Escaping the Generational Curse

We are part of a third or fourth generation religious movement. Of course, the true Body of Christ extends back through the generations of history to the time of the New Testament. However, our modern structure, as a movement, really began when God called Bro. William Sowders on the banks of the Ohio River, and commissioned him to preach “my gospel.” He and his fellow-laborers were the first generation. They were followed by a second generation that brought this fellowship into some stature and stability.

The ministers in the pulpits and the saints in the pews now, for the most part, are third and fourth generation. In a prior issue of this magazine, we detailed the problems associated with these generations. Then we wrote, “The first generation is composed primarily of the church planters, the second generation is primarily church builders, and the third and subsequent generations are, unfortunately, church compromisers. There are exceptions to every rule. Third Generation Christians can act like First Generation ones, and vice versa, but the pattern is clear.”

The third and fourth generations are particularly hazardous to the spiritual vitality of any movement. The first generation were pioneers, explorers and adventurers – on a new journey – like the generation that Moses led out of Egypt when they were seeking freedom from slavery and a promised land of milk and honey. The second generation were conquerors and settlers. They fought the battles to lay claim to the land. They brought legitimacy, respectability and stability to the nation – like the generation that Joshua led over the Jordan River.

The third, fourth and fifth generations could be called the generation of losers – they lose their vision, they lose their separation from the world, they lose their zeal and commitment, and their churches lose the candlestick. They are like the generation referred to in Judges 2:10: “and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.”

Judges 2:10-12 is a very frightening scripture. The people served the Lord all the days of Moses; they served Him all the days of Joshua, and the elders that overlived Joshua, Joshua 24:31, but they served idols beginning with the third generation.

The pattern repeats over and over through the Bible. King David was first generation; Solomon was second generation; and Jeroboam and Rehoboam lost it in the third generation. In the early church, the apostles were first generation; Timothy, Mark and others were second; and the early church lost it in the third generation.

Do we want to be losers? Do we care if we drift off of the foundation that built this fellowship? Can we swim upstream? Can we go against the current? I am a third generation member of the Body of Christ; and my children are fourth generation. Are we doomed by the generational curse?

Some generations are wicked. See Proverbs 30:11-14. Pride, disrespect, refusal to follow, and arrogance characterize a generation of losers. Pride and haughtiness go before a fall and destruction. Proverbs 16:18. I fear, lest we fall from the relationship our predecessors had with the Lord. Something very valuable would be destroyed in the process.

The Apostle Paul knew that the generational curse would destroy the Ephesian church. In 57 A.D., he called for the elders of that church to meet him. In Acts 20:27-31, Paul warned that grievous wolves would enter in, and that men would arise and speak perverse things to draw away disciples. Paul knew the church would eventually apostatize. And it did – but not as soon as Paul thought it would.

Paul thought the Ephesian church would fall soon after his death. But in 97 A.D., Revelation 2:1-6 shows that there was still an angel, and still a candlestick, in Ephesus. But they were losing it. They were losing their first love. The loser generation had arrived.

Yet, we should wonder what that church did to delay the destruction for 40 years beyond the time Paul feared? How do we avoid being losers? Are we cursed? Must we lose the zeal that this movement had 10, 20, 40 years ago? Is it inevitable that we will lose the commitment, the dedication, the holiness, and the unity that the movement had? Are we doomed to compromise with worldliness and increasing ungodliness?

Is it possible to break this pattern? With men it may be impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26. Some things are hard, but nothing is impossible. If the Lord would help us, we could lay hold on the zeal of the pioneers and the progress of the second generation and escape the curse of the loser generations.

Elijah was a great prophet – perhaps Israel’s greatest prophet. He performed miracles, spoke for God, confronted oppressive governments, spoke up for the poor, faced down kings and false religion, and set the pattern for every prophet that followed him.

In I Kings 19:16, Elisha was anointed to succeed Elijah. He learned by serving. He became Elijah’s servant. II Kings 3:11. Elisha may not even have been one of the sons of the prophets – but he considered Elijah to be his master. II Kings 2:2-3. He considered him to be his father. Verse 12.

Elijah was the epitome of a zealous, God-fearing generation (surrounded by a hostile society.) Elisha represented the succeeding generation in the work of the Lord. Would the zeal of this next generation dim? Elisha did not want it to diminish.

In II Kings 2:9, Elisha was given the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted. He wanted a double portion – twice the zeal, commitment, enthusiasm, godliness, etc., that the prior generation had. Verse 10 shows that this was a hard thing; hard, but not impossible. He was told that if he did a certain thing, his desire would be granted.

And so it was. Verse 15. Elisha’s generation, his work, showed no diminishment, and perhaps an increased zeal. His ministry was great. He traveled more places than Elijah had, performed as many or more miracles, and continued in the path that Elijah had blazed. Elisha never overshadowed Elijah – and did not want to. But he had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

It would be great if our fellowship would do a hard thing. It would be wonderful if we would escape the generational curse of the loser generations. If the Lord would help us, we could surprise the critics; we could surprise the devil.

Jehu (in the third generation after Elijah) said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” II Kings10:16. We don’t have to lose our vision, our commitment, our zeal. II John 8 warns, “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought.” We do not have to be losers! Jesus asked, “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9:25. We could gain in this world, but if we lose ourselves, we lose everything of true value.

The Lord also said, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:25. As members in a third generation movement, we will either lose what our fathers and grandfathers in the Lord purchased at great cost, or we will do a hard thing; we will continue in zeal, commitment, and good works.