Page 8 - 2017 JFBNews - August

Are All Your Friends

Your Age?

It’s a strange thing to see arguments for why an entire our days” and enables that truth to penetrate our hearts so that we
demographic of people are “the worst.” But as a member of the use what time we have wisely and in a manner glorifying to him.
“Millennial” generation, it is apparently not only acceptable, but
almost trendy (just try googling Millennial and worst). But Youthful rebellion lies at the heart of sin’s corruption. Perhaps
disesteem doesn’t only run downhill. Many Millennials roll their surprisingly, Paul lists it alongside those who hate God and invent
eyes not only at the clichéd caricatures of themselves they hear evil, the heartless and brutal (Romans 1:30; 2 Timothy 3:2).
Younger generations have a reputation of being petulant,
from older generations, but at the older generations themselves.
rebellious, and contentious. Whether these characterizations are
This is, of course, nothing close to a new phenomenon. Envy, fair or not, the point remains: in Christ “the grace of God has
conflict, and disrespect have never been confined to the appeared . . . training us to renounce ungodliness” (Titus 2:11–12).
“neighbors” within our own generation. We all need Jesus to
Our solution is not to prove our worth to older generations, but to
restore relationships not only with those who are near to us, but to
lean on the life-transforming grace of God. And older believers are
those who are different.
one of God’s greatest gifts to bring this about.
Without Christ’s restorative grace, such intergenerational pride will
How God Gets Us to Grow
endure. “But it shall not be so” in Jesus’s church (Mark 10:43). We
need each other. And God provides the grace for both young and Fellow young believers, the godly older people in your life and
old to reach out to one another in grace and understanding. The congregations have walked through similar spiritual storms, valleys,
church is not only forties and under (woe to us if it were!). And the deserts, and obstacles that you are walking through right now. I
church is not only fifties and over (again, woe to us if it were!). God cannot guarantee they’ll be perfect mentors or models, but God
calls, utilizes, and sanctifies his children of all ages. has placed you under their influence for your good and growth in
godliness. Walking through life with them will not yield a mess-free
Exhortation for Younger Believers
or easy life — but by God’s grace, it can be a life pointed toward
Pride is a species-wide disease for humans, reflective of our enmity Christ.
with God and inheritance from Adam. However, its manifestations
It is the grace of God that we have people older than us to walk
are many and some are subtle and difficult to detect.
with us, pray for us, and guide us. It’s arrogant of us to think that
In young people, our pride is often manifested in the illusion that we don’t need to listen to them. We are exhorted to “flee youthful
youth is forever. In foolishness, we forget old age. No matter how passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along
young you are, old age is coming for you — unless God wills your with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart” (2 Timothy
time be short. Wisdom only comes when God helps us “to number 2:22). We are not called to try and do this alone.

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