Differences Between 1st and 2nd Generation Christians

How many of you here are first-generation Christians? Raise your hands. How many of you are second- or later-generation Christians? So in this congregation, you're basically 50-50. The church is probably two-thirds second-generation and one-third anymore. But it just gives a feel of the audience. It's a good split in here today. This subject—and I saw some young kids who didn't raise their hands, and it's very relevant for you as well, because this actually will help you understand the difference in how you see the church versus how your parents do.

And that's critical to understand. But I want you to understand that with that said, second-generation Christians are not youth. They're people in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. We have 80-year-old second-generation Christians. So it's important to keep that in mind. Personally, I am a second-generation Christian. My dad was D. Barapardian. He began the French-speaking work around the world. He was an evangelist, close friend of Mr. Armstrong, and a minister before I was born. So today, what we'll do is we're going to review the very different ways in which a second-generation Christian sees God's calling, knowing God's truth, being baptized, and even being firstfruits.

So if you'll please turn to start with the 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. I've seen many people over the years turned off from God as a result of being expected to experience Christianity in the same way as their parents. And the truth I want you to realize is it doesn't work that way. It won't happen. I'd like us to start by looking at a verse that shows what we should aspire to be. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10 says, 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.

My goal today is to help bridge some of the gaps between first and second-generation Christians. It's to help us better understand and support each other, and by doing that, we can better live in unity. In today's message, I'm going to try to appeal to everybody here. I'm going to speak in ways that will reference both of your journeys as church members, but I'm also going to focus more on the perspective of second-generation Christians, because a lot of messages are given from a first-generation standpoint.

And actually, I got a kick out of how second-generation ministers oftentimes talk as first-generation Christians because they think they have to. It's just some of that you'll see was I use examples where that could come into play. The key point to realize is that we both see the same things, but we feel and we react very differently as a result.

So to give a playful example of how you can see things slightly different than the person sitting next to you, let me show you a couple examples here. How many of you see an old lady? You can raise your hand. How many of you see a young lady? Okay, how many see both? All right, so if it helps, that's the chin on the old lady. That's the nose for the young lady. That's her eyes and that's her chin.

Let me give you another one. How many of you see a young lady? All right, we're doing easier there. How many of you see an old lady? A couple of you have seen this one before. This one takes adjusting the angle. You flip it up, it's side down, and suddenly you say, Oh, there's an old lady there. All right, so that's playful enough. But with first and second generation Christians, the difficulties are enhanced because we rarely stop and we rarely reflect on our differences or even admit they exist. I think that's one of the reasons this message has reacted to so much to people.

When I was growing up, I never realized that my friends felt what I was feeling. I never realized that God worked with people in the Church differently. I just felt that I was different and something was unusual and wrong because God wasn't working with me in the same way He did with His parents, or with my parents, I should say, or their friends, or the ministry, or people who are older in the Church.

And so, if you take nothing else from this message today, please realize that God works with each generation in dramatically different ways. And when those differences between us are not understood, when they're not respected, it breeds misunderstanding. It breeds discouragement and judging and criticism and ultimately a parting of the ways. And usually, it's the second-generation Christian leaving their parents' Church. So, if you don't want that, it's important to understand these differences.

So, let's get started. We'll first look at our calling. And for each subject, what I'm going to do is I'm going to review a side-by-side comparison between the generations. So, let's start looking at the calling. And in that situation, there's two differences. One is in the how, or I should say, one is in the when and one is in the how, relates the when and the how, the timing and the method. So, we will first look at the topic of timing. First-generation Christians come into the Church in your adulthood. It's in your maturity. It's unexpected and it's dramatic.

It's also something that's very direct. Now, this is one of the major differences between a second-generation Christian entering the Church and a first-generation Christian entering. What I'm about to have us read, if you'll turn to Acts 9, verse 1 through 6, if I haven't told you that, we're going to look at the example of Paul. And you may say, that's a little over the top. But it's a very classic first-generation Christian calling. So, let's go ahead and read Acts 9, verses 1 through 6.

It says, Bright lights. Voice from heaven. Blind for three days. Cool. Now, you might say, okay, my calling was nowhere near that dramatic. So, I'll share another example, which is probably more of a common one. A friend of ours was in upper leadership for Texas Instruments in the 1970s. And every Saturday, he and his peers would go and they would go water skiing and have picnics and hang out at local lakes.

