So The Next Generation Will Know

Occasionally I’m asked to review a new book. I agree only to what I can read in full, but I try to say “yes” whenever possible because of how grateful I am to those who have read, endorsed and written reviews for mine.

When I got the request for So The Next Generation Will Know by Dr. Sean McDowell and J. Warner Wallace, time-wise I knew I should pass. I had enough to read for grad school, plus the stack of books on my table I haven’t gotten to. But the title screamed, Read Me!”

SO THE NEXT GENERATION WILL KNOW is why I’m so passionate about equipping and encouraging parents. It’s the mission behind Redemptive Parenting! No way I could pass up this book.

The premise of the book is to help parents, youth leaders, Christian educators and other adult mentors equip teenagers with a Christian worldview. “What we believe about the world shapes how we live in the world (p. 79).” As it is Gen Z has very little understanding of how the gospel connects to and informs all of life. (Exactly why I wrote Get Your Story Straight!)

The hard truth is parents and the church are failing our kids. We send them to youth group believing by doing so we will safeguard them against drinking, sex, and peers who do. But if all they are doing is eating pizza, playing games and hearing a quick law-driven message they are not being shaped by the gospel. We must conciously equip them with the truth of the gospel, that is Jesus’ perfect work in life and death and what that means for us, or they will not be prepared to filter through the moral, intellectual and spiritual untruths coming at them.

I like to equate studying gospel truth with the way U.S. government officials prepare to identify counterfeit dollars. They don’t study fake money, they only look at the real thing so they will know without a shadow of doubt when anything not real comes across their desk. If our kids (and we, for that matter) don’t know what the gospel is, we will be blown to and from by every ideology out there. One of the biggest factors in our cultural shifting right now is Christians believe just like the world. We are not salt and light because like everybody else we go with whatever sounds good or feels right. We falsely assume anything with a “Christian” label on it is good, and can’t descriminate because we don’t know what the gospel is, and what it isn’t.

Helping our kids “get their story straight” doesn’t just happen. As the books says, and I agree, it takes being intentional. It takes prioritizing spiritual formation above “mirroring the priorities of our culture (p. 116).”

I know how easy it is to get swept up by the daily/weekly routine, even when we do have the best of intentions. It’s especially hard (or unmotivating) though to prioritize spiritual training when we ourselves feel ill-equipped and unsure what spiritual training even looks like. This is why I love the helpful ideas given throughout the book for parents and youth leaders. And the reminder that “one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it (p. 138)” ourselves.

“Truth is best learned and sustained in relationship (p. 60),” but only to the degree of our own understanding and the gospel’s impact on us can we pass it on to our children. Perhaps we need to commit to learn and grow together alongside them.

Getting that front-row seat into their hearts and minds is priceless. I would never trade that from the seven years I led my daughter’s Bible study, and the dinner table conversations that evolve (not every night) with my boys simply from sitting down together. So if you are parent I urge you not to buy into the presumption I so often hear that teens need younger, more relevant “teachers.” Mentors are great, but more than anyone they need YOU.

In fact, one research study shows that the single most important factor in faith transmission comes from a warm relationship with parents, especially dad (p. 34). Unsure about how to forge forward, included in the book is a whole chapter of statistics and facts helpful for better understanding Gen Z so we can enter in to their lives with compassion, which helps foster a “warm” relationship. The book also gives some great questions to get conversations going with your teens, plus so much more meat to chew on. A thumbs up from me!

This book releases May 1. Pre-order now and you’ll also get some free stuff! Click HERE for more!