The Difference Between 1st and 2nd Generation Christians

Good afternoon to everyone. It's great to be here. Russ, that was wonderful. Thank you very much. I have fond memories of singing with him and his brother in college. I enjoyed sitting in front of the Dowds, too. Clearly a minstrel family, so I know where to sit next time in front of you guys. That was great. And it's a beautiful hall. So, I... First time being in Milwaukee, but wow, what a wonderful setup. What a great place for church. Let's try the technology. This is always the fun part. Whoo! All right. Never count anything as a given, right? What would you say if I told you that there are two factions which exist in our church, which exist in this room? What if I told you that if these two factions don't learn how to get along, we will never grow as a church? And if that baby isn't happy, his parents will not be happy. No. What if I guaranteed each and every one of you that whether you like it or not, you are in one of these groups? Our church today is definitely made up of two very different groups. And these two groups have the same objectives, but we see life very differently. And that will be my topic today. Today I'm going to talk to you about the difference between first and second generation Christians. But let me first define what these two groups are for you. First generation Christians are those which were called into the church as an adult without any other believing relative supporting them along the way. Now, when I say by as an adult, I mean somebody who's old enough to make their own spiritual decisions. So for those of you who came into the church as teens, you very well could qualify as a first generation Christian. Second generation Christians are those who came into contact with the truth as children while they were with their believing parents or relatives. Now, for simplicity, I'm going to merge third and fourth and fifth generation Christians and call them all second generation Christians. There are differences, and I welcome you after church. Come up and tell me how you see the subtle differences. I've loved having that dialogue after church at the different times I've given this message, and maybe one day if time allows, I'll do one of the nuances I've learned. But I think the biggest contrast is between the first and the second generation. So with that as background, how many of you in this room would be first generation Christians? And how many would be second generation Christians? Interesting. So this room is about 50-50.

I would say most places I see now are closer to the two-third, one-third, with two-thirds being second generation Christians. So very good to know. Now, I did see that there were some kids who didn't raise their hands, and I would encourage you that this is about you. This message is very personal, because this message will explain why you see things different about the church than how your parents or your grandparents do. And I know there are also many teens in here who have parents who grew up in the church. This will be more to why are your parents different than even their grandparents, and it will speak to that relationship. And while it's easy to associate this with youth, there are a whole lot of 40-year-olds and 50-year-olds and 60-year-old second-generation Christians in the church. I personally am over 50. I'm a second-generation Christian.

My father was D. Barapardian. He started the French-speaking work around the world. He was an evangelist and a good friend of Mr. Armstrong's. Now, my dad was in the ministry when I was born. And so today we're going to talk about some of the very real differences in the way I saw growing up in the church and my calling, knowing God's truth, being baptized, even being a first fruit, than my dad and then that generation. If you'll please turn to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. I've seen many people who've been turned off from God as a result of expecting to experience Christianity in the same way that their parents did.

It doesn't work that way. It will not happen. So let's start by looking at a verse showing what we should aspire to be. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. Now, I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

What a beautiful description. What a difficult description.

In today's message, I'm going to try and to relate to the perspectives of everybody in this audience, but a lot of messages are given from the perspective of a first-generation Christian. I'm intentionally going to try to approach this message primarily with the outlook of a second-generation Christian. And the key point I want you to realize is that we both see the same things, but we feel and we react very differently. And I can demonstrate, and there's a lot of things like this. I can take the whole sermon having fun with this part, but a couple easy visuals you may have seen before. That speaks to the goal of what I'm trying to get to for us all to bridge the gap between our generations and to better understand how we can support each other, how we can live in a unity with each other. Many of you may have seen this picture before. How many of you see an old lady? The old lady is looking forward. She has a big fur up to her chin. She has a covering over her head. How many of you see a young lady? The young lady is looking sideways. That's her eye right there. She's looking off into the distance. Another fun one. How many of you see an old lady?

