In a few hours the eyes of the world will be locked onto the Olympic stadium to witness the opening ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics. The slogan for this year’s events is Inspire a GENERATION. As the events of the Olympics unfold, we will all be inspired to try harder at whatever we do. We will be inspired as we watch the world’s best athletes compete against each other. We will be motivated and inspired to always give our best as we are listen to the details of the journey that some of these athletes would have made on the way to London. The next few days will showcase the best of human spirit. As global citizens we will witness friendly but competitive matchups where the results are not based on the size of that country’s military might or economic power but because of the determination of athletes to win. Yes, it is impossible to witness the Olympics and not be inspired. But as the 2012 London Olympics seeks to Inspire a GENERATION, our FF for today is a challenge to DISCIPLE THIS GENERATION.
I don’t know if you would agree with me but there is no GENERATION that more needs to be DISCIPLED than this one. THIS GENERATION is like none other! It is a GENERATION that sees no difference between the real world and the virtual world of cyberspace. It’s a GENERATION that has information at its fingertips 24/7. It’s a GENERATION that is not afraid to broadcast itself whether on YouTube or Facebook. THIS GENERATION has access to more knowledge yet sometimes it appears as though there’s less thinking. It is a GENERATION that has taken the liberty to redefine some foundational principles and in the process has made truth relative so that there are no more absolutes. If it seems good and right to the individual then it must be deemed good and right for all. It is a GENERATION that has more ready access to the Bible but yet fails to read it or live by its teachings. As a result THIS GENERATION has redefined the traditional understanding of marriage and family. It is easy, yes very easy to inspire THIS GENERATION but inspiration can be short lived. And so it is more desirable that we not only inspire THIS GENERATION but also seek to DISCIPLE THIS GENERATION!
If THIS GENERATION is not DISCIPLED a GENERATION of believers will soon emerge who instead of living by God’s standards will adjust and lower the standards making themselves more comfortable. The result is a Gospel that no longer challenges and convicts us. Rather we will soon be living by a Gospel that proclaims anything goes because we must make every effort to ensure that no one is offended. It’s as though believers are afraid of making others to be ill at ease in declaring the truth of Christian DISCIPLESHIP. Yet in sending out the 12 DISCIPLES to engage their GENERATION Jesus did not mince his words. He made it plain “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword...If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.” (Matt. 10: 34, 39). It still requires courage and boldness to DISCIPLE THIS GENERATION.
But at the same time, we live in a time when there are so many means whereby THIS GENERATION can be DISCIPLED. We have access to the world wide web and social media. There’s twitter, facebook, whatsapp, YIM, skype, texting, facetime, MSN, BBM and the list goes on. However, the essence of Christian DISCIPLESHIP is still about building human relationships. And so in as much as we use all of the tools of social media in the virtual world, real world connections are still precious. So added to all of the above to DISCIPLE THIS GENERATION we cannot underestimate the value of making that telephone call, having that face to face meeting and intentionally going out of our way to demonstrate just what it means to be a Christian at this time to THIS GENERATION.
Acts 13:36 says that David served his GENERATION and then died and was buried. God has preserved your life and mine because there’s still work for us to do with THIS GENERATION. So as the 2012 London Olympics seek to inspire a GENERATION, may we as believers be empowered by the Holy Spirit to DISCIPLE THIS GENERATION.
Mikie Roberts (Rev)
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http://moravians.net/serendipity/index.php?/categories/1-Friday-Focus
