Text: Mark 8:34–38; Matthew 16:24–26
“For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” — Mark 8:38 (KJV)
There is something deeply unsettling about this description of the generation in which Jesus lived. He called it a sinful and adulterous generation. But I find myself wondering: If Jesus were to describe our generation today, what words would He use?We live in a world where human suffering increasingly competes with our appetite for entertainment. Wars rage, families are displaced, children are killed, and communities are destroyed. Yet, for many, these tragedies have become little more than headlines to scroll past.
We are becoming accustomed to suffering.Compassion is diminishing. Kindness is becoming conditional. Integrity is negotiable. Commitment is increasingly sacrificed on the altar of convenience. We seem to be raising a generation that wants the benefits of responsibility without necessarily embracing the discipline that responsibility demands. And perhaps most disturbing is that some of these attitudes are finding comfortable accommodation within the Church.
So, the question before us is not merely what is wrong with the world.The more important question is: What is the Church doing about it? How do we confront a sinful and adulterous generation without becoming another expression of the very world we are called to confront? I believe there are several spiritual directions we must seriously consider.
Jesus did not call the Church to become a gathering of people who merely identify what is wrong with the world. He called us to be the light of the world. In Matthew 7:3–5, Jesus challenges us to remove the beam in our own eyes before attempting to remove the speck in another person’s eye. We cannot effectively confront corruption in society when dishonesty is tolerated among believers.We cannot preach compassion while being cruel to one another. We cannot condemn sexual immorality while celebrating greed, pride, exploitation and hypocrisy. We cannot preach righteousness on Sunday and practise injustice on Monday.The Church must first become the message it wants the world to hear.
Our greatest sermon may not be what we say from the pulpit but what people experience when they encounter us.
Secondly, we must return to the fundamentals of Christian discipleship. Perhaps one of the weaknesses of contemporary Christianity is that we have become very comfortable with Christianity as an experience but less committed to Christianity as a way of life. We have emphasised receiving blessings, breakthroughs, miracles and divine interventions. These are not necessarily wrong. But have we given equal attention to the demands of following Christ? Jesus said in Luke 9:23:”If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” Notice the words: deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Christianity is not simply about what God can do for us. It is also about what God expects to accomplish through us.We must teach:
Self-discipline over self-indulgence.
Sacrifice over entitlement.
Service over personal gratification.
Integrity over convenience.
Responsibility over excuses.
Obedience over religious appearances.
We must raise believers who understand that following Christ has implications for their marriages, businesses, workplaces, relationships, finances and interactions with society.
Thirdly, we must deliberately restore compassion and the ministry of kindness. One of the most troubling features of our generation is the apparent normalisation of indifference.We have become spectators of human suffering. Someone is hungry, and we scroll past. Someone is grieving, and we move on. Someone is struggling, and we conclude that their circumstances are none of our business.Yet, when Jesus encountered human suffering, He was frequently moved with compassion. Matthew 9:36 tells us: But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them…” . Compassion was not an occasional emotional response in the ministry of Jesus. It was a defining characteristic of His engagement with humanity.
Consider the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25–37.The priest passed by. The Levite passed by. But the Samaritan stopped. Interestingly, the first two were religious people. They understood religious structures, but they failed to respond to human suffering.The Samaritan demonstrated that love of neighbour is not established by religious activity, but by practical action.
We must confront the culture of entitlement and the erosion of personal responsibility.
I think this is an important conversation, particularly concerning the younger generation.There is an increasing tension between aspiration and responsibility. Many young people desire financial independence, comfort, recognition and success. There is nothing inherently wrong with these aspirations.
The Church however, must not be afraid to teach the dignity of honest labour. Paul was emphatic about personal responsibility in 2 Thessalonians 3:10:”If any would not work, neither should he eat.” However, we must be careful not to confuse unwillingness to work with inability to find work.There are young people who genuinely want to work but are confronted by unemployment, economic hardship and limited opportunities.Our response must therefore combine instruction with understanding. We must also consciously emphasise
Some difficult questions we must ask ourselves as we consider this theme :
1. Have we become so preoccupied with personal blessings that we have neglected our responsibility to humanity?
2. Are we raising Christians who know how to pray for prosperity but do not understand the dignity of honest labour?
3. Can people genuinely experience the love of Christ through our conduct outside the four walls of the Church?
4. Have we become more tolerant of sin within the Church simply because confronting it might affect our numbers, relationships or finances?
5. Are we teaching the younger generation how to live responsibly, or are we merely criticising their behaviour?
6. If the Church disappeared from our communities tomorrow, would the people who live there notice the absence of our compassion, service and positive influence?
Our concluding thought:
We are the answer God has placed in this generation.There is a tendency to look at the world today and conclude that things have become hopeless. But I am reminded of Matthew 5:13–14. Jesus called His followers the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt is useful because it preserves and influences what surrounds it. Light is useful because it dispels darkness. Neither exists for itself.The Church must therefore recover its identity and its assignment. We must become a people whose presence makes a difference.
Shalom.