Logos School Worldview Assembly
Introduction
Psalm 127 famously says that unless God builds the house, the builders labor in vain and unless God guards the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain. Only God can build sturdy houses and families, and only God keeps and establishes cities and nations. And the two things go together: nations are families and tribes bound together in a particular place. Families are the building block of society, or the “nucleus” of society, which is where we get the notion of the “nuclear family.” So when we talk about the next generation of families, we’re also talking about the next generation of cities and nations.
Psalm 127 says that even intense work ethics or anxiety won’t do it: getting up early or staying up late or stress eating. These things do not build families and keep cities safe. They are not the true productive engine that God uses to build generations.
Psalm 127 says that God builds houses and guards cities through the gift of children. They are the inheritance of the Lord; they are His fruitful reward. An inheritance is a gift passed down to future generations for the purpose of launching new generations further. In the Old Testament, the first born son usually received a double portion of the inheritance because it was his job to carry on his father’s house and to care for his parents in their old age. But Psalm 127 says that children are God’s inheritance – they are God’s “double portion” for us to build the next generation. God gives children for building houses and watching cities.
It also says that the fruit of the womb is God’s reward. The word “reward” is also sometimes translated as wages or payment. This means that children are wealth. This is because human beings are the most valuable resource in the universe. They are the most valuable resources because they are the only part of creation made in the image of God. Abortion is a great and wicked evil, but it is also a form of madness and insanity. We are destroying the most valuable resource in the universe, just flushing it down the drain. How many brilliant scientists, painters, mathematicians, painters, composers, or inventors have we killed?
The Psalm closes by calling children arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, and it explains that they make men happy and unashamed because they join their fathers standing for goodness and beauty and truth in the city gates. Children are weapons and reinforcements. Children are the ordinary way that God builds houses and guards cities.
Thinking in Generations
So, how do we build the next generation of families? You can think of this in at least two ways: First, be the inheritance, reward, and reinforcements of your parents (and grandparents). Second, prepare to welcome and raise your own children. And the first is actually the best way to do the second: you prepare best to welcome and raise your own children by being the best inheritance, reward, and reinforcements to your parents now.
A generation in the Bible is about forty years (modern sociologists say 25-30 years), and an average lifespan is around 2 generations. Your most productive years are probably 30-70-ish. That means your first 30 years are largely resource gathering. You are gathering all your supplies: this is initially your education (knowledge of a number of subjects, vocational skills like communication, basic math, reading, following directions) but you are also gathering personal skills (exercise, eating, sleep, time management, meeting deadlines) as well as and spiritual and moral commitments (daily Bible reading, prayer, confession of sin, worship on the Lord’s Day). And ordinarily, this is when you will marry and begin having your own children. Who you marry will make a massive impact on your future. And you will be doing all of this while your own parents are in the middle of their most productive years. And if you think about, they are pouring most of their productivity into you. They are pouring themselves out for you.
One way you can think about being the inheritance, reward, and reinforcements of your parents is by loading up as much as you can during your first 30 years. They are pouring into you; are you being a good steward of their sacrifices? Your diligence, hard work, joyful spirit, and faithfulness to Christ in these years is an enormous blessing to your parents. A company where the workers stay busy and joyful is way more productive than a company where the managers have to constantly check on the workers or one where the workers are constantly screwing stuff up. What kind of house are you building? What kind of city are you becoming? Unlike ordinary bricks, you can resist what God is building or you can receive what God is building. So what is general attitude to what you are being given? Is it resistant or receptive? Is it grateful or is it resentful?
Recent American Generations
Sociologists have named the last number of generations in America:
The Greatest Generation (also known as the G.I. Generation) – Born 1901-1927: Known for their experiences during the Great Depression and World War II.
The Silent Generation – Born 1928-1945: Named for their conformist attitudes or their comparative silence when set against the activism of youth in later generations.
Baby Boomers – Born 1946-1964: Characterized by the post-World War II baby boom, known for significant cultural shifts and economic growth.
Generation X – Born 1965-1980: Often described as the “latchkey” generation, coming of age during a time of economic transition and cultural change.
Millennials (also known as Generation Y) – Born 1981-1996: Known for growing up with digital technology and experiencing major events like the 9/11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and the rise of social media.
Generation Z (also called Zoomers) – Born 1997-2012: The first generation to grow up with the internet and smartphones as a given, noted for their digital fluency, diversity, and pragmatic approach to issues.
While these categories are interesting and can be helpful and descriptive, one of the temptations is to divide generations and then defend various failures or tensions between them. The Boomers act like this because of the Silent Generation… or Zoomers are like this because Gen X…
But a more biblical vision of generations sees far more continuity. There are real sins and failures across generations, but God’s plan is for His mercy to extend through generations. So for example, using the biblical length of a generation (40 yrs), there’s only been about 150 generations since Adam and 6 generations since the founding of America. If the Lord’s mercy were to literally extend to a 1000 generations, that would take us to around 36,000 A.D., which would put all of us at the very, very beginning of human history. And most of us will get about 2 generations worth to build and plant. What are you building? What are you planting? Are you building what God is building? What will your generation be known for?
Applications
At the end of Malachi, it says this, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Mal. 4:5-6). And four hundred years later, the angel told Zechariah that his son John would be that Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children (Lk. 1:17).
So a central effect of the gospel of Christ is the reunion of generations, the healing of generational tensions and curses. Parents sin against their children, and children sin against their parents, and this can happen more broadly across generations: for example, abortion was legalized in 1973 under the Boomers and Gen X. But one of the great plays of Satan is to create animosity and enmity between the generations, creating bitterness and resentment. But the blood of Christ was shed to grant forgiveness and healing, to remove the curse of sin between generations, so that we can get back to building strong houses and productive cities and nations to a thousand generations. Forgive your parents. Confess your sins against your parents. And think big. Think long. Think of your descendants in 36,000 A.D. What do you want to leave them? What will your generation be remembered for?
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