All right, so most of you are seeing the young lady. If you flip this picture upside down, you have an old lady. And again, we could have fun with that all day long. But with first and generation, second generation Christians, the difficulties are really enhanced because we rarely stop to reflect on our differences or even to admit that they exist. And when I was growing up, I never realized that my friends felt what I felt about God in the church because we didn't always talk about that. I just felt that I was unusual and that something was wrong with how God was working with me because it was different than how God was working with my parents, with their friends, with the others in the ministry, with those older than me. And if you take nothing else from today's sermon, friends, I encourage you to realize that God works with each generation of the church in dramatically different ways. And when the differences between us are not understood, when they're not respected, it breeds misunderstanding. It breeds discouragement, it breeds judging and criticism, and ultimately it breeds a parting of the way. Usually with the kids leaving their parents' church. So with that as an introduction, let's get started. And we'll start by looking at our calling. There are two very different parts of our calling, the when and the how. And I'll first cover the aspect of timing, and then we'll get to the method. If you'll turn to Acts 9 verses 1 through 6, for each subject that I'm going to go through, I'm going to present a contrast between the first generation and the second generation. And I will tell you that for anybody who wants, you're welcome to take notes. I encourage note-taking, but if anybody wants a copy of my PowerPoint, just give them your email and I'll email it to you. So not a problem with that. Let's first look at the timing when a first generation Christian is called. First generation Christians are called in your adulthood, in your maturity. It was something that was unexpected. It was something that was dramatic. When you were called, it was very direct, and this is a major area of confusion with second generation Christians. The verse we're about to read is about Paul.

Now, maybe you'll say this is a little over the top, but it's a classic first generation calling.

So let's go ahead and read Acts 9 starting in verse 1. When Saul, still breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priests and asked letters from him to the synagogue of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads. So he trembled and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me to do? Bright lights, booming voice from heaven, three days blind, cool. Now, you may say, wait, my calling was nothing like Paul's.

All right, I use a little bit more modern example. A friend of ours who's actually in the ministry at this time was an executive for Texas Instruments in the 70s. And every Saturday, he would hang out with some of his peers and they would go out on boats and go water skiing or have picnics on Saturdays. Then one day he heard the world tomorrow telecast and it made sense. So he began to study and read through the different literature and study his Bible. Ultimately, he and his wife decided they needed to keep the Sabbath and stop attending these Saturday outings.

Ultimately, he lost his job and moved to Pasadena to work for the church. But he never regretted giving up his life as executive because he realized that God's way was more satisfying.

First generation Christians, you all have a story that you can tell. And maybe they're not all dramatic, but to a person who has no story, any story seems dramatic. Compared to most second generation calling, all of your calling sounds something like Paul's. You all were called to God in a way that was unexpected, that was dramatic, and that was direct. Turn next to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14, and let's contrast the second generation. Second generation Christians, the time of your calling is in your youth. And we'll read about that here in 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, all of you second generation Christian children here, you are holy.

We are born to a birthright by being born into the church.

We were born with access to God's mind. It's a very special calling, but it's wildly different than that of our parents.

And this is the truth that people make light of, because they don't recognize and respect the differences. For second generation Christians, your calling is expected. We may all love a surprise, but this isn't going to be one. You've done God's way all of your life. What's going to happen for you is it's going to take soul searching for you to realize how much you don't know.

And we'll come back to talk about that. Your calling is indirect. Your calling came through your parents. So because my calling was indirect and it was expected, it didn't have the bugs and the whistles and a sudden change, it was hard to commit to. I often wondered when I was younger, was my calling valid? Because I didn't hear this voice from the sky that said, why are you persecuting me, Daniel? That didn't happen. So what can we learn from this?

Second generation Christians, are any of you waiting for something that's dynamic, that's unexpected?

It's not going to happen. God has opened the door for us to choose.

The problem is sometimes we want God to close the door in front of us, dangerous to ask for, and then reopen it. So we're like, oh, God's called me. Realize that there's a difference.

Let's now transition to the different methods for our calling. Let me ask a general question to everybody here. How do you see your part in your local congregation?

Do you feel like a member? Would it surprise you if I told you that many of our youth don't feel like members? Because attending doesn't mean belonging. A key reason we feel different is because God calls us in different ways. So let's go to the first generation and do our contrast.

