Job 30:1-2
“But now they laugh at me,
men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
men whose vigor is gone?
There is a disturbing trend that is the result of our silly need to give names to generations. The phrase, “Okay Boomer”, is one such example of the division this causes. As the patriarch of the Gen X clique, being born in its first year, I leap, feebly, to the defense of Baby Boomers against the attacks of Millennials and Gen Z. In doing so, I sound a bit like Job, who also sounds like an old guy. In chapter 29, he longed for the Good Old Days, as if they existed after the Fall. Here he re-worded the familiar refrain that will soon be heard from the next Gen’s. Kids Nowadays. Job would have mopped the floor with these punks AND their dads!
Job is lamenting the decay of the world and its moral and social systems. In this he is exactly right but the prophets and Jesus said it would happen. We would do well to empathize with the young of today. They are in a far more dire situation than the one we grew up in. They are being taught more nonsense from their parents and teachers than we were. Job’s words are a reminder that it will get worse right up until the time Jesus returns so we can pray for all generations, whatever name they go by.
O Heavenly Father, you are the Father of all generations, even this wicked one we are in. Thank you for sending Jesus to the cross for us all. In Jesus’ name. Amen.