Chapter Eleven
1. The picture Chris
painted that day was an aha moment for me.
Original
assumption: The church exists to prepare the next generation to fulfill
God’s purposes.
New thinking: The
church is a partnership of generations fulfilling God’s purposes in their time.
What does this mean? The Christian
community is one of the few places on earth where those who represent the full
scope of human life, literally from the cradle to the grave, come together with
a singular motive and mission. The church is (or should be) a place of racial,
gender, socioeconomic, and cultural reconciliation— because Jesus commanded
that our love would be the telltale sign of our devotion to him (see John 13:
35)— as well as a community where various age demographics genuinely love each
other and work together with unity and respect.
- How do current
practices of segregation inhibit this?
- Where is the Spirit
building intergenerational unity?
2. The second thing I
have learned through the process of our research is that the Christian
community needs to rediscover the theology of vocation. Vocation is a clear
mental picture of our role as Christ-followers in the world, of what we were
put on earth to do as individuals and as a community. It is a centuries-old
concept that has, for the most part, been lost in our modern expressions of
Christianity. For me, frankly, the most heartbreaking aspect of our findings is
the utter lack of clarity that many young people have regarding what God is
asking them to do with their lives. It is a modern tragedy. Despite years of
church-based experiences and countless hours of Bible-centered teaching,
millions of next-generation Christians have no idea that their faith connects
to their life’s work. They have access to information, ideas, and people from
around the world, but no clear vision for a life of meaning that makes sense of
all that input. I believe God is calling the church to cultivate a larger,
grander, more historic sense of our purpose as a body and as individuals.
- What might our roles
look like as mentors of faith?
3. Finally, I have
learned that the Christian community needs to reprioritize wisdom in order to
live faithfully in a discontinuously different culture. Submerged as we are in
a society that values fairness over justice, consuming over creating, fame over
accomplishment, glamour over character, image over holiness, and entertainment
over discernment, we need a blueprint for what life is meant to be. How can we
live in-but-not-of lives in the world that surrounds us? In a culture skeptical
of every kind of earthly authority, where information is dirt cheap and where
institutions and leaders so often disappoint, we need God-given wisdom. Wisdom
is the spiritual, mental, and emotional ability to relate rightly to God, to
others, and to our culture. We become wise as we seek Christ in the Scriptures,
in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, in the practices and traditions of the
church, and in our service to others. As we come to know and revere God— which,
according to Proverbs 9: 10, is the beginning of wisdom— he will make us wise.
But this is often a painful process…
- How does Jesus’ parable
of the prodigal son grant you wisdom?
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