by Aaron Buttery
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exodus 20:4-6, ESV).
We’re no stranger to idols.
We make idols of our personal culture, our politics, and our positions. We worship those things that make us feel secure, powerful and right. Racism is, at least in part, the idolatry of our skin, micro-culture and status quo. The January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the Christian Nationalism at its heart, expressed the idolatry of politics and power. Our social media debates and un-civil discourse reflect how we idolize our positions and being right.
When any generation, within a single family or in a whole societal generation, begins to worship, adore or serve anything that is not God, we create a breeding ground for the generational curse in the Second Commandment—“visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.” It’s called a generational curse because we consciously and unconsciously invite the next generation—our current college-aged adults, students, and children—to adopt our idols.
But the Second Commandment includes both a curse and a blessing. Today’s generation has an amazing opportunity as the Holy Spirit activates us to step out of the generational curse of idol worship that fosters racism, false hope in partisanship, and pride in being right. The generational blessing—“showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments”—begins with a return to holistic, comprehensive worship of God. It is God who provides, who is right and who is almighty. We are called to embody this culture of the Kingdom, proclaim the politic of Heaven, and then take up the position of humility that Christ gives us as a gift.
Our age-based ministries are poised to step into this movement of worship and blessing. Youth leaders and parents of the next generation are perfectly situated to cast down idols and lift up praise. This takes strength and courage, humility and grace, truth and reconciliation. Here are four basic but challenging practices that you can do alongside your young people that prepare your family or ministry to receive a generational blessing.
- Examine. Make a regular habit of examining what happens when we worship idols. As the elder generation, be vulnerable and honest in your conversation with the younger generation, inviting them to do the same. For example, when we idolize culture and race, we may dismiss the voices of those different than us. When we idolize politics, we may give time, energy or resources to a political party or politician instead of bringing those offerings to God. When we idolize being right, we may reject research, news agencies and interpretations of scripture that differ from our own.
- Repent. Name the big and small idols you have crafted out of culture, politics or position. Be specific and thorough. Repent even for those idols that you have not worshipped but that you see being carved in society. From Moses to Ezra to Jesus (in his baptism), we see a pattern of repentance for sins that are not specifically their own.
- Return. After seeking and receiving forgiveness, return to the worship of God in place of the idol. That could also mean returning your confidence to the reality of God’s current and coming Kingdom, returning to broken relationships outside of your perspective, and returning to difficult conversations and experiences with patience and understanding.
- Invite. Foster a generational blessing by inviting students into holistic worship, which includes loving like the Father, having the mind of Christ, and trusting in the presence of the Spirit even in the most combustible, fearful and challenging areas of our lives. Remind students that we reveal what we worship by how we respond to racism, politics and positions. What we worship from Monday to Saturday is more lasting and formative than what we worship on Sunday.
This is a watershed moment for us to invite the next generation into blessing, not curse. Let us step boldly into this moment in our homes and ministries.
As you discuss idolatry, it may lead to tough conversations about current events. The NextGen Leadership Team created this downloadable conversation guide to help you have hard conversations with your students about challenging or traumatic events, such as the Capitol attack of Jan. 6, or the unknowns of post-COVID life.
Do you have questions or ideas about raising up the Next Generation of leaders in your community? Contact Aaron.
The Rev. Aaron Buttery leads and facilitates C4SO’s NextGen Leadership team and serves as Director of Student Ministry, Next Generation Leadership, ACNA. As a 20+ year NextGen ministry leader, a two-time church planter, and leadership coach with Spiritual Leadership, Inc., he is the primary contact in C4SO for questions, ideas, and excitement about young people and growing young leaders.