Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch in Oklahoma spoke at the Orange Conference. Here are some of his thoughts:
“What do you think success is in raising the next generation?
Culture says success is raising well-rounded, well-educated, and happy kids.
Unfortunately, employers don’t want to hire people who are average at a lot of things, education does not often trump social skills and character, and ‘do it if it makes you happy’ leads us down the wrong path.
Instead, we should see King David’s persepctive as our own.
‘Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.’ – David in Psalm 71:18
We are called by God to unleash single-minded, Christ-centered, and biblically-anchored world changers.
- single-minded – understanding their gifts and calling
- Christ-centered – not rules, morality, religion, or peer-centered
- biblically-anchored – knowing God’s Word and hiding it in their heart
- world changers – not out to get money or power but to bring positive change to our world
How can we pull this off?
‘4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.’ – Deuteronomy 4:6-9
Enlist supportive voices – ‘Hear, O Israel’ = We need each other! Parents are the most important voice, but it shouldn’t be the only voice. We need to build up inter-generational leaders to mentor others.
Raise the expectations – ‘ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your strength’ not just ‘part of your heart or a little bit of your soul, and some of your strength’. We will rarely get more than we expect from our children. Jesus calls us to complete and total surrender.
We have raised an entitled generation!
‘When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.’ – 1 Corinthians 13:11
How many 11 year old kids think they can be a mentor? Those who were told they can.
Keep it real – ‘talk to them when you are on the road, when they go to bed, and they get up’ = God is not a part of our life, He is everything. Going to church isn’t what we do. We are the church. It’s who we are.
If I want to see them serving, loving, praying, etc. then make sure they see me doing these things. Don’t let the work of ministry rob you of your intimacy with God. Never put the work of God before God’s work in your life.
We are called to proclaim God’s power to the next generation!”