How did the first generation Christian come to the church? You came from a world which you now view as an evil world. For some reason, you began studying a teaching that you heard or read, which challenged your lifestyle. It was different. This study led you to find a church which met the test, and then you clung to it. You realized the church you found provided a more important goal than the life you had been living. Now let's contrast this with the second generation Christian coming into the church. For the second generation Christian, we were nowhere looking for any kind of biblical doctrine, because we were born into the church. In a large part, we were sheltered from what was outside of it. Our earliest memories were coming to church because we had to.

We would sleep on a blanket. We would draw. We would play. We would get scolded for making noises.

And it felt like the longest two hours of our life. And for those of you who knew Gerald Waterhouse, the longest five hours of your life.

As we grew older, we often saw the world as a happy place, full of untapped adventures.

Now we realized that there were problems in the world, but frankly, we saw the same problems in the church.

We were trained to live God's truth and obey long before we ever validated that this was the right thing to do and did it as a conviction. So here is where the challenge came in.

It's important for both generations to realize that there are two different ways of entering into God's church.

One is not more official. So what lessons can we learn from the differences? First generation Christians, do you realize that when you're telling the stories of your calling, it can make others feel left out? I am not, please. I am not saying that you shouldn't tell those stories.

Because you demonstrate zeal and the amazing ways that God steps in to work with new people. And that's important. But the key is you should be mindful not to cast the impression of this being the norm. Half the people in this room didn't experience that. If you're in most church areas, you're going to be closer to two-thirds, didn't.

First generation Christians, let me share another thought. Do you know how to talk to the church?

Do you know how to talk to second generation Christians about God? See, they're forming a relationship with God every day, but they can take it for granted because it's coming through tiny incremental moves, rather than this 180 degrees switch, which you experienced, the difference in our callings. So ask them questions to help them recognize their journey and their learning. And help them see the differences they see now versus what they may have a year ago, because it's going to be more subtle, which makes it harder to see. Second generation Christians, do you or have you subconsciously waited for some similar revelation or experience as your parents had? Appreciate it. Respect what your parents or grandparents found coming into the church, but realize it won't happen to you. Look within your life and recognize movement on your own journey, but realize they're not going to be this huge contrast because you grew up doing God's way. And we'll talk about where those differences are really going to be seen for you. If you'll turn next to Luke 15, verses 29 through 31. Luke 15, 29 through 31. With this viewpoint, I'd like all of us to read a parable, a familiar story that we know.

But I wonder if you've ever associated it to the concept of first and second generation Christians. The disillusionment that's felt by second generation Christians is actually very similar to the older son in the parable of the prodigal son. Luke 15, verse 29. Lo, these many years I have been serving you, I never transgressed your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a young goat that I may make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who had devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed a fatted calf for him.

And the father said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. See, many second generation Christians have had similar feelings to this person who felt resentment toward God's dramatic work for killing a fatted calf for those coming in as first generation Christians. After all, the second generation Christian has been serving God without fanfare their whole life. Again, the issue is that our callings are different. They're all beautiful callings, but they're different.

All right, so you accept that we come into the church differently, but what difference does it really make? It's actually at the heart of all the other differences that I'll point out. Let's now compare our view toward the truth. Now, you recall when I mentioned that when a person comes into the church who's a first generation Christian, they're filled with zeal. They're filled with a bunch of passion. They found a truth and they clung to it. You had what's called the first love. Your first reaction was to do what? To go out and tell everybody else what you were learning.

Do you see second generation Christians doing the same thing? It's pretty rare. Do you know why? It's probably more common that you see them trying to make light of their differences from the world, but why? Let's do a comparison. First generation Christians, when you came in contact with the truth, to you the doctrine was surprising. It was shocking. It was disturbing. It threatened your previous convictions. Now work with me here. You first academically scoured it, then you emotionally committed to it, and finally you vehemently practiced it. You went through this progression, academic to emotional to living.

Second generation Christians, a lot of the times, if you're like me, I've heard first generation Christians telling me when I was young or telling other young people that we are spoiled and unappreciative of our chance to be born into the church. And you know what? It's true. But do you know why second or first generation Christians, why it takes longer for us to feel that excitement of the opportunity we have?

The best example I can give you is to ask a question. Do you still get excited every morning and run outside at 4.30 a.m. to watch the sun come up? Oh, it's coming up! Oh, it's cresting! It's a habit. It happens every day of your life. And I could go and say, do you still get giddy every day you get to go to work? Or go into all these things you do over and over every day.

