04 Jun How To Have a Multi-Generational Move of God by John Nuzzo
There’s a scripture in Malachi, an end-times scripture, that talks about how in the last days God is going to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers. This scripture is telling us something about the heart of God and that He wants us to have a multi-generational move of the Holy Spirit.
God defines Himself as the God of three generations—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Yet historically, the church is the only place where the family has been intentionally divided. The church is the only place where we have forced our children out, not because of spiritual values but because of preference.
Jesus said a house divided goes into desolation, but a house united will accelerate. I believe that we are standing on the brink of a spiritual acceleration. God is turning the hearts of the fathers to the children today. When that occurs, He will bring a new wine out of us and put it in a new wineskin.
In 2020, right at the onset of the pandemic, I prayed and asked the Lord, “What’s the new wineskin going to be?” What He spoke to me was transformative. He said, “Don’t ask me about the new wineskin. I’m not going to speak to you about it. It’s not yours to build. Your generation built its wineskin.” I understood the new wineskin will be built by the next generation. Until then, my presumption as a leader was that the next generation would come into and adapt to my calling, my understanding, my vision for the future… my stretched-out wineskin.
I believe the greatest transfer of spiritual authority and wealth is happening right now. My generation planted more churches than at any other time in American history. But when we stepped onto the scene, we were not well-mentored by the generation before us. In fact, the older generation mostly brought us into their world to support their mission until they died. I’m not putting them down. There was so much that I learned from them. But what we were allowed to do was going to begin and end with them. There was push back to the creation of a new wineskin. If what we were going to do didn’t fit their wineskin or preference or method of distribution, they pushed us away. Instead of fighting for us, they fought for their preferences. That was not unique to our generation, but what I see happening now is God is turning hearts, causing my generation to be open to what He wants to do new through the next generation.
The presumption of leadership is deadly. We must be intentional in our transfer of leadership to the next generation. We must recognize that when we pour our wine into the wine of the next generation, an acceleration will occur. They will start on second base instead of home plate.
After speaking with the Lord, I knew I had to do better in moving away from presumption. I had to stop assuming that I would always lead, and that God would speak to me until I died about how to reach people for the kingdom of God. Now, I never presumed that God would speak to me about anything beyond my own calling. I never even considered it. But as I began to meet with a group of people to pray several days a week, clarity came that this movement is so much more than just the transition of a pastor to the next generation. This is about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dwelling together in unity in the body of Christ.
I am from the Abraham generation. Every Abraham has aged wine in them. The stay-at-home mom has as much value in her as the CEO. God wants a way made for the Abraham generation to intentionally pour their wine into the Isaac generation.
At Victory Church, we’re creating a pathway to do just that. It’s not a program. It’s a pathway based on a move of God’s Spirit. If we simply ask the Abraham generation, “Hey, stick around. Tolerate the music. Nothing is ever going to be about you again, but we need your money and your presence,” then the goal is not attainable. The Abraham generation needs to realize there’s nothing better on the planet than the feeling of accelerating your children. That’s why we—the entrepreneurs, the factory workers, the teachers—need an environment where they can pour their aged wine into those who are coming up.
The Isaac generation is facing many things. They need fathers and mothers to love them and share with them not only their wins but how they got through their losses. When God turns the heart of Isaac back to Abraham, or the children to the father, and that wine gets poured into the finish line instead of the starting line, there will be great acceleration. There will be transformation. It will catalyst another great awakening.
I believe God’s plan is that the Abraham generation dies with more joy, more intentionality, and more purpose than they experienced at any other time in their lives because now they get to be the accelerant. It’s a lot more fun to dump gasoline on a fire than to chop wood. We chopped our wood, and it wasn’t easy! We got a lot of splinters and wounds from it. Now we get to drop the match and watch the explosion. That’s the fun part!
If we as the fathers don’t turn our hearts first, don’t get excited about what God is doing in this multi-generational move, the children will have nothing to respond to. We can’t criticize them. We can’t ignore them. We can’t question, “How could you not know this?” We must serve our children, accelerate them, love them, and share our influence with them as we help them grow.
Pastor, are you looking for an Isaac you can serve? Are you looking for someone to show the way of Christ more perfectly? Are you looking for someone you can help guide so they do not make the same mistakes you did at their age? Be an initiator. Put yourself in the younger generation’s environments and listen and serve the Isaacs around you. Let it be organic like it was with Priscilla and Aquilla as they poured into Apollos. Talk to them, love them, and watch God do something amazing in your relationship with them.
Many Isaacs are facing roadblocks. Church hurt is a big one, and it’s easy to see why when you consider the number of scandals in the last few years. Another is trying to create new wine instead of fighting for a new wineskin. They’re challenged with making a comfortable God in their image instead of letting God be God and allowing outsiders to feel uncomfortable in their church or presence as believers. They’re challenged with satisfying their critics on social media and in the workplace rather than standing with the unalterable Word of God. Isaacs are facing different pressures than we faced in our generation. They need us as parents to help them discover how to serve and love and bring the gospel in a way future generations will hear. They need help in learning to say to their critics, to those who don’t live according to God’s way, “Look, you’re welcome here. You can come here. We love you. We’ll serve you, but we’re not going to change God for you.”
Bible teacher Doug Jones defines love as always doing what’s in the best interest of the other. That’s such a great way to encapsulate what love is. Pastor, we need to love the next generation enough to partner with them in this multi-generational move God has in store. We must let the love of God prevail, keep in check our leadership presumptions, and allow God to turn our fathers’ hearts toward the children. Will you ask Him to do this in you today? Will you pray and release your grip on the wineskin and allow God to do what He sees best for every generation?
This blog was created using content from the webinar Preparing Our Church for Renewal in the Holy Spirit.