Let's Be A Generation

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to change the world. I wanted to change how people looked at the world and related to one another. I wanted people to understand what real unconditional love looks like lived out on a day to day basis. I want to change the trajectory of people's lives based on what I say or teach or how I live.

So today I wanted to issue a challenge to anyone who thinks they might be willing to take it on...Let's Be A Generation that lives out God's high calling for our lives.

How can we do that, well there are several ways. First, let's be a generation that is known for loving God and loving others. You hear it over and over again from people who do not go to church and want nothing to with Christianity because the people who call themselves "Christians" are the biggest hypocrites and judgmental people that they have ever met. So I want to challenge you to show the world that real Christians are known for how much they love God and because we believe what John 3:16 says then we really love other people, NO MATTER WHAT! I want to be known as someone who loves people because I truly believe God loves people unconditionally. I know this is hard because of sin but remember God's grace and patience towards you when you mess up and how He pursues you even when you feel like you are beyond His reach. Let's Be a Generation that is remember for how we lived our lives in such a way that it was evident to anyone who looked at our lives that we loved God and we loved others.

Second, Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God in our marriages and how we do family. I do not believe in divorce and here is why. I believe I am suppose to represent God and His character in every way to my spouse. This means showing her grace, unconditional love, faithfulness, etc. So how can I trying to be like Christ ever walk away from her...the answer is I can't because God never walks away from us. So I believe this generation needs to live out the high calling of God for marriage. One thing that will be crucial to this is raising up a generation of men that are just that, men. Men that have character and work hard, who show up on time and stay late if need be. Men who make commitments and keep them. We need men pouring into younger men so that they will know how to be a husband and a father when their time comes. Finally, there is a new movement among evangelicals that I am super-excited about and that is adoption. We are hardly ever more like Christ than when we are giving a hope to the hopeless and being a father to the fatherless. I would like to see a generation that show the world God's love by loving children who have no one else to love them. David Platt's church in Birmingham, Alabama recently signed up to provide all the foster homes that the entire social services system needs in that town. Others are adopting kids from all over the world at a rapid pace and those who aren't adopting are still giving financially to the cause. I really hope in the next couple of years to adopt one or two children from around the world. Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God in the way we do marriage and family.

Finally, Let's Be a Generation that spends our money, our time, and our talent to change this world. My grandpa would always give money to people when they asked, it was weird like someone you just knew was not going to use the money for food or whatever they said they wanted money for but he gave it to them anyways. And when we asked him why he did it, he always had two answers. One was "well, it won't be on my conscience" and the other was "you can't take it with you when you go." It is the second answer that has changed my perspective of money the most. You can't take it with you when you go so why in the world are you trying to get as much of it as you can and keep it in a bank account for yourself? I am not against saving money for an emergency or having a cushion for unforeseen circumstances but there comes a point when enough is enough and you are just hoarding what God has given to you so that you could bless others. Use your money to make a difference in someone else's life because you can't take it with you when you go. The same goes with other things in your life. God gave you talents and time and other things in order that you could bless others with what God has given to you. How selfish would it be if I just keep my knowledge of the Scriptures, my theological education, and the ability to teach (well, lack of fear of public speaking) to myself. It wouldn't do me or anybody else any good to never use those things which God has given to me. Let's Be a Generation that changes this world however we can because God has given each of us unique resources and the opportunities to use those resources to bless others that only we have.

Let's Be a Generation that brings glory to God because we live out what He has called us to do. Love God and love others, do marriage and family the right way, and to use our individual abilities and resources to change the lives of others. Let's Be that Generation.