A Call to All Believers: How To Communicate To GenNOW
Just as tides roll in and out on the shore, generations come and go across the sea of time. Without a God-given supernatural interruption, the generational tide that comes in will also disappear in the blink of an eye.
When we observe previous generations, we witness the cycle of movements. The first generation, generates. The second generation motivates. The third generation speculates. The fourth generation usually dissipates. With each new movement of people, it is generally believed that their tide of enthusiasm and expertise will continually rise but over time it goes down. Over time, movements become the opposite of what they started out to be. History is replete with movements that became monuments.
Why do movements become monuments? I believe the answer is two-fold: 1) The lack of fresh vision; and 2) The slack of bringing enough young leaders into the movement in a timely manner to keep the movement young, vibrant and full of faith and vision.
For decades, the Church—and more specifically youth leaders—have been challenged to communicate to the next generation. Yet, generations come and go, and it seems that they are not adequately reached, won or discipled to become Christ followers. This begs the question: when do we stop planning to reach the next generation and begin communicating to the now generation?
2,700 years ago, there was a generation that had lost its moral compass and was filled with paganism and idolatry. The high tide of holiness had given way to the low tide of hellishness. Yet, a faith-filled prophet named Elijah spoke into his generation and turned the tide around in a short period of time.
When Elijah was approximately 30 years old, he was called by God to speak to his generation. He lived in the timeframe of Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab, the son of Omri, did more evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him (1 Kings 16:30). Elijah appeared in a tempest and left in a whirlwind. He was the only person of faith who would stand before his generation while 7,000 others hid in caves. During the darkest hour in Israel’s history Elijah’s words and work were a witness for God, truth and purity. Elijah had several beliefs in his life which enabled him to communicate to his generation.
In like manner, the only way to interrupt the eroding tides of our culture and communicate to “GenNow,” is through a supernatural invasion of communication, conviction and conversion.
We Must Be Committed As A Personal Representative For God
Elijah continues in 1 Kings 17, proclaiming, “before whom I stand…”
Elijah believed that God looks upon individuals and not masses of people. He believed that his work was to be a witness for God in the darkest hour of the nation. One of the greatest sins of the Church is when we neglect to tell others about the Gospel message.
When we stand before this generation to communicate to them, we are also standing before God himself. As a personal representative, we must be able to communicate in the language of our culture. As Dr. Leonard Sweet states, “We live in TGIF (TikTok, Google, Instagram and Facebook).” Today, GenNow has moved from the Guttenberg world to the Google world. The Guttenberg world was one of words, chapters and verses. The Google world is one of images, icons and inspiration. When Christian leaders communicate to this generation, it imperative to know the verbal, vocal and visual qualities of their message.
On one occasion, I was dialoguing with Richard DeVos, the Founder of Amway. I asked, “Why did you launch Amway during hard financial times?” His answer was, “I do not get to choose the generation that I will live in. But I do get to choose how I am going to respond to the generation that God has entrusted to me.”
We are Christ’s ambassadors to this generation! So, get up, shake the fear off, throw back your shoulders of faith and communicate to this fast-paced generation.
We Must Be Convicted Of The Personal Resources Available To Us From God
“Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, but he prayed.” (James 5:17)
Elijah knew that faith in the reality of God comes by prayer. Sometimes, we can fall victim to the mindset that we can only bring “big” things to God but not the “little” things. We need to understand for God, there are no big things or huge problems, but only small things and solutions. At times we overestimate our performance and underestimate the power of prayer. Our Almighty God has provided us the resources to reach this current generation, no matter how big or small the challenges we face.
There is a difference between speaking our words and speaking God’s words. A word is an outward expression of inward thought. Words reflect one’s thoughts. Jesus, being “the Word,” the divine Logos,” is the outward expression of the inward thoughts of God. If we are to invade the thoughts of GenNow, then we will have to speak God’s words. Additionally, with God’s words, we need God’s breathe on them; not just our breathe. It is the anointing of the Spirit that “breaks the yoke,” or sets people free of everything that has bound them from becoming what God has intended for them.
Many years ago in the Saint Louis International Airport, I was catching a very early flight home. I was so tired that I laid my head back on the chair and fell asleep. When I finally woke up, the entire gate area was empty, and the plane was gone. I just could not believe that I had missed my flight. I have no doubt that announcements were made to alert travelers that the plane was boarding. Yet, I missed it. I slept through it. I am confident that people looked at me sound asleep and oblivious to what was going on around me!
We are living in the greatest time on earth, and we have the unique opportunity to communicate the grandest story to GenNow. We must not sleep through it or we will miss the chance to make an impact on today’s generation of Christ followers.
If we are going to pour into and train up the now generation of believers, then we need to be convinced of the present reality of God, committed as a personal representative of Christ Jesus and convicted of the personal resources available from God himself. So, walk in faith and seek every opportunity to speak into the generation that is before you right now.
Dr. James O. Davis is co-founder of Global Church Network, a growing coalition of more than 2,750 Christian ministries, 180 plus hubs and 700,000 churches, who are synergizing and mobilizing their efforts to help finalize the Great Commission by 2030, the 2000th Birthday of the Church. The Global Church Divinity School has helped train tens of thousands of Christian leaders since 2002.
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