Reverberating Our Echo of Faith
As a child, I was fascinated by echoes. I can remember the magic of hearing a sound bounce from wall to wall until it faded into total silence. I can remember how some spaces and surfaces caused my echoes to linger and some spaces would muffle them.
Every generation has something of value to pass along to the next generation. While we often think an inheritance is property, money, or goods—for people of faith—there is something of greater value. Our experiences, stories, and values are intended to be passed along to the next generation in a divine echo that reverberates beyond our limited time on earth.
Psalm 145: 4 tells us, “One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts (NIV).
Joshua, Moses’ assistant, understood who God is and understood what God had done for him. He learned to stand on these truths and on his convictions as a minority among the spies in Exodus 13. Joshua would prove to be an obedient servant as he led the people of Israel to take possession of the Promised Land. He also boldly declared that he and his household would serve the Lord. The witness of Joshua’s leadership extended beyond his own death, “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel” (Joshua 24:31 NIV).
However, the echo of faith broke down after that generation died. Somewhere along the way, parents and the larger spiritual community failed to instruct their children to honor God. “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10 NIV).
The responsibility of passing faith along must be renewed in each generation. Each generation must be taught who God is and what He has done for them. Unfortunately, as we consider the challenges of the time in which we live, it seems as if our echoes are hitting walls that muffle our message. The world of our children is so loud, and all the noise distracts them from being hearers of God’s Word. Will this be a generation where the echo fades to silent or will it be renewed, roaring louder than ever before?
Will this too be a generation where the echo of faith fades to silence? Or will we rise up, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to proclaim loudly and clearly God’s purposes for this generation? Will we reverberate the divine echo of God’s truth so that it is renewed, roaring louder than EVER before in a new generation of disciples?
Shaun McKinley
Dr. Shaun McKinley serves as the international director of Children’s Ministries, administrative liaison to the general overseer, and public relations coordinator for the Church of God of Prophecy International Offices in Cleveland, Tennessee.