Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3
This is generally true of parenting and grand parenting. Those blessed with children can find a reward in the next generation. They can see a heritage. I would always encourage young parents to believe this, trust God’s good gifts, and seek to instill godly values in their kids. The future depends on it.
But… I also know many parents who now should be reaping the heritage harvest and the fruit of their rewards but instead feel the deep pain daily struggling as this promise seems to come to them unfulfilled. There are a lot of reasons this has happened and I do not list them to excuse any mistakes in parenting or to explain away the decline of a generation. I want to talk about them so that I can share in the suffering of the saints who trust God to yet bless the next generation.
Why does the fruit turn bad? Let me briefly share two observations that I know. First, some were part of a church culture but did not have a Christ commitment. I have see many good church kids leave the church because they could not sustain a “youth group fun time” mentality which is woefully unrealistic once adulthood starts bringing responsibilities. This is shallow experience and lack of discipleship on the part of the church. Parents perhaps overly relied on programs. And fake “Christianese” cultures develop. This fake culture gets confused with real Christian faith. A few come back by the power of the gospel. Some never get past this criticism and confusion.
Secondly, some were not prepared for worldview clashes. They went off to college or the job market and a psychology course or an office supervisor wickedly attacked Christian perspectives as irrational, outdated, or abnormal. Pair that with a campus or office life of moral “free-for-all” culture and it is easy to fit in by quietly phasing out of Christian pasts. Again, some young adults return after a prodigal party. Many others, however, do not. Some even turn on their families, calling Christian upbringing toxic, uncaring, controlling, manipulative, and even evil.
This is an epidemic among Boomer and Gen-X parents right now in the church. I have met hundreds of parents in this state. Pray! Pray for a generational heritage that has heard the truth to return to the truth. Pray for hearts to come home to the Lord!