That's what's happened to the second generation Christian. For the second generation Christian, to us the church doctrine can easily be taken for granted. Because you see, it's no huge academic shock. We were born doing it. The shock is when we're challenged on our beliefs, and I will talk about that part. Because we applied it first and were praised for doing so, we often skip the step about proving it. And first generation Christians proved it, then applied it. That is a key, key difference and a critical part to both of our columns. For most of my youth, I felt a little embarrassed, a little defensive when I was asked about the church.

Or to explain my beliefs. I would get this knot in my stomach. And I would try to dodge the subject. I wonder if any of you young people have done something similar. Now, I know it wasn't unique to me because I talked to many people in college about the same thing. But why? It's important that we step back when these things happen and evaluate why is that?

And I would say it's because of two big reasons. First of all, it is because it reinforces yet again that we are very different from our friends. First generation Christians don't ever make a lie to this. When my son Drew entered kindergarten, he was immediately labeled as different because he needed to take time off for the feast. He ate different food. He avoided Halloween and Christmas and Easter and Valentine's Day. And now as he gets older, he isn't able to join in other activities on Saturdays.

Now, you parents may take the approach and say, well, tough it up!

I've seen plenty of parents do that. I've seen plenty of people who no longer attend.

Second generation kids do not need to be coddled or shielded. That's not what I'm saying.

But you absolutely should be respectful and appreciative of what they are sacrificing.

Because it is a sacrifice. And have caring discussions of what they're facing. And let them do the explaining of why obedience to God is the right thing to do.

Because unless they own that, they will leave the church. And we'll talk about that part.

Now, those discussions play into what I would say is the second and probably the major reason why second generation Christians get that knot in their stomach when the subject of their beliefs comes up. And I'd like to help you get there by using an analogy or a story that would relate potentially to your past.

When you were in school and your teacher gave you assignment to read a certain book for a project and you didn't do it, you're in the large classroom and the teacher singles you out and asks you a very pointed specific question that you can't answer.

Did you not get that same knot in your stomach? The reason is the same. The second reason is this. Second generation Christians recognize God's truth, but they haven't proven it.

Second generation Christians can recognize God's truth very easily.

As a teen, when I was growing up, many ministers' messages sounded the same to me. Sometimes I would fill in the last part of their sentence before they ever got there and look at a friend and just smirk.

Now, I will say that that is one of the key points that I've learned over time that's different with the third and the fourth generation. It's a shame on us situation, but because the second generation Christian hasn't always proven as much as our parents did, who are first generation Christians, the kids don't get as much reinforcing and don't recognize it as much, which is a sad statement.

But as a generality, when I was growing up anyway, I would say most kids could probably get 70% score if church teachings were on a multiple-choice, scan-drawn test. You know, because you'd look and say, I recognize which is the right answer because I've heard it before.

Our problem was not in recognizing, but in realizing and in knowing.

Think about that. We could recognize, okay, but did we really realize and know?

And that's why we were uncomfortable when asked pointed questions to defend our spiritual beliefs.

Because it's at those times where you can't just use a buzzword.

When friends asked us to defend our being different, our intentions, they're asking us to dig inside the core, who we are as a person, our beliefs, and support why we do what we do. And my friends, that requires proving.

So learning to prove what we believe is one of the biggest challenges that face second generation Christians. Now, I want you to think on this one.

Until second generation Christians come to know why they do what they've done all their lives and make the emotional connection to believe and want to do it, they will never be totally comfortable being in God's church.

Point of statement, but it's true. It was a fight for our parents to enter the church.

For second and third generation Christians, we don't have to fight to get into the church because we were born into it. Our fight is to stay in the church. Simple enough. That is it.

And without proving what we believe, we will lose that fight and we will lose it to complacency.

So what lessons do we take from this? First generation friends, it is not unusual or wrong that at this time, in some second generation Christians' lives, they don't feel the same vigor, the same zest, the same zeal that you do. We don't see you getting excited when the sun comes up every morning or going, whoa, I get to go back to work tomorrow. Keep in mind that second generation Christians need to discover the wise for actions and be told the same things in new ways.

