GenNext: Raising up Christians who know the Lord

STOP! Don’t skip this post—it isn’t just about raising kids!

For the next several weeks, we will be focusing on the importance of equipping children, new Christians, and current Christians to be pivotal members of the body of Christ.

The church is in crisis. The number of people identifying as Christians is dwindling. Pew-warmers seek entertainment, and feel-good messages rather than biblical literacy. Young people are leaving the faith in droves despite targeted “programs.” Church leaders are baffled. 

We are in a battle that’s raged since the birth of Creation. Satan wants us all to reject, ignore, or simply forget God. What will we choose? How will we help those who follow in our footsteps? Are we allies of God in this battle or are we unwittingly aiding the enemy through carelessness?

If we want the church to continue tomorrow, we need to actively train replacements today—and I’m not just referring to our own children. Every Christian should be taught, trained, and strengthened for action—especially when they are new in the faith.

The history of ancient Israel teaches us many lessons. They did a terrible job training their children (and each other). They were supposed to be God’s people, set apart from the world to fulfill his purpose (sound familiar??). The calamitous results of their neglect and apathy should shout at us through the ages, yet we fall into the same traps. Judges 2 tells us of their slow decay (you can read the full text here):

And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.  And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.

~ Judges 2.10-12, ESV

The next generation did not know God, so they did evil, and then abandoned the Lord. Do you see the progression?

Do we want the same said for the generation of Christians who follow in our footsteps? “There arose a generation who did not know the Lord, nor the saving power of Christ. They did evil in the sight of the Lord, worshipping entertaining speakers, abandoning the Lord and the truth.” I wish I could say this isn’t already happening…

It’s time to stop the downward slide.

I need to be asking myself these questions: What am I doing to prevent this? What can I do better? Am I being diligent in raising my own children to know the Lord? Where am I falling short? As with many of my posts, I do not write from some lofty expert status, but as one taking steps to walk more closely with Christ. I welcome input from those with more experience! (Feel free to email me: elihuscorner at yahoo dot com)

The next several posts in this series will revolve around the 6 E’s of raising a generation that knows the Lord: Engage, Exemplify, Equip, Entrust, Edify and Entreat.

The 6 E’s of Raising Gen-Next Christians:

Engage: Develop a meaningful relationship

Exemplify: Demonstrate how a Christian ought to live

Equip: Teach and train

Entrust: Involve in the important

Edify: Build up

Entreat: Go to the Lord on their behalf.

Today is the day to begin training replacements. We don’t know how much time we have left!