The Boomer’s Two Paths

David vs Hezekiah

As the Baby Boomer generation continues their unprecedented tenure at the helm of society, the choices they make from here will continue to heavily impact the world left to their children and grandchildren.

Should Donald Trump reclaim the presidency in November, that will be 8 victories in 9 elections for the Boomers (with Biden slipping in as an extremely late entry for the Silent Generation). Meanwhile, Gen X may never see one of their own in the Oval Office. This generational domination of the White House is often mirrored at the top of corporations and churches, too.

And though we are closer to the end of the Boomer reign than the beginning, you still have tremendous ability to influence the world you hand to your children and grandchildren.

The Boomers face two paths: will they serve the future in the mold of David, or of Hezekiah?

David’s foresight

1 Chronicles 22 tells us David badly wanted to build a temple to honor God, but was denied because he had been a man of great bloodshed. So, instead he went about compiling the materials so Solomon would be well set up to take on the project in his place.

But the other side of this is the matter of David’s bloodshed. Yes, he did wage much war, but that is not necessarily a condemnation. Goliath and his giant family needed to be taken out, the Philistines needed to be driven back, and so forth. You don’t build a temple in wartime, you build it during peace time.

So while David couldn’t build the temple, the difficult life he lived paved the way for Solomon to have both the materials and the political climate to build the temple. David did hard things and gave his son a tremendous leg up.

Hezekiah’s selfishness

On the other hand, we have Hezekiah. Though he had his bright spots as a king, we also see him utter one of the most selfish phrases in the entire Bible with regard to his children’s future.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord. ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord.

‘Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?” 2 Kings‬ ‭20‬:‭16‬-‭19‬

Are you kidding me? While he was at it, he might as well have thrown in a jab about how his kids couldn’t read cursive, drive stick shifts, or afford a house. A person who looks at evil days on the horizon and tells his kids, “better you than me!” has something deeply wrong with him.

Where the Baby Boomers come in

We’ve cruised along in prosperity for a long time, and the can can’t be kicked much further down the road. You used to hear talk about how the nation’s seeming prosperity despite exploding debt was just sticking the next generation with the bill.

Well, the bill is coming due—in the form of literal debt and inflation, but also in the form of degeneracy caused by moral relativism, critical theory that casts hatred and envy as the path to harmony, an utter devaluation of the home, and consumer Christianity that views success in terms of numbers and not faithfulness.

In the remaining years of their reign, the Boomers must decide what they’re going to do about it.

A Hezekiah mindset would see the problems and try to find a way to “go for the gusto” with the rest of your days. It would tell the next generations they’re on their own to handle the problems.

In the church, this mindset looks like either pulling back from church involvement because “I’ve done my time,” or refusing to take on the uncomfortable clashes the church needs to have out of a desire to maintain “peace in my days.” It might even look like standing in the way of those who do want to take on those clashes.

Conversely, a David mindset would want to see God, your children, and the church placed in as good of a situation as possible. Like David, that would require fighting a lot of battles, looking toward the future, implementing changes, and preparing your successors to have (and know) what they need to take the baton and run with it.

The Hezekiah mindset must be recognized and rejected. The dominant form of church leadership in living memory has been that of keeping the boat from ever rocking. Let the unruly get their way as long as that avoids conflict. Refuse to make a scene by practicing church discipline or openly opposing false teachers. Don’t do or say anything that might make the heathen think poorly of us. Just be nice.

But, once again, the bill for all of that is coming due. It will be paid sooner or later, one way or the other. Here is your chance to knock down some Goliaths before you go and set the church up to have more peace and success after you’re done. Do not be a Hezekiah and insist on cruising through the rest of your days, leaving your children and grandchildren to pick up the pieces after you’re done.

I know the term “Boomer” is often used as a pejorative, and that’s not my intention here. It doesn’t matter to God what year you were born in—it matters what you do with what He has placed in your path.

Some will need to keep right on doing what they’re doing. Others will need to take stock and course correct to be more David and less Hezekiah.

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Notes

New Questionable Quotes video is up! I examine the popular idea, “God doesn’t send anyone to hell, He just lets them choose it.” Watch here or listen on the podcast feed.

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