In the past 5 years, I have
studied, explored & experienced (as much as a 28 year old stay-at-home mom
can) different ways to relate to the Church – perhaps it would be better explained -
different ways to relate as a church with my brothers & sisters. I still don’t know much, but I have learned
some things. As more and more people in my generation are doing, I have moved
toward a more ‘free’ non-traditional expression of Church rather than the
customary Sunday morning scene. Through
this journey the past 5 years, I have continued to praise & thank God for
the courage & freedom He has given me to follow Him, despite expectations
put on me by others or by the church institution. For a people pleaser (in my flesh) this has been no small
feat.
In this last year in particular,
I have become aware of a very precious gift and that is an open heart toward my
brothers & sisters. I know this is
a gift from Him – because I’m a rebel in my flesh and love to throw the baby
(people) out with the bath water (their way of doing things that I don’t feel
called to). Instead of allowing me to
journey too far one way, God has brought me back into balance by gifting me
with an open heart to give people a chance.
He has helped me not depersonalize people and simply throw them
into a category & stereotype that I can then critique or argue (or rail)
against…. but instead has continually asked me to step toward people
that are different from me. Because of
my willingness to look at the heart of my brothers & sisters and not their
behavior or traditions, I have met some of the most beautiful, genuine, loving
women (and men!).
Fall 2010, I was asked to join a
Bible Study. I confess I was very
judgemental in my opinion that ladies in this study would be judgemental. J
I very much resisted being apart of this (very traditional and structured)
group and dragged my feet wanting to NOT like it – but the richness of the
teaching & love for Jesus & His Word won me over. When this group asked me to come into
leadership after that first year, I again did everything I could to resist it
but God continued to impress on my heart – don’t judge, keep your heart
open. What do you know, as soon as I
walked into that room for our first meeting (as the youngest in the group by 20
years at least), I saw Jesus was there.
Journeying with these women the past 2 years has humbled me. They have continued to show me that who they
are - is not how they do Church. How
much they love structure & routine is not WHO they are. J And they have shown me that just because
they are different than me, doesn’t mean they don’t have anything to teach
me. Quite opposite, really. I am SO thankful that I was open enough to
go into what I feared would be a lion’s den.
I write all this down to call out
an issue in our Church. The perfect
storm is happening right now to cause an intergenerational rift in the American
Church. Families do not stay
geographically together. We are mobile
& we are taking full advantage of it.
So many in my generation will move hundreds of miles away from ‘home’
and not ever return. They enter new
cities and enter the world with all it’s enticing temptations & ideologies,
many without strong support systems close to them. Praise God that some will stay connected to a church – but it’s
more rare than it is common for our college students. Almost every.single.one of those in my generation who somehow
endured & persevered through atheist professors & worldly pleasures and
returned back to a church (many times after they have gotten married &
started a family) --- choose a church full of people - just like them. They meet once a week with their church,
enjoy the rock concert worship performance together, hear some very relevant
non threatening sermon from a 30 or 40-something year old - and that’s
that. Their “leadership” teams are
chosen based more on business/marketing/finance/public speaking/organization
skills than anything I am finding in the Bible that constitutes an ‘elder’. I am concerned.
We don’t realize how much we were
made for community with each other. We
have let our ways of ‘doing’ church be more important than our love for each
other. I am so thankful when I hear of
Generation Y honoring BabyBoomers enough to realize they actually deserve our
respect and our ears and have a lot to teach.
I am soo encouraged when I see Baby Boomers trying their best to ‘be
relevant’ and enter the new ‘non- denominational’ denomination of churches
(although most don’t return after a few visits because their ears won’t stop
stinging after the extremely loud rock concert feel of worship). But I am discouraged that there does not
appear to be any true, genuine beyond surface interaction between the
generations. I am discouraged that when
we look at each other – we have begun to believe the lie that we are just too
different to find common ground - and that “they” just do not understand
us.
If I could “holla” at my
generation, I’d beg them (us) to surrender!
Surrender our egos that make us think anything we are doing is actually
‘new’ and that we have an edge on Truth.
Surrender our pride that tells us nobody understands us and we have to
link arms with only each other and do it our way, not caring what others think. Repent of our sin of not putting others
above ourselves. Repent of our sins of
judgement on others that are ‘too religious’ or ‘too traditional’. We must acknowledge that we don’t know it
all --- and that there is a LOT to learn from our brothers & sisters that
have been journeying with the Lord for longer than we have been alive! Yes, even those who still have their
“Sunday Best”!
In the same way, you who are
younger, submit yourselves to your elders.
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble…I Peter 5:5
If I could encourage the baby
boomers & silent generation, I would tell them - don’t be silent! Though so many of you were taught that
faith is private & not something to be talked about – please talk about
Jesus to us! Please tell us what you
have learned. Don’t be ashamed of us
and communicate that in the way you treat us.
