October 31 – Teaching the Next Generation

Gregg’s Reflection

When I first heard the phrase, “God has no grandchildren, only children,” it stopped me in my tracks. I realized that my faith could not simply be handed down like an heirloom. Each generation, including my children and grandchildren, must discover for themselves the living God who has carried me.

For me, teaching the next generation has not been about formal lessons or long lectures. It has been about telling stories: of how God showed up in a crisis, how prayer carried me when I felt overwhelmed, how community healed my loneliness. My grandchildren may not remember my explanations, but they will remember the stories I told around the dinner table, by the fire, or in the car on the way to the mountains.

Sometimes I wonder how much of my faith will actually take root in them. But I’ve come to see that my role is not to force outcomes but to witness — to share openly, to live transparently, and to trust that God will meet them in their own journey. Teaching the next generation is less about control and more about faithful storytelling.

Scripture

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

Matthew 28:19–20

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’

Galatians 4:6

Ancient Quotes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Jerome, Commentary on Proverbs

The things which you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. This is the order of teaching: one receives, another hands on, and so the gospel is carried from generation to generation.

John Chrysostom, Homily on 2 Timothy

Modern Quotes

God has no grandchildren, only children. Every generation has to be converted anew and the Gospel has to always be preached in new contexts and cultures in ways that are good news to that time and people.

Richard Rohr, Yes, And…, p. 81

We could not see what we had not been told to see or what our teachers themselves had never experienced.

Richard Rohr, The Naked Now, p. 113

Journaling Prompts

• What stories of God’s faithfulness do I most want to pass on to my children, grandchildren, or younger friends?
  
  
• Who first passed faith on to me — and how did they do it?
  
  
• Do I tend to think of “teaching” as lecturing or storytelling? How might I shift my approach?
  
  
• Where might God be inviting me to become more intentional about nurturing the next generation in faith?

Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 44 Reflection: Teaching/Proclaiming/Witnessing