God is a multi-generational God. He says things like, "I am the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land." (Gen. 28:13)  The Bible shows his patience. If one generation fails to follow him, he's willing to wait to see if the next will be different.

The books of the Kings and the Judges in the Old Testament chronicle the ups and downs of one generation after another. The book of Matthew begins with a list of generations from Adam to Jesus Christ.

God has always been interested in a multi-generational church. Everyone has a role to play. The book of Joel begins with God speaking to the elders, asking them about the generations that preceded them. "Tell it to your children," he says. "And let your children tell it to their children and their children to the next generation."

Frankly, this approach seems strange to our modern sensibilities. Our families live scattered. When people get old enough, they think about moving away to Florida and Arizona. When babies become toddlers, they're sent off to daycare. And when the family goes to church, everyone goes to their respective demographic group. Instead of one generation imparting wisdom to another, peers lead one another.

Wisdom and context come with age. Inheritance comes with the passing of one generation to the next. Stories and memory are the gifts that grandparents bring. We need multi-generational living to make sense of life. We need our elders to make sense of the tangle of problems life presents us. We need the perspective of time.

Do you have grandparents in your life or others their age? We need elders to live alongside. We need to rediscover God's plan for his people to live in multi-generational community.