"…Servants don’t know what their master is doing, and so I don’t speak to you as My servants. I speak to you as My friends, and I have told you everything that My Father has told Me." John 15:15

Introduction

A timeless God relates to many generations simultaneously. He is multi-generational, being the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob! At any one time there are mainly three generations on the earth. The scripture above represents three 'spiritual' equivalents - the Father, Son and 'friends.'

There are two valid questions for the present day church: 'Where are the fathers...?' and 'Where are the sons and daughters...?'

One Generational Theology
Unfortunately, the 'baby boomer' generation has too often been guilty of adopting a one generational theology! The world is coming to an end, the Antichrist is coming, and Jesus is coming back to rescue us all. And it's all going to happen in this generation. This has stripped fatherhood of value; sons and daughters have tended to abandon seeking out fathers and mothers, because they have not received a baton of hope from the previous generation.

I have always lived my life morally as if Jesus was going to come back tonight; however, practically, I am planning on being around for the rest of my natural lifetime! Consequently, I've always had a heart and passion for raising up the next generation to take their place in the relay race of church history until the completion of all things.

Veterans Fighting Alongside Young Warriors!
I have many generational 'friends' in their twenties and thirties whom I consider to be comrades in the battle; however, veteran warriors know a few things about fighting alongside young warriors.

A common mistake a young warrior often makes, which can jeopardize everyone, is to become so engaged in the battle, so consumed by the flow of adrenaline, that he begins to flail blindly at anything or anyone who comes near or that might threaten him.

This makes it nearly impossible for the veteran to get near the young soldier in order to cover his back because, in so doing, he may be killed himself. The best a veteran can do in this situation is to keep his distance while attacking any enemy that would join the battle against his young warrior.

If the old warrior did not actively love the young warrior, he would just let him die. And if the young warrior did not actively love the old warrior, he would instead join this veteran's enemy! Neither must be the case among the household of God.

The Key for Young and Old
The key to both young and old warriors surviving on the spiritual battlefield is to love one other in the way described in 1 Cor.13:4-7, “love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

That love has a singleness of focus that brings unity, not unity of skill level, nor strength, nor wisdom, but a unity borne out of a determination to succeed together, to soundly defeat the enemy.