More importantly, be willing to walk alongside & encourage us. Build relationships with us so when we do
trust you enough to ask your opinion you will be able to give us biblically
sound Truth we are craving. Ask God to
help you look past what we DO and see our hearts. Push through the awkwardness of asking a younger brother &
sister to have coffee & get to know each other. Don’t believe the lie that you don’t have anything to offer and
that it takes a pastor to walk alongside/serve every member of a church. Forgive and show grace to your younger
brothers & sisters that have had to endure a culture and worldly lies and
pressures unlike you have experienced (and many times they have had to
persevere with only Christ by their side in public squares full of
nonbelievers). Please don’t make us
change what we DO before you will accept us.
Don’t make us behave (as you want us to) before you will love us. Acknowledge that many of us are very close
to the Lord and that we have been captivated by His love – and you could use
some of our excitement & simplicity that comes with a young faith.
By this everyone will know
that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35.
The older generations need the
excitement, freedom & relationship-focus that our younger generation have in their walk with the Lord. The younger generation is desperate for
biblical knowledge, for examples of faith through storms, and discipline that
many in the older generation possess!
So MUCH of life & Truth can only be learned through experience – we
need people walking alongside us to encourage us in our marriage, in our faith
in our parenting….not to try to pass ALL knowledge to us – but to plant seeds,
to be there for us when we are ready to ask for help, to serve & walk
alongside – disciple!
I would LIKE to call ALL
generations to surrender our worship of our church practices & traditions –
that get in the way of us honoring & respecting & submitting to our
brothers and sisters….to get rid of it ALL….but I won’t do that. I will simply challenge each of us if we
aren’t willing to surrender our way of doing church – that we would be
intentional with the other 166 hours in our week and get around brothers &
sisters that do things different from us!
The reality is – there is a
balance in all God created, isn’t there?
Balance should definitely be a curse word. As soon as we feel we got something “right” - God shows us once
again we have drifted too far and it’s time to balance. We won’t ever get it fully right. I think the same is true of the Church. In a world full of extreme thinkers &
extreme doers, the ‘best’ path is usually right there in the middle of it
all. We need each other. I do
believe God designed us with different passions, ways of relating as a Church,
different revelations – for a purpose – and that purpose is not to argue &
move away from anybody that differs from us.
If God wanted us to be totally unified in
knowledge/brain/action/passions – He would have made things a lot more black
& white, right? And the truth is –
there’s a heck of a lot of grey. He
desires for us to be unified in Spirit. (Eph 4:3) To be submissive to
& considerate of each other. Not
just to the ones we agree with and really understand.
One day we will see fully – for
now we see in part – and if we refuse to walk alongside people who are
different from us – this rift between our generations will be a canyon… and I
believe it will be detrimental to the health of the American Church. Our disunity in interpretations, traditions
and Church practices are not only okay with God ---- they are planned &
designed by God. Those differences
are exactly what we need to learn to love others, to stop majoring in the
minors and instead find our unity & focus in Him.
I pray that we will not
have un-christlike embarrassment of each other, but we will open our hearts to
each other. There is a beautiful
opportunity here to bring LOVE, respect & honor back into our worlds.
There is nothing wrong in The Church that a massive
surrendering to Christ will not fix. I
am standing on the hope that my job is to surrender (submit) to Him & to
others – and He will present Her, [The Church] to Himself as radiant,
without stain & wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy & blameless.
Eph 5:27
3 comments:
Hi Randi Jo - This was Good Stuff.
Enjoyed your experience, and outcome, with a “very traditional and structured” Bible Study.
Our Lord has blessed you with much wisdom...
“Because of my willingness to look at the heart of my brothers & sisters and not their behavior or traditions, I have met some of the most beautiful, genuine, loving women (and men!). “
The wisdom to go where he leads... To hear His Voice and follow Him...
Us “sheeps” ain’t all that smart... ;-)
Seems - Jesus just asks us to trust Him... where ever He leads...
It’s wonderful and amazing how Jesus can teach us ALL tthings...
Even when we think - and feared - we’re heading into the lions den... ;-)
Continue being Blessed - and being a Blessing...
Thank you soo much for your encouragement - it really means a lot, thank you! :)
Yes, Jesus IS so amazing! It seems that although He is never changing - He is always surprising me as far as where He is leading!! I pray He will keep my heart open and trust His leading - as illogical or crazy as it all seems sometimes!!! :)
I've been waiting for you to have a blog that I can follow - am excited to see a link on your name, now!! :)
thanks again
Wow! Just wow. I really needed this at this point in my walk with the Lord. Having been witness to this generational gap myself, you really hit the nail on the head.
We've been thirsting for something more than just Sunday morning services and after begging and pleading and praying we still are no closer to an answer but I do know if us brothers and sisters were to come together and learn off of each other our "churches" would be happening more than an hour or two a week.
This is what is missing in the American church as you have stated. My prayer is that the body of Christ (Us the church) wakes up and realizes that by putting on this facade that in reality it is just driving people away.
Thanks again Randi Jo for an awesome blog! Glad God lead me here!
Post a Comment