Will The Next Generation Know the Lord?

There is a verse in Judges that should stop every Christian parent, grandparent, and church member cold.

“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10)

Read that again slowly.

These weren’t the grandchildren of people who drifted from God. These were the children of people who watched the Jordan River stop flowing. People who marched around Jericho and saw the walls fall. People who heard Joshua declare that not one of God’s good promises had failed (Joshua 21:45).

And their kids didn’t know the Lord.

Not “knew him a little.” Not “had some doubts.” Did not know him.

It took one generation.

How a Nation Forgets

Judges 2:7 tells us Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and the elders who outlived him, the ones “who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done.”

That’s the hinge. The first generation had seen. The next generation had only heard, if they heard at all.

God knew this danger was coming. Before Israel ever crossed the Jordan, Moses told parents to talk to their children about God’s commands “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7). And when Israel crossed the river, God had them stack twelve stones on the bank for one reason:

“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them…” (Joshua 4:6–7)

The stones were stacked to raise questions. The parents were supposed to answer them.

Somewhere along the way, it stopped.

And here’s what we need to see: forgetting God isn’t neutral. Just one verse later, “the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals” (Judges 2:11). A generation that doesn’t know the true God will always find another one to serve.

That’s the whole book of Judges. Sin. Oppression. Crying out. Deliverance. Rest. Then sin again. Around and around for roughly 350 years, until the book closes with the bleakest sentence in the Old Testament: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

It didn’t start with a rebellion. It started with a silence.

What We Received

Paul describes the gospel with two words that sound like a relay race.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3)

Received. Delivered. Paul took something into his hands, and then he put it into someone else’s.

That’s how the faith has always moved. Nobody reading this invented the gospel. Someone handed it to you. A parent. A grandmother. A youth pastor. A coworker who wouldn’t stop inviting you to church. A friend who opened a Bible across a coffee table.

The gospel came to you as a gift. It was never meant to stop with you.

This is why we pour so much time, energy, and money into the next generation at Cornerstone. It isn’t a program or strategy. It’s a conviction.

We do not want to get to heaven, greet Jesus face to face, turn around to look behind us, and realize no one else is coming, because we didn’t pass on what we received.

Let that picture sit with you for a minute. Who is behind you?

How Faith Gets Handed Down

Faith doesn’t pass through bloodlines. It passes through people who deliberately hand it over. Here are four ways to do that this week.

1. Tell your story. Every follower of Jesus has a Jordan River story, a moment God showed up when nothing else could. Your kids, your grandkids, and the teenager in your small group need to hear yours. Not a polished testimony. The real thing.

Here’s mine in a nutshell: Jesus has rescued me more times than I can say. No matter how far I fall or how sinful I might be, in his matchless grace Jesus reaches down, picks me up, binds up my wounds, and brings me back.

2. Let them catch you in the Book. Kids don’t learn that the Bible matters because we tell them. They learn it because they find us reading it at the kitchen table before anyone else is awake. (More on that Thursday.)

3. Pray for them by name. Pick three people younger than you. Write their names down. Pray for them every day this month, and tell them you are doing it.

4. Don’t outsource it. Student ministry and kids ministry are gifts, and we take them seriously at Cornerstone. But they were never meant to replace the dinner table. And if you don’t have kids at home, you’re not off the hook. Titus 2 assumes older believers will intentionally invest in younger ones. The next generation needs you.

None of this is complicated. It just takes courage and intentionality.

And here’s the good news: You don’t pass on the faith alone; Jesus goes with you.

So tell your story to the next generation. Because one day we’re going to stand before Jesus. And when we turn around, we want to see a crowd.