And they loved it. They were enjoying life. And then one day, he heard the World Tomorrow broadcast and decided he needed to study more and prove if what he heard was correct. Well, over time, he and his wife decided to keep the Sabbath and stop attending the Saturday outings. In time, he lost his job, moved to Pasadena and worked for the church. But he never regretted giving up his life and the job opportunity he had at that time because he realized God's way is much more satisfying.

See, first-generation Christians have a story they can tell. Maybe they're not all dramatic, but to a person who has no story, any story, sounds like Paul's. If you compare to most second-generation Christians, it's wildly different when they try to speak to them. If you will turn next to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 14. So how does this differ for second-generation Christians? Well, our calling was in our youth. Let's go ahead and read 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, they are holy. See, we were 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 our parents. It's a truth that if we make light of, we don't recognize and respect what God is doing. Frankly, it'll be a challenge if you want to have a role in the millennium, because you're going to have 100th-generation Christians in there and have to work through the understanding of what's different.

So for second-generation Christians, our calling is expected. We may all love a good surprise, but this isn't going to be one. You've done God's way all your life. What's going to change? Is this going to take soul-searching to realize how much you don't know? It's also indirect. Our calling came through our parents, right? So because my calling was indirect, because it was expected, without bugs and whistles and a sudden change, it was very hard to commit to.

I often wondered if it was valid, and if you talk to second-generation Christians, they will speak to that. Because we didn't hear a voice from the sky saying, Why are you persecuting me, Daniel? All right, so what can we take from this? Second-generation Christians, are any of you waiting for something dynamic and unexpected? Because it's not going to happen. God has opened the door for you to choose.

The problem is we sometimes want God to close the door in front of us, and then, ta-da! open it again and say, Yes, I'm really calling you. But you are actually being called. Let's now look at the different methods for our calling. How do you see your part in the church, in this congregation? Do you feel like members?

What if I was to tell you a lot of our youth do not feel like members? See, attending church doesn't mean belonging. A key reason that we feel different is because God calls us in different ways. So how did the first-generation Christian come into the church? First, they came from the world, which you now see as an evil world. Then next, for some reason, you began studying.

A teaching you heard or read that challenged you. It challenged your lifestyle. It was different. This study led you to find a church which met the test of what you were learning. And then finally, at that point, you clung to it. You realized the church you found provided a more important goal than the life you've been living. All right, so now let's pivot this. Let's look at how this differs from a second-generation Christian coming into the church. We were nowhere near looking for any kind of biblical doctrine when we were called, because we were born into the church.

And in large part, we were sheltered from the world around us, right? Our earliest memories? Well, it would be coming to church because we had to. Sitting on the floor, drawing, playing with toys. God forbid you made any noise. The slightest bit of noise. Ooh! It was the longest two hours in life. And then as we grew older, we came to see the world as a happy place, full of untapped adventures. And yes, we did realize there were problems, but frankly, we saw the exact same problems in the church.

We've seen it all within the church. And we were trained to live God's truth to obey long before we ever validated that it was the right thing to do and did it as a conviction. So here is where the challenges starts to coming in. See, it's important for both generations to realize there are two different ways of entering into and coming into God's church. And one is not more official than the other. So what lessons can we take from these differences? First of all, first-generation Christians, do you realize that when you tell the story of your calling, you can make people feel left out?

Now, I'm not telling you not to say it, because it's an important example of God and what he does to call new people into the church. It shows zeal, but realize that that is not the norm. Over two-thirds, or over half, anyway, of the church, is second or later-generation Christians. They do not have that feeling you have. First-generation Christians, do you know how to talk to second-generation Christians about God? See, they're forming a relationship with God every day, but can take it for granted because it comes through these little tiny microscopic incremental moves, rather than your 180-degree change.

So ask them questions to help them recognize their own journey, their own relationship with God, what they see differently now compared to what they did in the past. For the second-generation Christians, do you, or have you subconsciously waited for some similar revelation or experience as your parents? Appreciate, respect what others in the church went through, but realize it will not happen that way for you.

