Blessing and Challenges of Second Generation Christians

I. God’s plan is for believers to share their faith with their family

A. Matthew 28:18-20 – The great commission

B. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 – what you have heard from me, entrust to others to teach it also

C. A great priority of sharing faith, is parents teaching their children

1. 2 Timothy 1:5 and 3:15 demonstrate the imparting of faith from parent to child.
2. 2 John 4 writing to the “elect lady”, John says, “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.”

D. The key to teaching is not to make sure the kids hear the facts but for the parents to nurture and develop their children’s faith directly, deeply instilling the principles, meaning, and value of faith.

E. When parents do not impart their faith in a meaningful and deep way, their children may not develop faith on their own.

1. Children consider faith just “something we do” not the embodiment of their existence and meaning and may have little to do with it when they are grown.
2. Some parents just expect their kids will get it through exposure at church and Bible classes and being around other Christian people. But I have know many young Christians who were disengaged in Bible classes when they were young, and walked away from the church when they had their independence.
3. Judges 2:7, 10-12 – The next generation
4. Adult children may leave the faith despite our best efforts but some may depart because they never felt that they had a good reason to stay.

F. Next generation Christian problems

1. However, Christian children who do not fall away may still face some unique challenges
2. There are challenges to next generation Christians whose parents (and even grandparents) were Christians.

II. Part of the challenge is that the next generation Christian had no profoundly transformational moment in their spiritual life.

A. The sinful worldly person who experiences the hopeless, dark, and dirty world of sin who grasps the reality of the holiness, mercy, and truthful light of God can see a clear distinction in the life they led before and after their conversion. The transformation of their thoughts and actions is like night and day.

1. Matthew 13:44-45 – parables that explain this transformative experience.

B. Next generation Christians were often exposed to God’s word, worship and godly people all of their lives.

1. They sang “This Light of Mine” before they could read and went to Bible classes, youth Bible studies, Vacation Bible Schools, and perhaps learned Bible lessons at camps and similar activities.
2. As they got older they may have said some bad things and committed other sins, but the type of kids we’re talking about now, were never outright rebellious, indulging in sinful behavior for many years.
3. Even when such a person is baptized the stronger reason, and it is a good reason, is because they want to commit their lives to God.
4. They do realize they are sinners who need repentance, but it is often with the sense of “we are all sinners” and the sins they call to mind would seem far less severe than the sins on the mind of the reprobate who feels the full guilt of his unholy ungodly rebellion.
5. Even singing “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see” will seem a little hollow because that wasn’t really how it feels to them.

C. This next generation Christian will live a life much like they had before they were a Christian and so it won’t seem like such a pivotal defining moment of profound change in their life.

III. Some next generation Christians are not strongly committed to God because they have just been doing what was expected of them.

A. When they were baptized it might have been because their Bible class friends were being baptized, “it was just about time”, or their parents, Bible class teachers, and preacher kept pestering them by asking, “Why haven’t you been baptized yet.”

1. I’ve known several people who just wanted to get their parents off of their back and so they were baptized.
2. They knew the right things to say, that they knew right from wrong and had sinned, but it wasn’t a time of turmoil about their sin and compelling need to be baptized to appeal to their tortured conscience.

B. Sometimes these adult children do not walk away from the faith but stagnate in place.

1. They still come to church, may even take a leading role and do some good works, but mainly come because it’s what they always have done and socially they like the people there.
2. Some just show up for services then leave, satisfying their conscience, participating but not being very engaged in the worship, and go about their life with little focus on God until “the next appointed time.”

C. However, this type of Christian doesn’t engage in much deep study or prayer outside of the assembly.

1. The Hebrew writer warned of this in Hebrews 5:11-12 – ought to be teachers but need teaching.
2. They become content with their level of knowledge and trite prayers.
3. To them the Christian life is useful, habitual, and ritual but not deeply meaningful and engaging.

D. Next generation Christians can have a hard time seeing themselves as sinners in desperate need of God’s grace and can sometimes fail to see that though they are not evil, they are not living up to the standard of holiness and devotion to good works that Christ expects.

E. The Jews faced this challenge as well.

1. In Romans 1-11, Paul makes a lengthy case about the righteousness and sovereignty of God and the need of unrighteous people to receive His grace.
   • In Romans 2, starting in verse 12 he compares the faith and salvation of the Jews and Gentiles noting that Jews who broke the Old Law would be judged by it but that Gentile, who didn’t have the Old Law, did what God required that they would be accepted.
   • He further noted how the Jews viewed themselves (READ 2:17-20):

Proudly claim your Jewish heritage, the law, and boast in God.

Are certain that they have the guiding light of truth and knowledge embodied in the law and teach it to the foolish and the children.

• But Paul also noted, that they also violated the Law in which they took so much pride (v. 21-24)

Their lives were inconsistent with their message.

They needed to teach themselves God’s word.

They dishonored God by breaking the law and the Jewish hypocrisy was obvious to the Gentiles.

F. After hearing this you might wonder if we are doing our kids a disservice but there are many advantages next generation Christians have that Christians coming out of the world do not.

G. Continuing to read in Romans 3, we see the Jews did enjoy advantages of their heritage as God’s people.

1. Read Romans 3:1-2
2. They had an advantage because God entrusted them with His word even though some did not take full advantage of the blessing.

IV. The advantage of next generation Christians

A. God being a constant in one’s life

1. The next generation Christian has benefited from a relationship with God from youth because of parents who taught them Bible history, principles, and knowledge of God the Father, Son, and Spirit.
2. Deuteronomy 6:7 – “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”

B. Spiritual knowledge built over a lifetime

1. Next generation Christians raised by parents who taught them at home, brought them to Bible classes and other opportunities, have given them volumes of spiritual knowledge with which they can understand the world, make wise decisions, and reflect on to develop wisdom and appreciation of God’s will.
2. Christians from the world learn the historical stories for the first time and make up for lost time because they didn’t have the spiritual teaching from their youth.

C. Good sense of morality and ethics

1. Children of Christians taking college ethics classes are often amazed at what seems so obvious to them in ethical decision making is a complete mystery to students without a Bible-based ethical background.
2. Godly parents teach their children to be fair, respect all people, treat others fairly, and not use people for their own material gain or personal pleasure.
3. 1 Peter 4:1-5 – They think it is strange how Christians act
4. Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

D. Next generation Christians have often developed very godly habits that are edifying instead of destructive.

1. Christians coming out of the world often must break bad habits developed from a lifetime of impure speech, thoughts, and actions.
2. Because of the godly morality and godly habits, next generation Christians have often avoided many heartaches and difficult consequences of sinful behavior.
   • Proverbs 1:8-19
   • Proverbs 4:10-27
   • Proverbs 5:7-14, 21-23

V. Being a next generation Christian can be a blessing or challenge: it all comes down to the commitment we make to God not our parent’s or grandparent’s faith.

VI. As an older preacher once said, God doesn’t have grandchildren. We need to make our faith our own.