Inter-generational Relationships

Recently, I read this comment on a blog about cheesy Christian things we're ashamed to admit that we love:

Meggers said...
My secret cheesy christian love is totally Women's retreats. As a college student, it's sort of a given that you aren't supposed to enjoy spending an entire weekend with mostly post-menopausal women singin our god is an awesome God and getting all teary about how God thinks we are all princesses, but I actually do. It's nice getting to be all girly and emo with other women, especially older more experienced ladies who have gone through the same crap I have. I may mock them, and through sarcastic darts, but secretly I look forward to that estrogen ridden weekend.

When I read that comment, it completely stopped me in my tracks. I remembered it again today when talking to my friend, Inga. She was saying that she recently had lunch with an older woman from her new church and how much she enjoyed it. "It wasn't quite like having lunch with my mom, but it was close!"

I've really been thinking lately about how young people seem to have endless supplies of energy and enthusiasm. Show them a new idea or promising venture and they'll devote countless hours to making it work. Passion is really the primary feature of young people. They may be passionate about something random like World of Warcraft, or their education, or the person they're dating, but it's safe to say that most young adults are passionate about something. If they aren't, it's probably just because their passion is lying dormant waiting for the appropriate subject to come along. (Do you like my broad sweeping generalizations? My former professors would cringe if they read this.)

What young adults do not often have is wisdom. Some might be very wise for their age, but most lack discernment and, by the very nature of their being young, experience. That's why I believe it is critically important for a young person to have at least one older mentor/friend in his or her life.

Paul wrote to Titus that "older women... [are to] encourage the young women" (2:3-4) by example. I love that the word Paul repeats is to encourage the young ones (women and men) to be "sensible." Older people tend to have a little more sense than younger people. And it's the kind of sense that only comes from having tried something before, from experience.

I think that churches have to have a group for young adults to hang out together. We all need to spend time with our peers. But we also need to spend time with those who are older and those who are younger. God intended for each person to have something to give to another. Everyone has something to share that will encourage and exhort someone else. Soemtimes, it's something that can only come from across generational lines.

Do you have a mentor/mentee? It doesn't have to be any kind of formal relationship, but if you look around and realize that you only hang out with people who are within five years of your age, you might want to consider making a point of building an "inter-generational" relationship. You'll be amazed at how much you learn and how much you encourage each other!