Look within your life and recognize movement, which means you have to look over a longer time span to see the movement, because it's not going to be these little short moves. But if you look over periods of time, you can see the movements, and those tiny incremental moves are your change. You will never see a 180-degree swing unless you really chose the wrong way and are coming back out of that trouble.

If you'll turn now to Luke 15 verses 29 through 31, now that you have this viewpoint, I want us to go and read a very familiar parable, a scripture, but I want you to realize it reflects a difference between first and second generations members of God's church. What we're about to read is the parable of the prodigal son. What I'm focusing on is the disillusionment of the older child. All right, Luke 15 verse 29. Lo, these many years I have been serving you.

I never transgressed your commandments at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I may make merry with my friends. But as soon as the son of yours came, who had devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the 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 similar feelings to the older son. There can be a natural resentment toward those who God dramatically worked with. They killed a fatted calf for. Meanwhile, we as second generation Christians have been serving God our whole life and scolded for the slightest things along the way. Differences. All right, let's now transition to the next step.

You accept that we came into the church differently, but what difference does it make? Well, actually, it's at the heart of all the other differences that follow. Let's compare our view toward the truth.

So in this situation, you recall that I was talking about how a first generation Christian entered the church. You found the church that taught the truth. You then clung to it with zeal, with conviction. You had a first love. You wanted to tell everybody around what you were learning. How many times do you see second generation Christians doing that? Pretty rare, right? Instead, you probably see them trying to make light of their differences from those around.

Why is this? Okay, let's do a comparison to talk about why that is. We'll start with the first generation and your contact with the truth. To you, the doctrine was surprising. It was shocking. It was disturbing. It threatened your previous convictions. You first academically scoured it, then you emotionally committed to it, and finally, you vehemently practiced it.

I'll go back one. That's a very different order from a second generation Christian. A lot of times, I'll hear first generation Christians saying, or condemning, it's probably the better word, condemning the youth for being spoiled, for being unappreciative of our chance to be born into the church. And there's truth to that. But do you know why it takes longer for us to feel the excitement that you feel? I use the analogy of how many of you still get excited and get eaten, and jump up and down when the sun comes up every day.

Oh, it's so exciting. I get to go to work tomorrow. Oh, I get to go to work next day. Oh, I get to go to work. It's habit. After you've done it a whole lifetime, don't get excited. I get to brush my teeth again. Woo! It's very, very similar. To us, the church doctrine can easily be taken for granted, because it's no huge academic shock.

We've known it since birth. The shock comes when we're challenged on it, and we'll talk a little bit about that. Because we applied it first, and were praised for doing so, we often skipped the next step and never proved it. First-generation Christians proved it, then applied it, and it's a key difference. For most of my youth, I felt embarrassed and defensive when asked about the subject of the church or to explain my beliefs, and I would get this not in my stomach. I would try to dodge the subject, and I know many people who've done the same thing along the way.

Why? Why do we do that? Well, I see two big reasons for why that is. First of all, it's because it reinforces yet again that we're very different from our friends. First-generation Christians don't ever make a lie to this.

When my son first went to kindergarten, he was immediately labeled as different because he ate different food, because he went to the feast, because he didn't do Halloween and Christmas and Easter and Valentine's Day. And as he grew older, he wasn't able to do sports on the Sabbath or other activities. And now your parents can say what we certainly heard growing up. Well, puff it up! A whole lot of people have left the church because of parents doing that. See, second-generation kids don't need to be coddled and don't need to be shielded, but you absolutely should be respectful, should appreciate of what people are sacrificing along the way. 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.

But those discussions, I think, play into the second, and I'd really challenge the major reason why many second-generation Christians get that knot in their stomach and dodge the subject of why their beliefs are different. And I'm going to make that connection by using a different analogy, and then we'll link the two together.

Think back when you were in school and you had a reading assignment for something you didn't read. And then the teacher, poignantly enough, looked to you and asked you a question to defend or explain something from the book you never read. Did you get a similar knot in your stomach around that time? It's because of the same reason. Second-generation Christians recognize God's truth, but they haven't proven it. Second-generation Christians recognize God's truth very easily. As a teen, many ministers' messages sounded the same to me. They'd start a sentence and I could finish the sentence for them.

