The Last Christian Generation

I just finished reading The Last Christian Generation by Josh McDowell. First, I need to confess that it took me a few weeks to read it. Not because it's wordy or hard-to-read, I just had a couple of things consume my time that caused me to take a week off from reading.

This book is challenging, scary, and encouraging. It outlines the struggles the church faces today as we seek to raise up a generation that will continue to follow Jesus. While I don't agree with everything McDowell has to say, he does hit hard on some convictions that I share with him.

One of those convictions is that a good portion of the blame belongs not to the teenagers, but to us. We have allowed too many other things to become more important than spiritual formation and following Jesus.

On the other hand, we must be willing to meet teenagers where they are. This can be a somewhat difficult balance to maintain. I have seen some who want to force their version of Christianity on the next generation. By "version," I don't mean the fundamental core beliefs. There are some things - such as the deity of Christ and the resurrection - that are non-negotiables. But there are too many opinions and forms that some would want to make requirements for every generation.

What is amazing to me is that some of the things we fight for the most weren't even around in the 1st century - or in some cases, even a few hundred years ago. Why do some fight about projectors and video when song books as we know them didn't exist until Gutenberg came on the scene? Why do we argue about what we can do in a "sanctuary" when most early church gatherings were in people's homes? Why do we get into conflicts over what songs we sing when most of them were written less than a few hundred years ago?

I guess my point is this: While we are busy beating each other up about things that are not all that important in the grand scheme, the majority of the next generation is moving on from the church - and in many cases, Jesus. They are walking away from, or never experiencing, a relationship with a body of believers. We have become a museum, something from the past. From their vantage point, we are nothing but a reminder of the history of our country.

If we are going to be honest, often the way we live doesn't help either. We "go to church" (a phrase that Gorden Fee really challenged me on last week) and listen to sermons and sing. But then we go home and live like what we just did isn't all that important. For many of us, that doesn't mean we live immoral lives, but we can tend to live spiritually irrelevant lives.

What message does it send when we sing, "All to Jesus I Surrender," and we put the change from our pocket in the contribution plate? What does it say when we sing, "In Christ alone," and then we proceed to use our credit card so we can buy something we can't afford to give us a feeling of "security"?

If we want the next generation to take Jesus seriously, we need to start by modeling it. Sometimes that means we need to have the courage to make the right decision instead of the one that is easy or popular. Maybe we need to turn down the job that pays more but takes us away from home more. It might be that we need to pass on the brand new car so we can help someone else in the church who can't pay their utility bill. Maybe it will even call us to use some of our vacation to serve others instead of using it all to entertain ourselves.

I don't have all the answers. I don't know how to do it all the best way. But I know that Jesus calls us on this exciting journey to live out life in a way that reflects His character. If we can do that with authenticity and courage, this won't have to be the last Christian generation.

shine!
Jason