Passing the Faith to the Next Generation: A Biblical Model for South African Families and Churches

There is a question that almost every Christian grandparent in Johannesburg carries. It is the question the grandparent asks at the kitchen table when the grandchild is on the iPad in the next room. How do I pass my faith to a generation that does not seem to need it from me?

South African culture has always been more intergenerational than most other cultures. The Ubuntu principle — I am because we are — assumes that the older and the younger are part of the same thing. The Bible study that meets on a Wednesday evening in Sandton includes grandmothers in their seventies and young adults in their twenties and teenagers in their middle years — all sitting around the same table.

What the Bible Actually Says About the Older and the Younger

Titus 2:1-8 — Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children. Similarly, teach the younger men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. 2 Timothy 2:2 — Entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. Psalm 71:18 — Even when I am old and grey, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation. 1 Timothy 5:1-2 — Treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 1 Peter 5:5 — You younger men, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.

What you notice is that the Bible does not present the older and the younger as separate ministries. The Bible presents them as one body that needs the other.

The Five Roles the Bible Describes

Role 1 — The Older Woman Is to Teach the Younger Woman

Titus 2:3-5. The teaching is not the classroom teaching. The teaching is the kitchen-table teaching. The teaching is the how to love your husband and children teaching. The friendship is the kind where the younger woman can ask the older woman the question she would not ask her own mother.

Role 2 — The Older Man Is to Be the Example to the Younger Man

Titus 2:6-8. The older man is not to lecture the younger man. The older man is to be the example. The younger man is to watch how the older man treats his wife. The younger man is to watch how the older man handles the money. The example is more important than the lecture.

Role 3 — The Older Christian Is to Declare the Power of God to the Next Generation

Psalm 71:18. The older Christian is the one who has seen the most. The older Christian is the one who can testify to the faithfulness of God across the decades. The younger Christian needs this testimony.

Role 4 — The Younger Christian Is to Submit to the Older Christian

1 Peter 5:5. The submission is not inferiority. The submission is the posture that allows the older Christian's wisdom to land.

Role 5 — The Older and Younger Are to Honour Each Other as Family

1 Timothy 5:1-2. The older man is to be honoured as a father. The older woman as a mother. The younger man as a brother. The younger woman as a sister.

What the South African Intergenerational Bible Study Looks Like in Practice

Practice 1 — The Shared Table

The Wednesday Bible study is held at a table that can seat twelve. The table regularly includes the grandmother in her seventies and the university student in his early twenties. The shared table is the intergenerational thing. The shared table is what Titus 2 assumes.

Practice 2 — The Reading of the Same Passage

The same passage is read out loud by whoever volunteers. The grandmother reads. The university student reads. The passage is read in the same room. The passage is read at the same pace. The passage is the same passage for everyone.

Practice 3 — The Two Questions the Older Ask and the Younger Ask

The older Christian asks the first question — the long view. Where have you seen this passage in your life? What did this passage mean to you when you were young? The younger Christian asks the second question — the immediate. What does this passage mean for me this week? The two questions together cover the arc of the Christian life.

Practice 4 — The Story of the Older Christian

Several times a year, the older Christian in the Bible study is invited to share the testimony. The testimony is not the altar-call testimony. The testimony is the long testimony. The testimony is the inheritance.

Practice 5 — The Practical Service Between the Generations

The younger Christian with the car drives the older Christian to the doctor's appointment. The older Christian with the experience helps the younger Christian write the CV. The intergenerational service is the Titus 2 thing in action.

Practice 6 — The Holiday Together

Once a year, several of the Bible study families go away together for a weekend. The weekend is the family. The weekend is the place where the grandmother tells the story of 1985 and the university student tells the story of the TikTok they saw last week.

The Hard Truths About the Intergenerational Christian Community

The Hard Truth 1 — The older and younger do not always understand each other.

The grandmother does not always understand the young professional's decision to move back home at 28. The young professional does not always understand the grandmother's decision to stay in the marriage for 50 years. The two do not have to agree. The two have to listen.

The Hard Truth 2 — The intergenerational community takes time.

The intergenerational community is not built in a programme. The intergenerational community is built over years. The intergenerational community is the slowest of the slow obediences.

The Hard Truth 3 — The intergenerational community requires the older Christian to admit weakness.

The older Christian who is willing to admit the weakness is the older Christian the younger Christian will trust.

The Hard Truth 4 — The intergenerational community requires the younger Christian to ask.

The younger Christian who is too proud to ask the older Christian is the younger Christian who will go through the thing alone. The asking is the submission to the elder.

A Prayer for the South African Christian Family Across the Generations

God of the generations — we thank you for the grandmother who taught us to pray. We thank you for the grandfather who read us the Bible stories. We thank you for the parent who drove us to the church. We thank you for the older Christian at the Wednesday Bible study who tells us what the faith looked like in 1985. We thank you for the university student who asks the question we have been afraid to ask. We thank you for the young professional who keeps showing up on a Wednesday evening. We thank you for the teenager who sits at the table even though the conversation is sometimes over their head. We confess that we have separated the generations. We confess that we have built churches for the young and the old separately. Help us to do the slow work. Help us to put the table in the room where both can sit. Help us to read the passage at the pace that both can hear. Help us to ask the long-view question and the immediate-view question. Help us to share the testimony. Help us to drive each other to the appointment. Help us to pray for each other through the night. In the name of the one who was a child in the temple, a young man in the carpenter's shop, a teacher in the synagogue, an older man on the cross. Amen.

Johannesburg Bible Study Church meets online every Wednesday at 7:30pm. The shared table is the intergenerational thing. The Bible is read at the pace both can hear. Call +27 77 487 1295 or +27 67 442 4461 to join.