If you were to give me a multiple-choice test, I could make a 70 percent. Because if it comes down to the areas of church teachings, we do okay. Our problem was not in recognizing, but realizing and knowing. It was not in recognizing, but in realizing and knowing. That's why we're uncomfortable when asked pointed questions to defend our spiritual beliefs. At these times, buzzwords don't work anymore. We're being asked to defend our being different. That's always an icky feeling. Our spiritual intentions, we're asked to dig inside the core of our beliefs and support why we do what we do.

That requires proving. Learning to prove what we believe is one of the biggest challenges facing second-generation Christians. And until you and I, or 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. It was a fight for our parents to enter the church.

For second, third, fourth, fifth-generation Christians, the fight is not to enter the church because we were born in it. Our fight is to stay in it. And without proving what we believe, we'll lose the fight to complacency. Okay, so what lessons do we take from this? First-generation friends, it is not unusual. It is not wrong. And at this time, in some second-generation Christians' lives, they do not feel the same vigor or zest for the church that you do. We don't see you getting excited when the sun comes up everywhere, or that you get to go to work.

Keep in mind that second-generation Christians need to discover the whys for their actions and telling them the same things in new ways. Don't just parent the same lines. Even for those who speak up here, please, don't just do topical Bible verse reading sermons, please. You know, God says it better to anybody. Let me just read the next verse, then the next verse, then the next verse. Wah-wah, wah-wah-wah, wah-wah-wah. You're assuming there's connections being made, and all they're doing is droning into sleep.

If you approach second-generation Christians in a repetitive way, expect their eyes to gloss over. If you assume they've proven all their beliefs or the reasons for their actions and obeying God, then you're making a very dangerous assumption. And if you act an impatient or a condescending way when they want to reason things through, or don't let them question why something you see is black and white isn't black and white to them, what you're doing is you're separating them from ever doing that again with you.

And you also may be putting a wall between them and God for a very long time. Because what they're getting the impression is, well, your church faith is too insecure or fragile to be questioned, apparently. Let them have the dialogue with you. You'll turn next to Romans 12 and verse 2. I've often been asked along the way, by first-generation folks, whether their kids, with their nonchalant way and seeming lack of interest, recognize what's right and wrong.

Now, this is perception, but I believe that most second-generation Christians know in the back of their mind that what they've heard is the truth. It's what I call the screaming conscience, that voice in the back of the head. I don't know if that surprises you, but realize that is different, first-generation Christians, than your conviction. It is not like your conviction. It's similar to knowing vegetables are good for you. That doesn't mean you all eat them. Or you telling me exercise is good for you. I don't see you all doing it. It's different in that way.

So, in this situation, I'll add a little bit of parenthetical thought for what I've seen for third and fourth-generation Christians. Because this is a sad statement, but it makes sense if you think of the logic.

I've definitely noticed that that screaming conscience, that voice in the back of the head, lessens for third and fourth-generation Christians if their parents never proved their beliefs. Because the conscience comes from having it reinforced at home. And a lot of times, the later generations didn't prove it and it gets more and more wishy-washy the next generation as it goes forward. So second-generation Christians, my peers, you've got to prove your beliefs.

Just because society says something is right or justifies evil actions as acceptable these days does not make them right. Truth is not measured through social norms. It is not group acceptance.

And we live in an age where Satan is using this concept of people's norms to actually try to cancel the Bible that's on your lap.

Here are some basic prove-it questions that should be foundational. 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 God's grace and God's love? Why do works even matter? Because you will be asked that many, many times. Why do we do immersion baptisms? You know!

You have to prove your beliefs to become part of the Church. The Church isn't a building, and those resurrected in the kingdom are not a prize given for just attending.

The Church is a group of people who accept, who believe, who internalize, who live the doctrines taught and inspired by a Creator God.

Romans 12 and verse 2, So let's contrast the paths side by side. The path for first-generation Christians was cognitive, then emotional, then application.

For the second-generation Christian, it is application, then it's cognitive, and then it's emotional.

See, second-generation Christians, if you do not prove your beliefs, you will never develop the emotional connection and the passion of a first-generation Christian.

Understanding God's truth is important, but when you personalize it, you're understanding the heart and the mind of our Creator God. You're making that connection. You can't fall in love with obligatory, mandatory obedience.

It's not just about actions. It's about the heart.

