I’ll never forget the first time I felt completely outdated. We were going as a family to the Mall when my daughters asked me if I was going with the trousers that I was wearing. I said yes and asked them what was wrong with my trousers. They answered: “dad they are old fashioned, nobody wears those anymore, only the elderly”.
Modernity always introduces new concepts in clothes, in automobiles, also in architecture. Not only the appearances undergo changes but also the ideas, the ideals, and the way life is interpreted. If the changes were only about the outward appearance it would be easy, to change the trousers would suffice, but to undergo a change of mentality is always harder and painful.
We learn to interpret life from the perspective of our environment. We interpret our reality influenced by our surroundings, initially by our parents and family and later on by our colleagues and friends. Usually that which is routine and common we classify as normal and desirable while what is different and new we see as abnormal and threatening.
Each generation interprets reality in a particular way, consolidating its own values and expectations. The generational gap crisis is the clash of these different interpretations made from the same reality. The advantage that Christians have is that being citizens of the Kingdom of God they are influenced by what is lasting and unchanging rather than by what is transient and finite. This allows them to build an interpretation based on essence and not the looks.
The Christian life doesn’t consist in following a series of outdated religious dogmas but in satisfying the soul with the Living Water and sharing that water with others who are thirsty. If our spirituality is only based on rules we will stay outdated but if it is founded on the Lord Jesus we will always be renewed.
- How do you define religiosity and spirituality?
- What’s the difference between appearance and essence?
(River with rejuvenating water, Psalms 1:1-3 / River with living water, John 7:37-38)
Commissioner Torben Eliason is the Territorial Commander of the Southern Africa Territory