We are to blame.
I was born into the end of the baby boomer generation. I am the son of a man who was a part of the Greatest Generation, and as such, my father instilled in me some old school values, including my Christian faith. I am thankful that one of the outcomes of his teaching has been the development of a strong work ethic. My own children have, over the years, complained about my expectations of them that are driven by that ethic. I need to own some of that as I am certain there were times when, in their youth, I expected of them character that wasn’t yet honed in me at that point in my life. I am pretty sure they forgive me. All three of them are amazingly talented people with remarkable drive.
As I look around at those close to me who are also a part of that generation, it is common to find a similar work ethic to the one instilled in me by my father. We have all tried to pass that on to our children, with much success.
Where we have failed is in the Church.
My generation by and large has grown complacent and comfortable with a faith and church that is viewed as powerless. We found ourselves lulled to sleep trusting in good Bible stories and self-help sermons that held no transformational power. It was in that same watered-down version of the Gospel that we immersed our children. They attended Sunday school and youth groups and played games. Conversations around Scripture, doctrine, and theology were limited or non-existent because no one wanted to scare them off. We bought the lie that they would come back for a donut and dodgeball, but not for the Truth. In fact, they did come back…until they didn’t.
At some point our children opened their own spiritual eyes and found the church we had created was lacking. It lacked the power to transform lives through the Holy Spirit. The feel-good musical performances and “you can do this” sermons lost their appeal. They began to look elsewhere to make sense of their culture because the church they were raised in stopped providing meaningful answers. We were all okay with being comfortable and stopped seeking transformational encounters with the living God. So they stopped seeking Him, too. And why shouldn’t they? An “all-powerful” God who no longer acts or moves tangibly but has all sorts of divisive rules and impossible standards to follow doesn’t sound very appealing to me, either. And yes, I am suggesting that we’ve essentially rendered our all-powerful God impotent.
We are to blame.
Faced with a version of the Gospel that no longer has the power to change a person, they went looking for other answers. What they found—what they created—was a version of the church centered on the secular value of acceptance. It makes sense: if transformation isn’t possible, then acceptance of all lifestyles, orientations, and beliefs is the only other option. It feels loving, and since “God is love,” at least we can walk that part of the feel-good sermons. Because supernatural rebirth isn’t perceived or presented as an option anymore, this leads to the church no longer pointing out sin or poor theology. Because our culture says, “that is just how people are made,” or “it is their understanding of the truth,” any correction is considered judgment. How could it otherwise if it is not also delivered with the transformational hope found in the Holy Spirit or a personal encounter with the living God? My generation’s comfortable embrace of a complacent faith gave rise to one rooted in powerless, relativistic rubbish.
All is not lost.
Our God is still all-powerful, and He jealously desires fellowship with us. We simply need to get back to zealously desiring Him. We need to stop accepting manufactured moments—full of sound and fury but void of the Holy Spirit’s power—as encounters with the living God. Genuine encounters begin in the quiet, individual pursuit of knowing God through humble surrender to His will. There is no shortcut to create that connection. Only time spent in His Word, prayer, praise, and quiet will deepen the bond. As individuals, we must embrace these facts in order to corporately present a true version of the Gospel—one with the power to transform lives. It is that power that will draw the wandering lost back to the Truth. Donuts and dodgeball will be replaced by the Truth. That Truth will transform. That transformation will cause them to stay. In that, there is hope.
As for me, I am willing to do what is needed to make that change. Perhaps it starts by being willing to take the blame and committing to a presentation of the Gospel which is full of hope, power, and transformation.