So understanding, or yes, understanding doctrine will allow you, as you dig into it, to get to know and to love and to build a relationship with our Creator. And we'll talk more about that, but that is the most critical thing. Otherwise, you're ultimately going to quit the Church because it's going to be too hard. You'll probably be, like a lot of the people I know, who went to traditional Christianity because there were more emotions there. They didn't have to prove their emotions. Their emotions were on whatever they believed, but there were more emotions that were in a service. There is a reason people leave. So if we're living our lives for fun, if we're living our lives for unique experiences we can have in this life, this world will always win.

To be honest about it. God's way is full of fun things we can do. There are a lot of options, but it ultimately doesn't have as many choices as Satan's way.

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

That's why God says, seek you first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Turn to Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9. When I was growing up, this was always one of my favorite verses.

Because what it does is it gives us clear message that it's fine to have fun. It's fine to strive for success, to live a full life, but with all of it we remain accountable.

Ecclesiastes 11 and verse 9. Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.

If living God's way hasn't been internalized as a top priority, the lures of the flesh will win out.

I do guarantee you that those leaving the church will have some semblance of a screaming conscience, but the key difference about them in the end is they never tied their actions in the church for a reason for why they were doing what they did.

With that in mind, I encourage first-generation Christians to understand why the truth isn't a great shock or a thrill to your kids.

We both have to prove the truth. You have 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 been never allowed to experience, but here is bad.

For the second-generation Christian, don't feel guilty because you're different. There is no way, as a baby, that you could prove it before you applied it.

It's like being upset that a plane has to start on the ground before it flies.

But do prove your beliefs. Make them yours.

And remember, 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 it with convictions.

Now, this steers me to another dangerous game that many second-generation Christians play.

I call it the decision between being first-fruits and experiencing first-hand experiences.

Some second-generation Christians feel they know the signs of the end.

They have heard dozens of sermons about the Holy Roman Empire and the Ten Toes and the Beast's power.

And so they have this concept. They can keep one eye on world events, seeing what's going on while they're dabbling out there trying to experience the world.

And at the last second, they'll accept God's calling.

We had a friend who I grew up with. His parents were ministers.

He stayed in the church. His brother left around the time in 9-11 when the planes crashed into the World Trade Center.

He called his dad and said, What's the church teaching about world events and prophetic events? That's a dangerous game, my friends.

See, first of all, there's no saying that Satan won't be able to cloud their minds over time, right?

When they're living what the world has to offer. The parable of the seeds talks about the Holy Spirit dying when it lands on rocky ground.

The Bible also makes very clear that no one knows when God's return will be.

So for you second-generation Christians who aren't wantonly choosing the world, but are only dabbling with this 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 on the top of a fence for so long before you will fall off.

And for most second-generation Christians who are scared to death about falling to the side of the church, which they've never proven, which they fear because there's a commitment thingy involved with that, they fall to the side of the world.

You'll turn next to Revelation 20, verse 4-6.

Each year at the feast we picture the first resurrection, when the first fruits are resurrected.

Friends, this means more than just being one of many invited to the party, to spiritual resurrection at Christ's return.

There will only be one set of first fruits.

The phrase represents those who overcome Satan, who were the first to become part of God's family.

Revelation 20, starting in verse 4.

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 words of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their forehead and 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.

Blessed and holy is he who is part of this 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.

Firstfruits have this special intimacy with God, which is unique.

We'll be involved in the planning, in the training, in the preparation for everything that comes.

Second generation Christians, if you weren't aware of it, can often fall prey to seeing no difference between being called at Christ's return or the great white throne judgment.

It is called a better resurrection for a reason.

Both, though, first and foremost, second generation Christians who were called at this time have this special opportunity.

And just because God called our parents, the second, the third, the tenth generation Christian, at Christ's return are equally firstfruits.

We're not secondfruits.

We're not second-rate firstfruits, which can sometimes come across if firstfruits or firstgeneration Christians assume everybody's calling should be like theirs.

It conveys that. It's a different type of feeling.

We all must overcome Satan and make the same commitment to God.

It's that special relationship for all of us.

So second generation Christians, you are not excess baggage.

You didn't just come along the way with the deal.

God has picked up the phone and He is calling you.

You don't have to answer.

