Setting a Good Example (1 Timothy 4:12)

Millennials: can you believe them? With their distressed jeans, avocado toast, and entitled perspective. You’ve heard statements like this. The older generation has taken to calling them snowflakes. Soft, weak, insignificant. Millennials (and Generation Z) responded with the derogatory phrase, “OK, boomer” as a way to pass off the attacks as ramblings of old people yelling at clouds. Generational challenge and conflict has been a reality from the dawn of time. The older generation looks at the younger with thinly veiled contempt for their youth, and the younger generation stand in bitterness with an outsized opinion of themselves. 

Often, these generational conflicts work their way into the church. As a result, the church seeks to make itself compatible to one generation or another. Hanging doggedly to tradition in order to please the older generation, and tearing it all down in order to appeal to the younger. But how is the church actually supposed to respond to these generational conflicts? 

Timothy faced the reality of these conflicts as he sought to bring the Ephesian church back to health. Last week we observed the challenge that Paul gave to Timothy to faithfully stand for the faith, faithfully study the faith, faithfully stand against foolish teaching, and faithfully pursue godliness. He concluded with the challenge to command and teach these things to the church. Yet, this was not going to be easy because of the generational conflicts which were apparently taking place in the church.