I start by declaring that I’m a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. I’m fully committed to the body, and I believe I have had tangible experience in the things that concern the body. (Of course, there’s still so much to learn. So much, actually).
I’ve said the above to indicate that I have agency, regardless of the size, to speak on what I want to briefly talk about.
Enough preamble. Let me cut to the chase.
If you’re an average churchgoer, I believe you would have heard these statements, “This generation doesn’t love God.”, “This generation doesn’t like to pray.”, and their variants. I’ve probably said those statements too in the few occasions I have had to lead prayer sessions or teach the word.
These statements have now become quite mainstream. Anyone (regardless of their experience, e.g: Student Pastors, Fellowship leaders, etc) who gets the honor to hold the microphone now authoritatively says those statements without much thought or awareness. I mean, someone can literally be addressing 500+ people of this generation, and still, make those statements with the congregation nodding in agreement.
At best, such statements are sanctimonious. At worst, they are inaccurate.
Man of God (MoG), look around you. What’s informing the thought that this generation does not love God or does not pray? Is it social media? If yes, that isn’t good enough. It’s reductive to rely on social media and make a conclusion that this generation does not love God.
Even if you rely on social media as your chief metric, I think you’re not looking enough. Hundreds of thousands of people have received the Gospel because of interactions on social media. Different Christian community groups, across the world, have started (and are being built) on social media. I dare say that, if a survey was conducted today, we would find that 80% of young believers are actively involved in the activities of at least one Christian Whatsapp or Telegram Group. Okay, 80% might be an exaggeration, but you get the drift.
Or are you making those statements based on your immediate environment? If so, still not enough to reach that conclusion.
Elijah, in despair, lamented to God that he was the only faithful prophet left in Israel. He thought he was the only one who still had a burning passion for God. As it turned out, his thought was erroneous. For someone who had all that spiritual clout, he was way off the mark. God told him that there were still seven thousand (7000) faithful prophets. 7000! And Elijah was out there thinking he was the most faithful.
I have a related personal experience. Not as deep, but related.
Before my service year (NYSC), I felt good about my spiritual life. I had made the mistake to use my immediate environment to gauge myself. Oh! How wrong I was.
It was right from the NYSC orientation camp I had a wake-up call. My spiritual life had been a snooze fest compared to what I saw and experienced throughout my service year. People love God o! The passion and drive (for the Gospel) were unreal. Read about my NYSC experience here
MoG, look around you. Look farther and deeper. There’s tangible evidence to show that this generation loves God; this generation is praying; this generation cares about the Gospel.
Koinonia (by Eternity Network International) holds every week (in Zaria and Abuja) with the auditorium full to the brim. Each service probably averages 2000 people per service. When we take into account the number of people who follow the service online, we should be looking at an average of 100,000 people per service. Which generation do you think makes the bulk of these 100,000 people? And this is just one denomination in Nigeria; talk less of Africa and the World.
Mount Zion Movies are regularly exceeding 400,000 views on YouTube. If a Mount Zion movie is released today, best believe that within the next 2/3 weeks, the movie would have hit 400,000 views. Which generation do you think is giving these movies numbers?
Dunsin Oyekan’s album (The Gospel of the Kingdom) currently has about 9.7million downloads (or listens) on Boomplay. — I wonder what the numbers are on other streaming platforms. Which generation do you think is accounting for those numbers? And this is just one Gospel artiste in Nigeria; talk less of Africa and the World.
MoG, I understand that it sounds right or convenient to say “This generation doesn’t love God.”, “This generation doesn’t like to pray.”, etc, but it’s not accurate. You probably lack perspective or you’re just regurgitating what you have been hearing from other people.
The world keeps plunging to new depths of decadence, and this reality might cause us to feel like there’s a scarcity of God lovers. Guess what? We are not without hope.
Just like in the days of Elijah, there are still 7000 faithful prophets. There are still millions of God lovers. There are still millions of fervent followers of Christ. In this generation, souls are still being won over to God’s kingdom. Many are still praying. Many are still interceding. This generation is performing miracles. Healings are bountiful.
MoG, no shaking! God dey for this generation!
If you’re seeing this:
- Remain faithful in your work with God.
- Keep praying.
- Keep studying.
- Keep teaching.
- Keep on sharing Gospel content on your individual platforms.
- Stay with the body.
- Keep on loving.
P.S: Man of God (MoG) is gender neutral. It’s not exclusive to the male figure. It also applies to the female figure.
