Thu 21 Aug, 2008
One of the two main goals my wife and I have this year in our homeschool program is the idea of integrating a multigenerational vision of faithfulness. (The other is Family Worship which I will be writing on shortly) Now that’s a mouthful. What do I mean by this?
While I may have a slightly different view of some on this topic, the idea of multigenerational vision of faithfulness is a concept based on the God’s commands to Old Testament Israel regarding family, life and nation. It is most fully developed in Deuteronomy 6 and 7. Israel as the chosen people of God were always only one generation from extinction. It was only by the grace of God they were kept them from that extinction in the face of their constant disobedience. Yet the faithful ones always had a vision for God’s glory through the spiritual health of their family that included a “bigger picture”. That bigger picture as the preservation of the nation. They knew that Messiah would come to the nation and that the consequences of their actions would impact the nation.
Christians today are heirs to the same tendencies and we are under the same terms of extinction. Likewise only by the grace of God are preserved from extinction. Christian’s are called to the same vision of a “bigger picture”. Yet sadly, we are repeating OT Israel’s mistake by not heeding this.
Why is this important? According to the people who track trends, there is not much distinction between the world and church in terms of social problems. Most church families tend to outsource spiritual training to Sunday School teachers, Christian school teachers, youth group or the youth pastor. Many families who are dedicated to the “in-house” idea of spiritual training still tend to focus solely on themselves or just their children. To some parents, “getting them saved” is the goal. Some hope their children “catch” their faith. For others the focus is on preparation to resist peer pressure in school. To others its the idea of investing as much as you can before they leave home. All these goals tend to be defensive and tactical rather than offensive and strategic. For most, parental involvement tends to end abruptly at age 18, right when children are facing adulthood for the first time.
The overall results of these efforts overall don’t fare well. According to the SBC, 90% of High School teens who leave for college never come back to church. Their faith is weak or non-existent. Whatever faith and training they had doesn’t hold up under worldly pressure.
Advocates of the multigenerational vision believe this is due in-part to the common belief today that Christianity is a solely a “personal” context, rather than having both a “personal” and “corporate” context. We end to express ourselves in terms such as personal savior, personal faith, personal beliefs, etc. The people of OT Israel had a different view. They knew who they were both individually and corporately. They were the “Son or Daughter of someone” but they also knew they were not just part of a nation but that they “were” Israel. Even the terms they used to describe themselves created a multi-generational connection to both past and future. They also lived in a expectancy of blessing in the promises of God. They trusted in the one who had promised Messiah and lived life expecting their children or their children’s children would see that day. God by his grace and through the prophets constantly reminded them of both contexts. The faithful listened and responded. They could not escape the fact that their lives were part of something larger than themselves.
The multigenerational vision really just takes the common biblical model of Proverbs 22:6 and places it back within God’s larger corporate context. By doing this, it removes the emphasis on self and places it back on God as the one we must obey and the only one who can sustain us. This is why it is so important to have a high view of the church. What do I mean by a high view? I define the church as the body of believers, chosen before the foundation of the world, and gathered by God, for His glory, united through the Gospel, through which He will accomplish His purpose on earth. The vision doesn’t translate if your view of the church is some sort of new and unforeseen organization, serving only some temporary purpose, and has no connection to the “εκκλησία” (a common name for called out or assembled believers from the LXX Septuagint) of the OT. The vision doesn’t connect if your view of the future is pessimistic. You also can’t embrace this vision for the future if you believe that Christians can choose to live life undistinguishable from that of an unbeliever or that sanctification and obedience are optional. In these cases, a future vision is unnecessary since all decisions are made in and for the “here and now”. Decisions such as these are commonly seen as only impacting the “personal believer” and are divorced from the context of the church. Yet the Bible tells us otherwise. Members of the body who are weak, weaken the entire body. Unaddressed sin in the life of a church member, impacts the corporate body. The church is a living body, not collection of disjointed, optional or unrelated members.
However, those people, called by God, in grace, through faith in Messiah, to worship and serve Him are His eternal people. They were in Him before time began and will be forever. Through the cross of Jesus, their identity is in God. I like the way my pastor once put it…Church is not something you do or somewhere you go, it is who you are.
Many people talk about having dreams for their children. We now have a “vision” for our children and their children. It is no longer just a wish or hope but a decisive plan to instill Biblically based truths, sound doctrine and a world-view that is focused not only on this generation. Yet, in this vision we must realize that we can only trust in the efforts of Jesus work on the cross. It is only by the grace of God, through Christ, that we are preserved and it will be by His grace that the Gospel will be victorious. We ought not be hoping the end will come in our lifetime, absolving us of our future responsibilities. We are called to action through obedience and faithfulness. God will accomplish His goals on his time schedule, by graciously including us in the process.
I’m sharing this new concept in our family’s life as an encouragement to other families who are interested in patterning a more biblical view of the family, spiritual leadership and education. I have more questions than answers. So as we start the new school year, I’ll fill in our experience as we move through the learning process, trusting in God and his grace.
Art says:
Jared Mellinger from Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills recently gave a great talk on this command of God. You can find the message here
http://www.covfel.org/audio/sunday/2008_10_05.m3u
A study sheet can be found here
http://www.covfel.org/pages/index.php?fuseAction=page&pID=3000
Size Matters - Spirit Filled Puritan says:
[...] is why the idea of the multi-generational vision of faithfulness is so important. God’s command to Christians is to take dominion of the Earth, harnessing [...]