Encouraging the Next Generation

By David Hobbs

The life of every person is built on a foundation of many seemingly inconsequential things. History is full of stories of how famous people’s lives were directed often in their youth on the path that later took them to earth-changing accomplishments, either for good or for evil. Vincent Van Gough really wanted to be a preacher, but after having that door repeatedly slammed in his face, became the famous (though tragic) artist we know today.

As adults, and especially parents, we have enormous influence over young people’s lives, more than we imagine or are aware of at the time. We never know when a "prophetic moment" might occur that can alter their life course.

There are two incidents that happened long ago that I still remember (and came back to me in prayer today). The first involved a lad whose name I never knew. We were installing a new youth pastor who was up on the platform. The senior pastor called up the elders and Servant Council members to lay on hands and pray over him. He also called the young people of the church to come up and join in.

I was on the platform as a member of the Servant Council. As we gathered to pray, the Holy Spirit came upon us. There happened to be a lad maybe 10-12 years old standing by me. As we moved in, there was only one spot left to get in and lay hands on the new pastor. I was about to fill the gap when I became aware of this young lad. I could tell he wanted to go in and pray but he was hanging back, unsure if he was “old enough” to play such a key part. Part of me wanted to move in myself, since I was so “important” of a person. Wasn’t this the province of adults? And spiritual ones at that? What did his prayer matter anyway? But the gentle Holy Spirit laid His hand on me and held me still. “Let him go." I turned to the lad and invited him in with a wave. Eagerly he stepped forward, laid his hands on his new pastor and joined in the prayer for him.

The Holy Spirit had obviously moved on him and he was open and sensitive to His leading. What if I, out of an inflated sense of ego, had shut him out. In his disappointment, might he have said in his heart, “There’s no place for me in this religion stuff,” and from that time on begun looking elsewhere for a place to fit in? Hard to believe? It happens all the time in just such small ways, but we don't realize it until much later, when it’s too late to do anything about it. Thirty years down the road, when we're ready to retire, we look around and suddenly realize there's no one coming behind to take our place.

There was another time: I was out with my two young sons, Joe and Jon. Joe was about 5 and Jon maybe 3½. We were exploring down at the railroad tracks and were under the bridge where it crossed a creek. We had been throwing rocks into the creek and were now trying to get back up to the tracks. The slope under the bridge was very steep, but it was concreted so there was good traction. Joe zipped right up, but Jon, looking at the steepness of the slope, was afraid to try. “I can’t, I can’t,” he kept saying. I could have carried him or pulled him, but I wanted him to see that he could do it for himself.

Jon had self-esteem issues because he was slower than others to catch on to things and so seemed less bright. He used to come home from kindergarten and tell Marcine, “I’m stupid.” She realized that it must be the kids at school telling him that. He was the classic kid who would have fallen through the cracks in the public schools because it took him longer than the other kids to figure things out, and the teachers wouldn’t have had the patience to wait, but would have moved the rest of the class on without him, leaving him hopelessly behind and convinced that he was stupid just like everybody said.

That was the main reason we took them out of public school and began homeschooling all three of our boys. After Jon was free to proceed at his own pace, we saw that once he grasped a concept, he owned it forever.

So I wanted Jon to discover that he could climb the steep slope all by himself. I began encouraging him, “Come on Jon, you can do it. Daddy’s right here; I won’t let you fall; go for it!” After much encouragement, Jon went for it. Once his feet hit the cement and didn’t slide, in an instant he realized that he could make it and scampered the rest of the way up just like his brother had done.

Wow, what a victory! I shouted “Way to go Jon; you did it!” And shared in his triumph.

But what if I hadn’t been there? What if Jon had been raised without a father, as many boys are? What if, in a similar situation, he had had a fearful mother who screamed: “Don’t try and climb up there! You’ll fall and break your leg!”

One little victory; I’m sure mixed with many others. And now Jon is an extremely competent electrician, able to fix most things, with a lovely wife and a new baby girl.

My point is that with Jon it could have gone either way. It was not a done deal, how he turned out. Parenting him took some effort (and many others in our church played an important part too!) With the other lad it took a sudden moment of spiritual sensitivity. But wasn’t it worth it? And isn’t that what we’re called to?