Four generations of fading away?

[steve-in-kville]

god.jpg

Just a random meme I came across this morning. Vote and discuss. I may be along later with my own thoughts.

[Soloist]

Jdg 2:7  And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel.
Jdg 2:8  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.
Jdg 2:9  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.
Jdg 2:10  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.
Jdg 2:11  And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:
Jdg 2:12  And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.

As it was then, so it is today.

[Biblical Anabaptist]

I voted strongly agree but I think it is 2-3 generations rather than 4

[steve-in-kville]

I voted strongly agree but I think it is 2-3 generations rather than 4

I've known of situations where this happened in one. But that was more of a jump than a fade.

[MaxPC]

I personally think that it depends on the group or fellowship. Interestingly we are seeing a renewal among the young adults in Catholic World.

[Heirbyadoption]

Here in the Cumberland Valley of PA, I can point you to multiple examples of fade on various issues of doctrine and/or practice among Anabaptist folk, usually in 3 generations, but demonstrably within two to four.

A quote from a message given in our congregation 2 Sundays ago on the practice of the Holy Kiss referenced this idea, though again, there is obviously some room for a couple generations variance depending on the issue. For what it's worth:

"In order for a generation to effectively retain a practice and pass it on to their children, two things must be maintained; the current generation must possess a clear understanding of the basis for their practice, and they need to develop a conviction regarding the relevance and value of that practice! In the absence of these, any such practices will first shift from being valued as clear Biblical teachings into useful cultural traditions; then, with time, those cultural traditions will eventually come to be viewed as dead forms and will ultimately dropped or cast away by subsequent generations who view them as having little or no value beyond sentiment."

[justme]

that sort of fits along w an article that i read some time ago about business.
the original owner works hard, builds up the business, has a really good thing going. the 2nd generation just coasts along, doesn't do the hard work, and by the time the 3rd generation comes along, they just run it into the ground.

[mike]

that sort of fits along w an article that i read some time ago about business.
the original owner works hard, builds up the business, has a really good thing going. the 2nd generation just coasts along, doesn't do the hard work, and by the time the 3rd generation comes along, they just run it into the ground.

As a second generation business owner, I have heard this many times. It could keep me awake at night. There is some truth to this. Many small businesses don't even make it to the second let alone the third generation. A salesman once told me that a business that is not growing is dying. I think that same thing is true in terms of spiritual vitality. If a generation isn't growing spiritually, it is dying.