For those of you speaking, please don't do the topical Bible sermons. That want-want will drive a kid crazy. Just let's turn to the next scripture and the next scripture and the next scripture because they've heard that. But they need words to understand it in different ways. So if you approach a second generation Christian in a repetitive way, do expect their eyes to gloss over.

If you assume they've proven all their beliefs or the reasons for their actions because they can recognize buzzwords, my friends, you are greatly mistaken. You're making a dangerous assumption.

And if you act in an impatient or a condescending way when they want to reason things through or question that the world isn't as black and white as a first generation Christian may make it out to be, you may separate them from ever having that dialogue with you again. And potentially, you may put a wall between them and God because those are the areas they have to explore.

If you'll turn to Romans 12 in verse 2. Romans 12 in verse 2. Now, I've often been asked by my first generation friends whether their kids who no longer attend with their nonchalant ways and seeming lack of interest recognize what's right and wrong. Stayed with Dale. We talked about that a bit last night. This is Dan speak, but I believe that most second generation Christians know in the back of their minds that what they've heard is the truth. It's what I call a screaming conscience.

Now, realize first generation Christians, that is not like your convictions.

It's similar to knowing vegetables are good for you. It doesn't mean you all eat them all the time.

Or knowing that you should exercise. But I see a little bit of weight issues in this room. We don't all get enough exercise, right? We know things that we don't do.

Second generation Christians, my peers, you have got to prove your beliefs.

Can you explain why we don't teach that you go to heaven? Can you prove the resurrections?

Why can't we just rely on grace? Do works really matter? Because you will be asked.

Why do we do immersion baptism? You have to prove your beliefs to become part of the Church. Because the Church is not a building. It's a group of people who accept, who believe, and who internalize the doctrines outlined by the apostles. Romans 12, too, is a great scripture, talking with a friend whose sons are going through a lot of areas of having to prove their convictions right now. Some other people who are questioning some of their faith.

We shared this verse, and we're reviewing it this week.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The path for the first generation Christian was cognitive, then emotional, then application.

You first academically scoured it, you then emotionally committed to it, and finally, you vehemently practiced it. The path for a second generation Christian is application, cognitive, proving it if you choose to. And only then will you get to the emotional connection to what you do. Second generation Christians, if you don't prove your beliefs, you will never develop that emotional connection and passion of the first generation Christian. You won't get what you see others in church showing and displaying. And you know what? You're probably ultimately going to quit the church, because it will get too hard.

And you may be, like many friends I know, and Russ could say the same thing, who left to go to traditional Christian churches because they felt more of an emotional connection there. Those churches are made to appeal emotionally. They don't have the facts behind everything, but they work the emotions. It's a different realization. You can get both, but you have to prove to understand what you've been given in this room or in church.

Because if we're living our lives for what's fun and what's unique, that we can live in this lifetime the world will always win out. God has given us multiple options. He's given us some wonderful things that we can enjoy in this life, but let's just be real. Satan gives us more options, right?

But if we look at eternity, verse 70 to 80 years on this earth, and what we'll be able to do as spirit beings, Satan's way doesn't even come close.

And that's why God says, seek you first, the kingdom of God.

Let's go to one of my favorite verses when I was growing up as a youth in the church. Ecclesiastes 11.9. I just always loved this verse because it gave balance. It says, yeah, I could have fun. And that's what you want to know as a kid, but you also want to know what God's perspective is on the whole thing. Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9.

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the day of your youth.

Walk in the way of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these, God will bring you into judgment. We can have a good time, but we're always going to be accountable to God. That's the perspective and the balance. So if living God's way hasn't been internalized as a top priority, then Satan's going to work you on the lures of the flesh. And ultimately, that's going to win out. And I guarantee you, those who have left the church will live their life with some element of that screaming conscience. But the key difference about them in the end is they never tied their actions while growing up with their parents for the reasons for why they were doing those actions. So with this in mind, I encourage first-generation Christians to understand why the truth isn't a great shock or a thrill to their kids. We both have to prove the truth. You had to prove not to go back to what you've experienced and left. We have to prove we shouldn't go try what we've never been allowed to experience, but here's bad. Very tough, very different. For the second-generation Christian, don't feel guilty because you're different. There's no way a baby could prove what they're doing before they apply it. It's like a plane wanting to take off without being on the ground. Gravity is going to take control up to a certain point. But do prove your beliefs and make them yours. Remember that your convictions aren't complete until you know why you do what you do and individually choose to do them.

