during that time. The record shows, that both during the time of Moses and the time of Joshua’s leadership, some failed to obey God, incited rebellion against God’s authority, and paid dearly for their dissention and disobedience.

It does seem however, that the generation which grew under Joshua had overall a closer sense of God than the generation which followed - the latter being labelled in verse 10, as ‘not knowing the Lord or His works’!  We read further that the net result of this ‘not knowing God’ as the previous generation did, was their abandonment of the God of their fathers. No doubt they had heard about the works of God which their ‘fathers’ had witnessed, and had received the instructions their leaders and parents had passed down faithfully to them, but they had no personal experience or reference point to the events that made Israel the nation it was, after being delivered from slavery in Egypt. They had not seen with their own eyes, the conquest of the land they were now blessed to live in, and God’s mighty hand in providing it for them. They may have continued in the ‘religious’ aspects and practices of their fathers, but they took for granted the things that the previous generation had cherished and considered precious. They lost sight of the history and foundations which made them what they were in the present. They lost the awe and respect for the separation and holiness which made Israel God’s people in the first place, and a chosen race to stand out as ‘different’ from the heathen world around it. They no longer held the vision of being the priests and kings God had intended them to be, influencing the people they came in contact with FOR God, and not being influenced by them AWAY FROM God.

Without those ‘anchors’ in place, and with a strong heathen influence at their doorstep, their spiritual stability suffered quickly. The verses that follow, describe how they did evil in the sight of the Lord, forsook the God of their fathers and chose the idolatry and ways of the world - the ungodly nations around them! The very thing God had carefully and painstakingly forbidden and commanded Israel to keep separate from. Such a loss from just one generation to the next! Interestingly we can spot the same arguments they used to justify their adoption of heathen practices, among Christians today. Some Israelites for instance, ‘copied’ the idols of the pagan nations, but called them by the name of the God of the Bible, or claimed them to represent Yahweh. This was such an abomination to God, that severe punishment followed their actions. Sadly and in spite of God’s constant reminders and reprimands, Israel continued on a downward spiralling pattern of spiritual disintegration, as one generation gave way to the next and more liberal and tolerant practices were adopted.

As we have noted, there is a similar pattern afflicting and disintegrating Christianity today, particularly in western nations, which in the past have been the bulwark and stronghold of the faith and the source of worldwide influence of the gospel. Each new generation although perhaps initially keeping to the main doctrines of the faith, seems to overall lose some of the faithfulness, closeness to God and separation from the world, which the previous generation exhibited and maintained.Exceptional individuals exist in every generation reflecting a closer and more perfect walk with God, and reminding us all of how we should serve the Lord, but in general there is a loss of faithfulness. The vision, fire, desire and obedience are dimmed down, so low in fact that in surveys taken in our Christian, western nations, there has not been found to be any statistically significant difference between evangelical Christians and unbelievers! This is not mere generational preference, it is spiritual degeneration! 

Effective leadership helps, but there is however a sad human limitation in the influence we can exert on others, particularly those of the generation which follows our own. We can tell them, show them and teach them, but we cannot pass onto them our personal experiences - those they must desire and discover for themselves! Our love, fear and obedience of God and our efforts in serving Him in the present generation then, should be most excellent and of the highest quality, reflecting the greatest faithfulness and deepest conviction, so that the next generation may have the best possible example to view, remember and follow. Whenever we lessen or compromise our stand for God even a little, we should think that the damage we are doing is not merely to ourselves and those of our immediate family, that would be bad enough, but we should consider also how we will impact and further disadvantage the chances of spiritual survival for the next generation. 

Let us be true soldiers of the Cross and followers of the Lamb, fighting to stem the flood of degeneration which threatens the very existence of true Christianity, remembering the question that Jesus put to us as His disciples, when He returns, will He find faith on the earth?

The only way we can possibly resist this tide of change and deterioration, and make a difference, is by individual personal determination to pray and stay close to God, relying on His strength not to abandon, compromise or lessen the values of the Word of God; to live each and every day as responsible, mature, Bible-instructed and informed believers, wholeheartedly upholding God’s truth; to teach them to our children and our children’s children; to hold on firmly and stay faithful in this endeavour until the end!  

See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

De-Generation Gap? (part 1)

  “And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.” Judges 2:7

We should greatly rejoice over the blessing of having leaders who stay close to God and inspire us by their lives and teaching to do the same. Their experiences, love for God and the anointing the Lord bestows upon them, touch us and affect us with positive and powerful impact, encouraging us to stay the course, walk the path and run the race. The unhappy truth is that with each subsequent generation of believers, there are fewer such leaders, and there are increasingly more changes and challenges which face Christians and the church.