You could pick up and say, God, I don't want what you're selling.

But you are being called. So we've talked about how Christians view their calling.

We've talked about the truth.

At the end of the day, why do some people leave the church and others stay?

If you'll turn to Mark 10, verse 17 through 22.

For this topic, the issue is the same for first and second generation Christians.

Both stop attending church because of not committing to a relationship with God.

We all have to come to an understanding of the gospel and we have to become disciples of Jesus Christ.

Until you and I face our complete helplessness without God, we are never going to stay in the church.

What it means is we're just playing church. Mark 10, verse 17.

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.

See, this young person had probably never broken the Sabbath.

He had never worshipped an idol, committed an ill tree, stolen.

He had kept the Ten Commandments his whole life.

Jesus saw his dedication and says he loved him.

But Jesus also recognized that this man hadn't dealt with something that was deep inside of him.

And one of the key things that we all have to realize is that deep inside of every single person, every single one of us at the very core, is a hunger.

It's a thirst because we all have an emptiness that cannot be filled humanly.

And that's part of what we were created for. That's part of God's plan.

Some of you feel that with the temporariness of life.

I felt it most with the loss of my brother or my wife.

We will all spend time where it gets triggered, and you feel a certain loneliness along the way.

In this scripture, the young person was filling it with their wealth.

Others stuff that with drugs or with sex or television or movies or fill in whatever gap.

Some get into relationships. I need to have a partner because I need somebody to fill this emptiness inside of me.

It's something, though, that only God can fill.

And people will even stuff it with good things. They'll try to stuff it with positive actions and serving others.

But the key is we all have to deal with a hole that's inside all of us.

That's part of the way we were created as humans. Within every one of us is badness.

The second generation Christians, you may say, wait a minute. I grew up in the church. I'm not a pimp.

I didn't go out and steal or take drugs. See, the best way I can explain that is like me baking two cakes for you.

One of them I'm going to put 10 drops of cyanide in. The other one I'm going to put one drop of cyanide in.

But you've got to eat it. One may kill you a little faster. Both will kill you.

It's that same concept. So what am I getting at?

I'm trying to pull the pieces together and help us realize that for everybody, whether you're a first generation Christian or a second generation Christian, old or young, baptized or not, we all have to repent.

We have to constantly let God fill that hole inside of us.

That's why the Passover is here every year to help us reflect on that.

First generation Christians, when God called you and you realized you had been going in the wrong direction, you thought, whoa, I've lived my life wrong.

This is more of a challenge for second generation Christians.

Because you feel, I've lived my life pretty right. I did okay.

If you'll turn to Psalms 51, 1-3, the struggle for second generation Christians is you've kept so many of the laws in the letter, you don't understand the depth of your corrupt nature.

See, you've already done many of the physical rituals, but you haven't dealt with the core of your nature.

Psalms 51 shows David's reaction when he got hit in the head with that.

Psalms 51, starting in verse 1, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness, according to the multitude 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.

David spent his whole life basically obeying God until he fell flat on his face with Bathsheba and killing her husband.

Suddenly, he committed a whole bunch of sins, and he was like, whoa, I have no idea the depth of the corruption that's inside of me.

And that's something that we all ultimately run into. We can intellectually know the truth, right?

But we have to face that we can't do it on our own, that we need God.

I can freely tell you that when I was growing up as a teen in the church, I thought I knew it all.

Now I know I don't know much at all.

It's what happens as you learn and you study, right? I recognized some things, but by learning the why's and by proving what I did, it revealed how much I didn't know.

And Jesus came to develop disciples. I'll come back to that word.

Because disciples are those who love less their fathers and mothers, but fill in whatever other gap you want to fill in there.

They put God first. And at the end of the day, we will stay in the church because we become disciples of Jesus Christ, or we won't stay because it will become too hard. It's as simple as that.

The purpose of worship is to honor God. And if religion isn't dealing with our heart, then it's fake.

That's where you can say, what was it? Karl Marx, who said that religion is the opiate of the people.

If it's used in that way, it is the opiate of the people.

This walks us into the next major development in a Christian's life, and that's baptism.

We all have to make that same commitment to God, but there are differences in how we get to this commitment.

So let's make the comparison again. We'll start with first-generation Christians.

