Christianity For Generations To Come

Today I was at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece. It was the venue of the 1st ever Summer Olympic Games in 1896. Until recently, in 2004, was the Olympics once again held in Greece. That's 108 years later in a new stadium called the Athens Olympic Stadium. It's amazing how the Olympic tradition has been kept alive through all those years. Even surviving World Wars 1 and 2.

What are the practices and traditions that we need to keep alive? Every generation is given the opportunity to be stewards of tradition, culture, beliefs, principles, faith, and way of life. As Christians of today's generation, what are we to do to preserve, strengthen, and live out the teachings of Jesus that was given to us over 2,000 years ago? I can reflect on three things. One is that we need to advocate an appreciation of the history of our faith. The Bible shares to us the creation of the world and of Adam and Eve. The Bible also elaborates on how God called and raised the Israelites as His chosen people. The Good Book also gives an account of Jesus' teachings and how He died for our sins. The Bible also shows us how the early Christian community and it's leaders spread the Good News of salvation. A deep appreciation and understanding of our past will help us in building a strong foundation of faith. Second, we need to be good witnesses of the way of life Jesus was teaching us. They say that today "we need more of witnesses rather than preachers." It is possible that we have all knowledge about religion, but fail to live out our faith. If there is poor witnessing, our children will not inherit the way of life Jesus was showing us. Third, we have to invest much time, energy, and resources in training the young. One day, all that we have started and built will have to be passed on to the next generation. All of us will get old and gray. If we fail to train and entrust our work to the young, our traditions and principles will die with us. In passing the baton in a relay, there is a point where the two runners are holding the baton before it is released. If we are the baton passer, we do all that we can to mold the young and teach them of the right ways. If we are the baton receiver, we do all we can to absorb the wisdom of our predecessors.

The Olympics will continue to be enjoyed by future generations, unless a certain generation will be poor stewards of continuing this tradition. Like Christianity, we must keep it alive by being good stewards and humbe vessels of the power of the Holy Spirit. We see many countries, specially in Europe, who started strong in being a Christian nation, but later to see a generation of Christians who are "unchurched." They are Christians by baptism, but fail to practice, participate, and live out their faith. Let us work together to keep Christ alive in the hearts of generations to come.