Doing God's way doesn't bring success until we combine that with our conviction.

That steers me to the next area, to a very dangerous game that I've seen many second-generation Christians play. It's what I call the decision between being firstfruits and experiencing firsthand experiences. Some second-generation Christians feel they know the signs of the end.

They've heard dozens of sermons about end times, beast powers, ten toes, Holy Roman Empire.

So they scheme that they can go out and experience the world with one eye on the church and kind of watch what's going on with world events. At the last second, they'll accept God's calling. We know a son who, at that time, was a well-known minister who, when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, he called his dad and said, Dad, what's the church saying about world events? I've heard similar stories, more recent ones, of children who no longer attend calling their parents with what's being taught about ISIS. It is a dangerous game. First of all, there is no saying Satan won't be able to cloud the mind over time with somebody offering or taking advantage of everything the world has to offer. The parable of the seeds describe God's Holy Spirit dying when it hits rocky ground. And that's exactly what it's been talking about. The Bible is also clear that no one knows when God will return. So you're thinking, okay, I'm going to be smarter than God. For you second-generation Christians who aren't wantonly choosing the world but are only dabbling with the concept of accepting God's offer and being baptized, I encourage you to prove what you believe and commit to it. You can only walk along the top of a fence for so long before you're going to have to fall. And what happens a lot of times is the second-generation Christian is so worried about falling toward the side of the church, which they haven't proven and are scared to commit to, that they fall toward the world.

If you'll turn to Revelation 20, verses 4-6. Every year at the feast, we picture the first resurrection when the first fruits are resurrected. Now, second-generation Christians, this means way more than being a person who gets invited to a party, to Christ's wedding supper. There will only be one set of first fruits. This phrase represents those who overcome Satan and who are the first to become part of God's family. Think about that. God will forever look at that group as like a firstborn, the first group to take part of that very special opportunity. Revelation 20, verse 24, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus, and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their forehead or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection. Now, look how it's described. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. For the rest of eternity, God will be able to look at you if you're in that first resurrection and say, Blessed and holy are you. That's pretty cool. The first fruits are going to have a special intimacy with God which will be unique, because we're going to be able to be involved in planning and training and preparing for everything that comes to eternity afterwards. Second generation Christians can often fall prey to seeing no difference between the great white throne judgment and those who are resurrected at Christ's return.

The first resurrection is called a better resurrection for a reason. Both first and second generation Christians who were called at this time have that opportunity. It's a shared opportunity.

And just because God called our parents or our grandparents first doesn't mean that the second, the third, the tenth generation Christian isn't any less open to that calling to be called at the end of the day a first fruit. We are all called to be first fruits, not second fruits or second rate first fruits. Generations don't have anything to do with that. We all must overcome Satan and make that same commitment to God. And if we do, then this relationship can be ours. So second generation Christians, you are not excess baggage that came along with the deal with your folks or your grandparents. God has picked up the phone and He has called you. He is calling you. Now, you can choose not to pick it up. You can pick up the phone and say, I'm not buying what you're selling, God. But your phone is ringing and God is calling you. So this takes us to the next phase. We've talked about Christ's view on our calling, or I should say on Christian's view on our calling and the truth. At the end of the day, why do some people leave the church and others stay? If you will, please turn to Mark 10 verses 17 through 22.

Now, for this topic, this issue is the same for first generation Christians and second generation Christians. Both stop attending the church because of not committing to a relationship with God. It's not head knowledge. If you don't have that relationship with God, you're going to ultimately find something that breaks you. We all have to come to an understanding of the gospel and become disciples of Jesus Christ. And until you and I face our complete helplessness without God, we are never going to stay in the church. We're just plain church. Mark 10 and verse 17.

Now, as he was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before him, and asked him, Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? So Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good but one that is God. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. And he answered and said to him, Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth. Then Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack, go your way, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven, and come, take up your cross, and follow me. But he was sad at these words, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. This young man had probably never broken the Sabbath.

