I heard a public personality describing how the media was interested in what people under thirty years old thought.  If you were older, your interests, perspectives, beliefs, and thoughts were irrelevant.  Many people talk about “millenials” and their generational characteristics, distinguishing them from past generations and current established norms.  The TV show, “Survivor” set up a season that portrayed a battle of the generations, “Millenials vs. The X-Generation”.  The producers created a lot of drama and shock by selecting characters who would display the stereotypes of their respective generation, including a significant portion of gays, Lesbians, and for the first time, a transgender person who was “outed” in the series.

The media, as we see it today, is the mouth and perhaps the heart of the world system. The Bible tells us who is the master behind it all.  “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.’ ” (Luke 4: 5-6).  “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John 5: 19).  Why is the latest generation, the one just becoming of legal age, an object of interest to the media?  Even though they don’t have a lot of  accumulated wealth, they are the generation that will be buying cars, houses, diamond rings and everything that goes with them.  They are forming their own opinions about politics, religion, and social/cultural norms.  They have been taught to one degree or another what their parents considered best, but now it is their turn to teach their children, make decisions and chose preferences.

Recently, I asked my wife why our grandchildren have specifically designed sleepwear? Didn’t we put our children to bed with whatever clothing would keep them adequately warm?  She replied, “By today’s standards we were exposing them to danger.”  This illustrates on a micro scale how generations change.  Of course, some changes are far more critical and substantial than others.  For example, abandoning the institution of marriage, as historically defined, will have a drastic impact on the family and consequently, the fabric of a stable and healthy society.  The enemy deceives young men and women into believing that pre-marital sex is acceptable and proper.  The trap is then set to disregard marriage, cohabitate, and the family unit is destroyed in large measure. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Eph. 2: 1-3).  When the truth, Yeshua, Messiah, the Savior and Lord of all, is revealed and we accept it, we are delivered and set free from the captivity and control of the enemy.

When I listen to the latest generation, I often hear questioning and that is to be expected. The alarming thing I encounter is an acceptance of anything as it relates to someone else. This has been taught in schools as “tolerance” and “mutual acceptance”.  Unfortunately, it is a great lie renamed and re-packaged for this new generation.  In earlier years it was the argument of relativity, that is, truth is relative, such that what is true at one time and circumstance, may or may not be true in another.  This lie goes back in its various forms to Pilot who said in reply to Yeshua, “What is Truth,” and even back to the garden of Eden.  “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden” ‘?  The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.” (Gen. 3: 1-3).

The enemy distorted the truth of what God said.  God’s word is true to all people, in all circumstances, through all time; it is not relative and not subject to conclusions of men. As believers, we are tolerant of unbelievers and people of other religions, but that does not mean that we subjugate the truth or the good news of Yeshua, Messiah to what is false.  Also, mutual acceptance is accepting that we are all human, weak, fallible and must each come to a knowledge of the truth.  It does not imply that another’s belief or nonbelief must be accepted as true and righteous, but rather that they are entitled to it. Fools can believe insanity is wisdom, but that does not make it so, even though they are free to believe it.  That same freedom and tolerance guarantees that tyrants can not silence the Truth of God’s Word.

Individuals in every generation must come to their own knowledge of the Truth.  The first generation says, God is my God, the second that, My father’s God is my God, and the next generations are far from knowing God, unless each generation passes on a knowledge of God, and does not relent until the next generation says as the Samaritan’s did, “They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’ ” (John 42: 42).  God’s intention is for every generation to know Him personally and intimately.  Among the family of God the generations are connected.  The younger generations look to the older generations for wisdom and hold their elders in honor and respect.  The older generations pray and nurture the younger ones in the way of the Lord, and declare the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord.  “One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” (Ps. 145: 4).  May the Lord expose and deliver His people from the lies and influences of the world.