Influencing the Next Generation

I'm coming off a week of fun preaching and teaching our church's Vacation Bible School (VBS). Nothing gives me more energy than helping our kids learn and develop. During one of the sessions, I shared with them my burden, because I never attended a VBS when I was a kid and never heard the true Gospel till I was in my twenties.  

Without preaching at all of you, the thoughts in my mind today are focused on our attention to teaching the next generation. As I read many posts and comments, I noticed that many older generations dismiss these generations due to stereotyping. Yes, there are standard generational assumptions, but much like anything stereotyping groups of people is never good. I'll be the first to say, my generation has problems, and your generation has problems, but not everyone fits the mold. BUT, what if they do show some of those tendencies, what do we do?  

That is where teaching, influencing, and leading all come into play.  

1. Lead or live it! If you are not living what you preach then no one is going to follow you or listen to you. Just try telling your kid to get off their phone while you are sitting there on yours.  

2. Love them! That's right, show them that you care. Do not just step in and tell them what to do or how you would do it. Care about them and show them that you care. When someone shows they care about you first, then the desire to listen is increased tenfold. Too many times we go after people with corrections out of nowhere and as expected, they are ignored.

3. Understand them! They have different ways of working and different approaches because of what they have grown up with. Some good things and some bad things. But before we judge them, let's understand them first. Seek to understand rather than condemn.

4. Teach! Done in the right context and with the right approach, teaching goes a long way. Force-feeding rarely works, but offer to teach, offer alternatives, and show a willingness to teach. I learned my financial management skills later in life. I had some key pointers initially, but I never took a personal finance class or anything like that, so get out there and teach what you have learned. The new generations are not going to get better if we just stand back and critique them, they need to be taught without a critical attitude.

This post is less about growing and finance and more about influencing the next generation of leaders. That includes our kids and our grandkids. They need you! They need you to love them, understand them, lead them, and teach them.

Take the challenge and teach someone something today. No matter how you do it. Send an email, get in front of a group, or share a social post. Whatever it may be, share your wisdom. A drink in a bottle does nothing until it is open, the same goes for your knowledge. Don't bottle it up!