This mini-series affirms that we need a united and reconciled church to faithfully embody what it means to be the people of God in our cultural context. For the church to effectively lead the world, we must first cultivate the health of the whole body of Christ and that includes breaking down the walls of hostility within the body, and calling all of God’s children to love unconditionally and serve humbly. Part I confronted the issue of women and leadership. Part II addressed the racial and ethnic divisions within the church that reinforce cultural incompetence and partiality. Today’s post challenges the misshaping and cultural obsession with youth which directly links to hostility and generational divisions within the church.+

Due to advancements in science and sound health choices, people are living longer. That’s a good thing. I would imagine that the extension of our life expectancy would be a benefit to the church—because older and wiser people would be around longer to disciple, mentor, lead, and guide the next generation of believers according to Titus 2 and the numerous examples that we see in the Bible. Unfortunately, that hope for the church and intergenerational discipleship is not always actualized, because in addition to being segregated over racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic lines, churches are often divided by generations.

Continue reading at Missio Alliance.