by Perry Noble
I lead a discipleship group of about 10-12 young men and women who are in high school…I’ve done so for the past two years. Here are seven things I believe about the next generation (people who are 20 and younger)…
1. The next generation will see one of the greatest awakenings the world has ever seen…I really do believe the Lord is setting them up for it. (Which is why I believe the greatest investment in “missions” that the church can make today is the one to have a dynamic youth and children’s ministry!)
2. The way the next generation will view and do church will be different from the way we do it today. They will fully know and comprehend how to reach out to themselves…and our role as a church should be to fund it and not fight it (that line is borrowed from Andy Stanley)!
3. The next generation seems to be way more serious about their walk with Jesus than my generation has ever been.
4. I believe those of us who are “more mature” (OLDER) should seek out those who are in their teens and listen to their questions and frustrations about life and church without coming down on them. If we will listen and patiently explain things, there could be way less tension between generations in the church. Might does not make right. And…the “mature” people should always be the first to step into a relationship with the next generation!
5. I fully believe that the next generation has no earthly idea what God wants to do in them and through them…and if we will teach them to be fully surrendered on a daily basis, that our children and grandchildren will see God do things we didn’t even think were possible.
6. I believe the next generation is not content with borrowing the faith of their parents; they are asking questions and seeking to understand WHAT they believe and WHY they believe it…and them doing that is going to equip them to take the church to the next level (I Peter 3:15).
7. I believe the next generation is going to refuse to settle for the way things are…and that as their view of WHO God is begins to increase so will their expectation in regards to what He can do.
Perry Noble is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church, which has campuses in Anderson, Columbia, Florence, and Greenville, South Carolina. At 10 years old, the church averages over 10,000 people across all campuses. Perry is a gifted communicator and teacher, convicted about speaking the truth as plainly as possible. God has given him a vision and a passion for helping people meet Jesus, and each week, he shares God’s Word and its practical application in our daily lives. Perry, his wife, Lucretia, and their daughter, Charisse, live in Anderson, South Carolina. This post was originally published on Perry’s blog on May 25, 2011, and is used by permission.