He had kept the feast days. He had never worshipped an idol or stolen.

Jesus saw his dedication, and he loved him. But Jesus recognized that this man hadn't dealt with something that was deep inside of him. And one of the key things that every one of us ultimately has to learn in this journey as a Christian is that deep inside every single one of us at the core is a hunger, is a thirst. We all have an emptiness that can't be filled humanly.

And some of you may be feeling it now. It oftentimes strikes people when they feel the temporariness of life, when a close friend dies, when a family member dies.

You may spend your whole life trying to figure it out, and trying to fix it and fill it, but nothing's going to do it. In this situation, the young man's wealth is what he was stuffing that empty hole with. Some stuff it with drugs, with sex, with television. Some get into relationships wanting the partner to fulfill something that only God can do. We'll stuff it sometimes with whatever we can find in an effort to get rid of that emptiness. People even stuff it with positive things. You can be so busy accomplishing things that you never face what's inside of you, what's inside of me. Some fill their whole lives doing good deeds, but never face that inside every human is a hole. It is a hunger, and some of you know it's there.

Within every one of us is badness, and that is a realization that we have to come to understand. Second generation Christians, you may say, well, hold on a second. I grew up in the church. I am not a pimp. I didn't go out and steal or take drugs. Let me use an analogy. Let me, let's consider that I've baked two cakes for you. In one cake, I put 10 drops of cyanide, and in the other cake, I put one drop of cyanide. Which one are you going to eat? You don't want to eat either one of them, because they're both going to kill you. One of them may kill you a little quicker, right? But that's the point. So what am I getting at? I'm trying to pull the pieces together and to help you realize everybody in the room, first generation, second generation, young or old, baptized or not, that we all have to repent and constantly let God fill that hole inside of us. That's at the core of what God is looking for, what He is working with us on.

Now, first generation Christians, when God called you and you realized that you had been going in the wrong direction, you thought, whoa, I have been living my life wrong, right? This is more of a challenge for the second generation Christian, because you feel like, huh, I've lived my life right for the most part. Please turn to Psalms 51 verses 1 through 3. Psalms 51 verses 1 through 3.

The struggle is that the second generation Christian has kept so many of the laws in the letter that you don't understand the depth of your corrupt nature. You've done many of the physical rituals, but now you have to deal with the core of your nature. And that's easy to try to dodge around and think, well, I came to church. Psalms 51 shows David's reaction when he realized how carnal he really was. Psalms 51 in verse 1, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitudes of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquities, and cleanse me from my sins. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. This is after his sin with Bathsheba. And David spent his whole life basically obeying God until he fell flat on his face. A bunch of the Psalms you read, written before this one. And suddenly he committed a whole bunch of sins and said, Whoa, I have no idea how deep this core of corruption inside me was. This is David we're speaking about.

He grown up obeying God. He knew the right things to do intellectually, second generation Christians, but now he was faced with something he had never faced. I can freely tell you when I was growing up in the church that I thought I had learned and heard all that the teach had to offer when I was a teen. I now know I don't know much.

And I recognize that some things I taught triggered at that time, but by learning the why and by proving it and realizing how very much I can't do by myself, I realize how complex this journey is that we're on. Jesus came to develop disciples. Brilliant word. Disciples are those who love less their father and their mother. They put God first. And at the end of the day, we will stay in the church because we become a disciple of Jesus Christ or we won't stay.

It will become too hard. The purpose of worship is about us having that relationship and of us honoring God. And if religion isn't dealing with the heart, if it's just a bunch of actions and getting rid of love in here and fasting on a certain day, then we're just faking it. You can look in, you know, Karl Marx called superficial religion the opiate of the people, and a lot of people are taking that opiate. This walks us into the next major development in a Christian life, and that is baptism. Now, we all have to make that commitment. That's the same, but there are differences in how we get to that commitment. So let's do the comparison. First-generation Christians, you had to seriously count the costs because you were giving up things that you'd enjoyed, whether it's ham or shrimp, Christmas, sporting events on Saturdays, living life hard, who knows. You then chose to accept the responsibility. Now, interestingly, one of the things that has sidetracked a lot of first-generation Christians from being baptized, or from staying in the church after 20 years of being in the church, is because you can be offended and let down by other believers.

