I remembered! Or suspect I remember - it's kind of an on-going thing.
I see this at work, like you said, in the younger generation (saved and unsaved), but also happening in senior Christians. Christians who step away from the church or active participation when they hit retirement age. Or senior Christians who won't defer to leadership younger than themselves or leadership not to their preference. It doesn't surprise me that the younger generation struggles with it when the older generation doesn't lead by humble example.
We're working through some hefty church leadership growth right now - everyone wants to make the decisions and manage the money, no one wants to do the work. Legit had the team I'm trying to develop tell our senior pastor it's his job to connect with and care for the missionaries, it's theirs to approve and deny funds. Very Shark Tank. They are convinced they operate autonomously from the rest of the leadership of the church.
It's not their fault - it's how they were created by the previous pastor (who still sits in that and another board - despite NO LONGER ATTENDING THE CHURCH and actively working for another church). The desire to be autonomous is real, and the need to be saved from our perceived autonomy definitely doesn't disappear or get easier to recognize as we age.
Also with identity and purity - one of my best friends is 50 the the hardest things for her as a single woman in the dating world is finding a Christian guy who's willing to be abstinent until marriage. The general conversation is that it doesn't matter anymore and she's grown and "can make [her] own choices" - to which she tells them, "I am." The struggle is REAL.
I remember this hit in line with something really specific the day you wrote it, but can't remember what. Ditto the perspective though. We cannot be our own gods. It doesn't work.
I remembered! Or suspect I remember - it's kind of an on-going thing.
I see this at work, like you said, in the younger generation (saved and unsaved), but also happening in senior Christians. Christians who step away from the church or active participation when they hit retirement age. Or senior Christians who won't defer to leadership younger than themselves or leadership not to their preference. It doesn't surprise me that the younger generation struggles with it when the older generation doesn't lead by humble example.
We're working through some hefty church leadership growth right now - everyone wants to make the decisions and manage the money, no one wants to do the work. Legit had the team I'm trying to develop tell our senior pastor it's his job to connect with and care for the missionaries, it's theirs to approve and deny funds. Very Shark Tank. They are convinced they operate autonomously from the rest of the leadership of the church.
It's not their fault - it's how they were created by the previous pastor (who still sits in that and another board - despite NO LONGER ATTENDING THE CHURCH and actively working for another church). The desire to be autonomous is real, and the need to be saved from our perceived autonomy definitely doesn't disappear or get easier to recognize as we age.
Also with identity and purity - one of my best friends is 50 the the hardest things for her as a single woman in the dating world is finding a Christian guy who's willing to be abstinent until marriage. The general conversation is that it doesn't matter anymore and she's grown and "can make [her] own choices" - to which she tells them, "I am." The struggle is REAL.
I remember this hit in line with something really specific the day you wrote it, but can't remember what. Ditto the perspective though. We cannot be our own gods. It doesn't work.