The Value and Unimportance of Intergenerational Faith

Recently, at a large, extended-family Christmas gathering, one of the uncles commented that the family now had achieved five living generations. Those involved had taken pictures, and these were displayed for all to see. Conversations regarding who remembers whom and what year Great-Grandma’s grandpa was born circulated, making the younger heads buzz with confusion. But the conversation about intergenerational faith was one that resonated with me.

Intergenerational faith is extremely valuable. Many young people have chosen the kingdom of God due to the faith of their fathers encouraging them toward that choice. Many people have observed the faith and actions of their ancestors and have resolved to do the same. Many have seen the pain that accompanies wrong choices and have avoided those negative outcomes by adjusting their own course. Cause and effect shines so much more clearly when we can see it in our grandparents and great-grandparents.

But intergenerational faith is not imperative. Just like the biblical Ruth, who left her family and their worship patterns behind to serve Jehovah, so today sincere people can and do leave their inherited settings for the narrow way. Inheriting the Christian faith from many generations of faithful ancestors may not be their privilege, but they are not at a disadvantage because of it. They might even have an advantage in the simple fact that the vision for truth is ever so fresh for them.

They are unencumbered by the plodding of generations of Christian living that can lull people into complacency. They have needed to think for themselves to explain their faith and practice to their unbelieving family and friends who do not understand. Regardless of their forefathers, they can serve God as faithfully as anyone who has a grand family tree in the church.

What is more important than intergenerational faith is a faith that produces action today. No matter whether we have hundreds of years of faithful Christian living behind us or not, each of us still needs to make the choices that will keep the faith active in our own lives so it can be passed on to our descendants. Each of us needs to realize that without decisive steps to follow Christ, we will individually lose our way. A change off course as small as one degree, if not corrected, will result in a vastly different destination.

How can we have an active faith? We need a faith that makes us work. We need to be intentional with reaching out to the lost and making disciples of them. We need to get off our easy chairs and from behind our newspapers and do some writing ourselves. We need to take some of our hard-earned cash and donate it to a local need. We need to get off our knees and then go be the answer to someone’s prayer.

Passing on the faith to the next generation is a noble goal, but first it must work for us.