Generations to come

One of the most well known passages in the Old Testament is found in the book of Deuteronomy. It is called the Shema and is one of the most important passages in the prayer life of the Jewish people.

These words are often recited at the beginning and end of the day and would be words that many Jews would have committed to memory. Here are the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

I believe that one of the reasons these words are so important to the Jewish people is because they are so foundational to what it means to be the people of God and pass that faith on to the next generation. Let’s consider the implications of this short, but powerful, passage of Scripture.

It begins with the idea that the Lord is our God and that we must learn to love the Lord with all we have and are. Our emotions. Our inner being. Our bodies. God’s love must flow into every aspect of who we are, inside and out.

I think the idea here is that God so fills us that God will pour out of us. And as that happens, one generation passes their faith onto the next generation as a natural byproduct of being immersed in the Kingdom.

Most statistics state that 60%-90% of young people today will leave the church when they graduate. The question so many people ask is why. I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but here are two reasons that I believe are a part of the issue at hand.

The first one goes back to this idea of God pouring out of us. Before we question how passionate the younger generation is about God and the Kingdom, I believe that we should make an honest assessment of our own spiritual situation. Are we so filled with the Kingdom that it naturally flows out of us? I could spend a lot more time on this, but I will leave that question for us to wrestle with.

Second, are we attempting to pass on our faith in a way that is relevant to the upcoming generation? I don’t believe that we change the underlying values of God’s Kingdom, but do we need to be more open to how the Kingdom manifests itself in the next generation? Every generation tends to believe that their way of expressing the Kingdom of God is the best and right way. However, we must be open to considering that it is only a way, not the way. What if we were more open to new methods of living out what it means to live in the Kingdom of God?

These can be daunting questions that are not always easy to answer, but if we are going to be true to the words of Deuteronomy 6, every generation has to honestly consider the two questions above and respond accordingly. When we do, God will be able to do amazing things through us, and the generations to come.

 

shine!
Jason