A Solution to our Mess

First Posted by David Ashcraft

I have often said that we baby boomers have created a mess for future generations to clean up, the left overs from hippies, drugs, "free" sex, abortion, greed, wars and worst of all failing to live for Jesus in our everyday lives.  As a result of our selfishness, the number of born-again Christians in the U.S. is less than 10% according to the polling group Barna.  And by our apathy, we baby boomers have given our children the impression that the only solution to the problems that we created is government.  Polls for the last 5 years have consistently shown that the younger generation believes that the government is the only solution to the problems we face - from healthcare to education to picking winners in the economy.

But a better solution will result from a revival among Christians in our churches. We baby boomers must acknowledge that we have not lived our lives with Jesus foremost on our minds. We have not told others about what He did for us, we have not loved our fellow Christians as we should and we certainly have not loved the world around us.  

Tom Ranier, Lifeway Resourses, posted an open letter to the next generation, and I think he is right on target: 

An open letter to Millennials from a Baby Boomer: We have borrowed from your future and left you an incomprehensible national debt. We have polluted the world and left you dirtier air and water. Our politicians have failed you. Our religious leaders have failed you. Our business leaders have failed you. It is no wonder that you care little for the institutions of our nation. It is no wonder that you have always had a cynical view of those institutions. We have created such a system of entitlements that everyone seems to be asking for their next handout. But we have not adequately funded those entitlements so we borrowed a bit more from your future. We have left you wars. And it seems like we are engaged in the new habit of fighting multiple wars at the same time. We have left you in the fear of terrorism. I know you can’t blame the Baby Boomers for terrorists, but those terrorists have taken advantage of the weaker nation we left you. It seems as though the one significant gift we left you was our belief in you. I know sometimes you were our trophy children, and we pushed you to accomplish things for our own egos. But most of the time we truly did want the best for you. We really do love you. And we really do believe that you can make a difference. It won’t be easy to reverse the problems we have created, but you can do it. You have the desire. You have the abilities. You have the education, both formal and informal. Yes, you can do it. Then perhaps, in thirty or forty years, when you pass the baton of leadership to your children in the next generation, you will give them a better place than we left you. If nothing else, we leave you with our confidence that you, the Millennials, can become the next great generation. Sincerely, Thom S. Rainer

It is not too late for Christian baby boomers through our churches to lead the next revival in America.  When we humbly repent and begin doing what Jesus commanded us to do, then government, and education and science can support God's original command in Genesis, "subdue the earth."