IMPACTING OUR GENERATION WITH A RENEWED MIND (Part 1)

IMPACTING OUR GENERATION WITH A RENEWED MIND (Part 1)

By Pastor William Boachie-Ansah
Texts: Rom 12:2, Judg 2:6-10 and Deut 6:6-7

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that

you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God..

¶ And when Joshua had dismissed the people, the children of Israel went each to his own inheritance to possess the land. Jos 22:6; 24:28-31  7 So the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD which He had done for Israel. Jos 24:31  8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. Jos 24:29  9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. Jos 19:49-50; 24:30  10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

The text from Judges painted a gloomy picture of the religious state of Israel after the death of Joshua. Joshua was a good leader by all standards. Bible recorded that he conquered and destroyed and captured, (Josh 10:40-41)….until he grew old.

 One day, he assembled the whole nation together and addressed them (Josh 24:1-15). The general expectation was that he was going to appoint his successor. But instead of appointing a leader to take over from him, he surprisingly gave the people of Israel the liberty to choose what to worship! (Josh 24: 15). Meanwhile, God had strictly forbidden Israel not to worship any object in the Ten Commandments, (Ex 20:3-5).

How could it happen that a whole new generation come which did not know God, nor had NEVER heard of His works among the chosen people of Israel? Can such a situation happen today? I strongly believe it is possible for such a situation to happen in our time. If much time is not spent by leadership and the church as a whole to impact our generation, we shall lose our significance. I have seen churches here in Ghana which were doing very well when I was a child but now, they are no longer significant. I know of two spiritual churches in Ghana which are now almost dead. Two of my classmates whose parents were pastors in those churches are now Elders in my church. If children of prominent members of a church leave it when they grow, which people are expected to remain in it?                                      

What Went Wrong During the Time of Joshua

1.      The One-Man show leadership style of Joshua. The leader saw himself as the only person mandated to rule. There are so many Christian leaders who are Joshua’s copycats. They are doing very well in demolishing the strongholds of Satan and rescuing the perishing without considering the sustainability of their endeavours.

2.      Lack of succession policy. Joshua did not appoint any successor. Neither did anybody remind him of the need to do so. He wanted to be a leader for life, and he was able to do that. But it was after his death that the effect was manifested.

3.      He didn’t train people to take over from him. He was trained by Moses. Moses consciously invested in him by letting Joshua accompany him to Mt Sinai. He trained him in the art of war by appointing him leader in the war with Amalek. Everybody trusted the leadership prowess of Joshua so when he was appointed, there was no opposition. But Joshua sadly didn’t learn from his master.

4.      The youthful generation didn’t show any enthusiasm in leadership. This was simply because the leadership never saw the need to involve them.

5.      The youth were not taught the word of God. Leadership were impressed upon to teach their children the word of God, (Deut 6:6-7) but they shirked that responsibility.

And so Joshua and his generation made an external impact of capturing and conquering without making any internal impact by institutionalizing and consolidating their gains. They assumed once they manage to secure the land for the next generation, they will automatically become God fearing and remain in the faith. In the same way many Christian leaders have assumed that if they are able to put up magnificent chapels and mission houses, many people will join the church and be faithful to continue in their faith. Such people will be totally disappointed in their old age when they see those buildings and property they have toiled for being abandoned or sold out… We need to consolidate our gains by making sure that what is in us now is effectively transmitted to people who would also be able to transfer to others to ensure continuity.

But there are a lot of challenges which needed to be surmounted before we would be able to impact this generation. We shall discuss them in the next article.

boachieansah@gmail.com