You were overwhelmed to understand God, to understand His perfect plan, and so it's easy to project, to reflect that perfection of God's plan onto those who attend and expect an equal expectation of perfection. And God forbid you're a minister. Ministers are human, working through a whole lot of things too, but boy, there's a different standard people hold that is absolutely unfair to ministry. We're all in this journey together. We are all working and learning. Now, let's compare the two. First-generation Christians enter thinking everyone will be perfect. You enter with rose-colored glasses and have to learn to get rid of that tint.

Let's do a contrast for reality's sake. Second-generation Christians stay despite everyone being imperfect in them seeing it. Right? We grow up with a magnifying glass. We see the hypocrisy, but we also see good people trying to do the right things. They're human. They're growing and learning just like you and I. God is taking us someplace that we can't get on our own, and that's something that only time helps us learn. We may try working as hard as we possibly can, but at some point we're going to fail and fail miserably just like David did.

So all of us are going through this journey, and if you're looking for a perfect church, do you want to know where you're going to end up? Sitting on your sofa at home.

That's what's going to happen. I think God intentionally built that realization into the Ten Commandments, and I don't know if you ever thought of it this way. We all know that the first three commandments deal with loving God. We know that the last six commandments deal with loving neighbor. That gets us to the Sabbath. The Sabbath requires us to love God while dealing with our neighbor and all loving them with very imperfect people. The Sabbath is this overlap commandment, because if you can't love your neighbor, you're not really observing the Sabbath.

It's an interesting way of looking at the Ten Commandments.

Second generation Christians, you have been counting the cost all your life through your actions.

You have been conditioned in the responsibility of following God's law. So counting the cost is still a factor. There are levels of your commitment that you don't realize yet, but counting the cost isn't the same for you. The question is more about accepting the cost.

Doing God's way isn't sufficient if it's not combined with willing acceptance.

So part of proving your beliefs is realizing the importance that God has invited you, and you need to accept that invitation. We have to admit that hole inside of us and admit that we deeply need God.

Now, I always thought in the back of my mind that I probably would be baptized one day.

And I think my parents had the same assumption. Now being a parent, I'm like, I don't know. They probably fear the worst. But when I finally began to counsel for baptism, I think I mentioned it to my parents. But we really didn't discuss it much. And as a second generation Christian, what was most important to me was that it was my relationship with God, and not one that my parents pushed me into. And so they were very wise not to bring it up a lot. Well, one day in November, I picked up the phone from Big Sandy, Texas, and I told my parents that I'd just been baptized.

I expected excitement. There was five seconds of silence. And then in a sad voice, they said, I wish you would have told us. We would have flown out. Now, as a second generation Christian, I didn't realize how important of a moment that was to my parents. Selfish, but it's where I was coming from. I invited them to my graduation. Obviously, they were at my wedding. But I saw baptism as a private moment where I was honestly more apt to share with my second generation friends than even my parents, because I realized it was my commitment with God that I was making. And they got that afterwards. Now, I've learned more about my commitment in baptism over time. And now that I have a son, I fully understand why they would have readily dropped everything and flown out. You know, now I get it a whole lot more. And I regret that I didn't tell them in advance. And I hope if my son is baptized, I'm there to be there and observe it as well.

But what I was doing was personally accepting the costs. So we've covered a lot of subjects today.

To conclude, I ask you to turn to 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13.

I hope I've been able to expand your way of thinking about the two generations that are in this church. Because there isn't a better way or a worse way in how God calls us and how God works with us. I've revealed some of the way of thinking that I had when I was growing up. And I know that it's true for many of my friends because we've talked about it since. And I've always been intrigued by the reactions this sermon gives because it's a topic that frankly isn't talked about enough. In 1 Corinthians, Paul explains what we have to learn to let our unity in Christ unite us. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 13. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, whether first-generation Christians or second-generation Christians, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact, the body is not one member, but many. So as first and second-generation Christians, we all share this very, very special birthright. And if we respect and we work together to complement our unique differences, we can build and bridge that gap between our Christian generations and collectively attain the great prize of all of us sharing and being called firstfruits.