You had to seriously count the costs.

You were giving up things that you'd enjoyed. Ham and shrimp and Christmas, sporting events on the Sabbath, whatever, living life hard, whatever.

You then chose to accept the responsibility.

Now, interestingly, one thing I've observed as a second-generation Christian, which is different than first-generation Christians, is...

One of the things that sidetracks first-generation Christians from being baptized are more often from staying with the truth, and staying in the church is being offended, being let down by other believers.

See, you were overwhelmed to understand God, to see His perfect plan, and so it's easy to project that perfection of God's plan onto those who attend, and set an equal expectation of believers being perfect.

The truth of how imperfect other believers are, you hear people get so bent out of shape, and they're like, Oh, I just can't be with these people anymore.

See, first-generation Christians entered thinking everyone would be perfect. You had rose-colored glasses.

Second-generation Christians stayed despite everyone being imperfect.

We've seen hypocrisy since we were babies. And a lot of people, the speakers, doesn't matter who, what position.

God is taking us someplace collectively that we can't get on our own. That's the lesson of David.

We can try to work things out as hard as we can, but sometimes we're going to fail miserably.

And the reality is every member of the Church is on this same journey.

Because if you're looking for a perfect Church, you're ultimately going to look in a mirror and say, Well, I know what perfect is in my rules, and you're going to have Church in your living room.

That's what you're going to end up with.

I think God intentionally built this into the Ten Commandments.

So, you know the first three commandments are about loving God.

You know the last six commandments are about loving your neighbor.

Then you get to the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is the commitment that requires us to learn to love God while we love our neighbor.

And some Christians really struggle with this, because they want to only choose which neighbors they interact with at the Church. Not realizing God called everybody, you need to suck it up and make it work.

The Sabbath has a very important role for that reason.

So, let's look at 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, but it's different.

There are many levels of commitment you don't understand yet, but counting the cost isn't the same exactly for you.

The key difference is about accepting the costs.

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

And part of proving your beliefs is realizing the importance of God's invitation and accepting it.

Not just attending, that's not accepting.

Baptism is a very special connection.

We have to admit that there is a hole inside of us and our need for God.

So, truly understanding the commitment of baptism, it's a lifelong journey.

We all look back for those who were baptized, and we realize whether first or second generation Christians, how much we didn't know at the point of being baptized.

And that's part of the growth of what God intended.

I always knew that I would probably get baptized. I think my parents may have. They hoped I would, for sure.

But when I started counseling for baptism, I know I at least mentioned it once or twice to them, but didn't talk to them much about it. It was very intentional.

And they didn't bring it up a lot, because they also realized what I was trying to do, and what's important to me is having my relationship with God and not my parents pushing me into it.

Well, one day in November, I called my parents from Bixanti, Texas, and I told them I'd just been baptized.

I was expecting excitement and yelling, and what I got was five seconds of silence.

And then they said in a hurt voice, I wish you would have told us. We would have flown out.

And it was an interesting learning for me in many ways.

See, as a second-generation Christian, I didn't realize how important that moment was to my parents.

I invited them to my graduation, but saw baptism as this private moment, which I was honestly more apt to share with my second-generation friends.

Now that I'm a parent, now that I have a son and I'm older, I totally realize why they would have flown halfway around the world to be there.

But it was just a different type thing.

And what was most important to me was that I was personally accepting the cost.

And that's why I didn't want them to be part of that part.

That, to me, was me having a relationship and a commitment that I was making.

So let's conclude. We've covered a lot of subjects today.

And to conclude, I'd like you to look at 1 Corinthians 12, verses 13-14.

I do hope that I've been able to expand your way of thinking about the two generations, because there isn't a better, there isn't a worse way in the calling of God's people.

I've tried to reveal some of the many ways of thinking that I had growing up, because I know it is true for so many other people, and it's why this message has gone viral whenever it gets a chance, because people can connect with it in ways of things that aren't talked about.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul explained that we have to learn to let our unity in Christ be what unites us.

1 Corinthians 12, verse 13, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, whether first 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 see, as first and second generation Christians, we all have this very, very special birthright.

If we respect, if we work together to complement our unique differences, we can bridge the gaps between our Christian generations and collectively attain the amazing prize we have ahead of being first fruits.