Passing on Faith to the Next Generation
3 Ways to Pass on Faith to the Next Generation
Tim Keller
(This article appeared on the Gospel
Coalition website here 3 ways to pass on faith to the next generation and was adapted from Tim Keller’s book Judges
For You (The Good
Book Company, 2013))
It is impossible to lay blame neatly when one generation
fails to pass its faith on to the next one. Did the first generation fail to
reach out, or did the second generation just harden their hearts? The answer is
usually both. Mistakes made by one Christian generation are often magnified in
the next, nominal one.
Commitment is replaced by complacency—and then by
compromise.
An interesting example is early New England. Nearly all the
first settlers in 1620 to 1640 were vital, biblical Christians. But by 1662,
the first generation realised that many of their children and grandchildren
were only nominal—believers in name only. They ended up instituting a “Halfway
Covenant,” allowing people to vote who were baptised as infants but who as
adults were not church members.
Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 6:20–25 are instructive here. They show us what must
be done in order to pass on our faith.
1. Love God Passionately
We love God wholeheartedly, having these commandments on our
hearts (v. 6). This means we are not hypocritical or inconsistent in our behaviour.
The commandments are not only kept mechanically or partially; rather, God has
an effect on all of us, through and through.
Young people are sensitive to any inconsistency. That is the
first reason a younger generation can turn from the faith of an older one.
Young people are sensitive to any inconsistency. That is the
first reason a younger generation can turn from the faith of an older one. One
example is how Baby Boomer youth turned away from mainstream Christianity after
seeing churches tacitly or even actively support racist policies and practices,
and many established churches oppose the civil-rights movement.
2. Impress Truths Practically
We are to apply the gospel practically, not only
academically or abstractly. Deuteronomy 6:7 is
not promoting regular family lectures. The references to “sit . . . walk along
. . . lie down and . . . get up” refer to the routines of daily life.
Instruction in God’s truth, then, is not so much a series of
lectures and classes; rather, we are to “impress” truths about God by showing
how he relates to daily, concrete living. This is a call to be wise and
thoughtful about how the values and virtues of the gospel distinctively
influence our decisions and priorities.
3. Give Testimony Personally
Verses 20–25 tell us we are to link the doctrines of the
faith to God’s saving actions in our lives. We are to give personal testimony
to the difference God has made to us, how he’s brought us from bondage into
freedom: “We were slaves . . . but the LORD brought us out.” We are not only to
speak of beliefs and behaviour, but also of our own experience of God. We must
be open about our struggles to grow, and transparent about how repentance works
in our lives. We are not to be overly formal and impersonal in the expressions
of our faith.
We [wrongly] assume that if we instruct our children in true
doctrine, shelter them from immoral behaviour, and involve them in church and
religious organisations, then we have done all we can.
In summary, we must be consistent in our behaviour, wise
about reality, and warmly personal in our faith. History and experience both
show us that these three things are hard to carry out on a broad scale. Most
Christians rely on institutions and formal instruction to “pass on the faith.”
We assume that if we instruct our children in true doctrine, shelter them from
immoral behaviour, and involve them in church and religious organisations, then
we have done all we can. But youth are turned off not only by bad examples, but
also by parents who are not savvy about the lives and world their children are
living in, or who cannot be open about their own interior spiritual lives.
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