The Gospel: gone in 3 generations!


It’s funny, being a youth pastor and seeing the statistics of teenagers that leave the church, and the faith for that matter, I am constantly thinking about the generation I have been entrusted to teach, lead and guide. I have heard so much about Deuteronomy 6 and how it is the Christian family that has the responsibility to disciple the next generation; which I totally agree with whole heartedly. But with the divorce rate being 50% plus even within the church, it makes me wonder about the kids that are out their that don’t have that family in place to disciple them!

Are we to just limit the things of Deuteronomy 6 to kids that actually have a father and mother that still live together? If that is the case; what about the over 50% of kids that are lost and have no family structure to show them the way? How do we go about equipping the next generation of kids that have no model to follow within the "Christian Family?"

I’ve heard a preacher say that it only takes 3 generations to forget about Jesus. The first generation gets it, the second, hears it but wants something more practical, and the third generation forgets it and wants something completely different.

This is the thing that keeps me up at night!!! Not only do I think and pray about my kids. I also pray about my kids children. I now start to pray for my kids children's kids, if that makes sense!?! I heard that the great theologian Jonathan Edwards used to pray for the next 5 generations of his family. WOW!

I guess what I am trying to figure out is, how do we equip the 50%+ of kids who have no parents to disciple them, as well as the kids that don’t even come from Christian homes! Who’s responsible for teaching that part of the next generation? It’s easy to sit here and say that Christian families need to follow the Deuteronomy 6 framework. But, as the statistics show, that scenario or situation is not only the minority as a whole, but even a smaller sliver of what we are dealing with in the context of the church. Which, is just a whole other problem in and of itself! We really need to target the young men (I mean the guys in their 20's who are out of college, starting a career who define themselves as successfull by a bank account and adding to a list of sexual conquests) who think that woman are just nothing but objects and "dumpsters" for pleasure. I will definitely address this soon!!!!!

Again, I agree that it is the parents responsibility to disciple their kids. If you consider yourself a Christ follower, this is your responsibility. But that is only a part of what we are dealing with if we are talking about the next generation. It starts within the Christian family but it doesn’t end there. Especially, if we want to teach, lead, guide and equip the future generations with the RIGHT AND ONLY GOSPEL MESSAGE!!! JESUS CHRIST DIED IN OUR PLACE AND TOOK THE WRATH OF GOD INSTEAD OF US SO THAT WHEN GOD LOOKS AT US HE SEES NOTHING BUT JESUS (Gal 4:1-7, 1 Tim 1:15, Heb 12:2)

CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO. THIS IS WHAT THE NEXT GENERATION IS:

http://www.revelationstudios.com/portfolio/all/1.html