The dilemma which plagues the human family as one generation fades and gives place to the next, is recounted in the verses of this chapter. In modern days we have coined the terminology ‘generation gap’, to describe the often sad lack of connection in many of the vital aspects of life, between contiguous generations. It is a term attempting to define the distance, dislike and disagreement, which exists between any present generation and the next. This ‘gap’ has been blamed for the breakdown of communication between children and their parents, the tearing and disapproval of the values of prior generations, by contemporary society, and the disagreements which reign whenever a task or situation is approached and either the ‘new’ way or the ‘old way’ of doing things, is being invoked! The distance between generations seems to be widening and attempts made to bridge ‘the gap’ are usually short lived, but they seem to nearly always be efforts by the older generation to accept and embrace the ways of the newer.

For Christians, this generational distance raises a concern by far greater than what is fashionable to wear or what may be acceptable social mores. Due to the eternal and absolute nature of the values taught in God’s Word, believers in each generation are faced with the ever increasingly difficult task of determining how to remain ‘in pace’ with the times, and yet avoid the compromise and weakening of the principles God. It seems that in the church, each new generation, will tend towards ‘making changes’ that the previous generation considers inappropriate and dangerous. Once the previous generation ‘dies off’ or becomes a minority, ageing and ‘irrelevant’ background voice, the changes made by the present generation become the new ‘norm’ , challenged only by the whispering memories of past legacies, or by the new, even more daring, liberal, bolder and even more widely disregarding proposals of the newly forming next generation.

At face value all this may not appear to be ‘such a big deal’, and that the problem is merely one of preferences between one generation and the next. It is by many considered normal, necessary and even healthy, to insist on generational change and identity, simply accepting that all change is automatically or overall,  ‘good’. While it is true that some things could be put down to generational preference, this modernising of thoughts and ways among believers is not without serious repercussions. It frequently promotes a departure from old, established and known ways, to what is more world-friendly, tolerant and accepting of the contemporary thinking and behaviour. There is a very strong influence, which the unsaved and sinful world exerts upon the members of the church. This impact has grown exponentially in the last 20 years with the advent of the internet, computers and the ready availability of mass media.

The lines of distinction between the godly and profane have become so marred and blurred, that the pressure Christians must resist, is not just the obvious avoidance of sin, but also, and more dangerous in the long run, the changes which overall lessen and lose our true Christian identity. This is so obvious a battle field, that in a self-deceiving effort to keep this identity, the nominal distinction is made, by attaching the word ‘Christian’ to whatever worldly activity or pursuit is undertaken by believers. So that for instance, when adopting the music of the world, known for its God-insulting themes and designed with beats and structures to pump those soul-damning ideals into the mind and heart of listeners, the church attaches ‘Christian’ in front of it, making it ‘Christian rock and roll’. Although with altered lyrics, the music remains unchanged from anything one can hear readily on a secular radio station, reducing the distinction between the secular and the sacred. Many Christians and their leaders justify the compromise and consider it so acceptable that anyone not subscribing to it, must clearly be 'out of touch'. They also refuse to acknowledge the reality of its influence and the effects and ungodly changes this is bringing into the church.

In other instances doctrines, concepts and practices which were denied by previous generations and considered ungodly and dangerous, are being remodelled, renamed, embellished and read into the Christian ‘frame’. Individuals of great influence and means, posing as ministers of the Gospel, present these adulterated and poisonous beliefs to eager and biblically ignorant minds, changing what they will think, feel and believe regarding God and His Word! This ‘new’ and re-defined Christianity then arrogantly stands in sharp contrast to the ‘old’ ways, belittling and victimising them as ‘narrow’, ‘bound’ and ‘irrelevant’!

The problem is that whilst seeking to reach to and be relevant in a modern society, unhappy and ungodly compromises are made. Note they are always made by the believers, not by the world! It is stated that it is done in an effort to reach the lost. This is in itself wrong. In reaching the lost, Jesus didn't direct us to adopt contemporary culture, in fact He himself flew in the face of many of the cultural dogmas of His day. Interestingly the practices then continue in the churches, this time the justification is that this helps to ‘keep’ the lost that were reached! In an attempt to ‘please everyone’, that is - trying to content the preferences of members of all generations, we can lose sight that we are first called to please God. Introducing and supporting worldliness in the church, because the new generation feels more comfortable and content with that approach,  seems to ignore the fact that God hates it, warns His people against it, and that the church happens to be His, not ours!  

These compromises by degrees, have led God’s people away from the absolutes of scripture, and often diminish the impact of God’s word in the life of believers. The damage is achieved by mixing down and diluting the message of the Bible in its application to life, lessening its authority and relevance, and reading into it the current, ungodly worldview, whilst at the same time upholding and magnifying the religious practices associated with it. This is not a new problem, and a careful study of the scriptures makes it clear, that as believers we ought to ‘err on the side of caution’, when it comes to change. Our text and many scriptures like it, describe aspects of this age-old predicament which faces God’s people. (continued in Part 2)



See also:
http://dailybiblefocus.blogspot.com.au/
http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion