“We trusted you to live healthy lives before our conception, you abused yourselves with abnormal sex, drugs and nicotine
We trusted you for nourishment, but you fed us contamination
We trusted you to keep our bodies pure, but you made us addicts
We trusted you with our safety, but you passed laws to abort our lives
We trusted you with our future, but you gave us AIDS
We trusted you for love and affection, and you left us abandoned
We trusted you for a healthy diet and you cop out with junk food
We trusted you for our moral guidance and you set a pathetic example
We trusted you with our spiritual well being, and you never even mention Jesus
We trusted you with our education, and yet you let our schools fall apart
We trusted you to keep our eyes pure and yet you make films of explicit sex and violence
We trusted you to keep our ears pure, and yet you swear and blaspheme in front of us
We trusted you to keep our mouths pure and yet you feed us obscene literature and songs to recite
We trusted you with our young hearts and yet you encourage us to grow old before our time
We trusted you with our mental welfare but you screwed up our minds with your double standards
We trusted you on building relationships and yet you locked us away inside video games
We trusted you to show us truth and you gave us virtual reality
We trusted you with family values and you gave us common law partners
We trusted you with our innocence but you abused our bodies
We trusted you with our adolescence, you encouraged us to have safe sex and contraception
We trusted you for what’s right and what’s wrong, you mock what’s right and defend what’s wrong
With our future – what future? We trusted you.”
These challenging words were written by an anonymous teenager. The poem is a stark reminder that we – even those of us in our 20s and 30s – need to think about the futures of those coming behind us.
It was the Christian band Delirious? who famously sang the anthemic song History Maker with a belting chorus that rang out the words: “I’m going to be a history maker in this land.”
And yet the reality is this: everybody makes history! The question is not so much will you make history? The real question is: what kind of history will you make?
This is such an important question to consider because remember, as the poem above has shown us, your history is someone else’s future.
In Judges 2:10 we’re told that after Joshua’s generation had passed away, a new generation rose up who did not know God or all that God had done.
How had that happened? What tragic news. Joshua was a great leader but he had failed to pass the baton of faith on to the coming generation – and this surely is our great responsibility. To ensure that we give the best possible inheritance of faith and life to those who follow us.
So remember, the decision you make today will affect all our tomorrows – and the tomorrows of generations who are not yet even born. Decide today to be someone who creates a better and brighter future for those who follow you. After all, that is the prayer of Jesus – that the kingdom would come and God’s will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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