The Simple Biblical Design
My story is quite simple yet sometimes I think it must be unique! As I read the Bible, I noticed words like “everyone,” “all the people,” “church,” “the entire community”, etc., and I automatically thought “every generation.”
In the Bible, we see God’s people coming together under many circumstances (Exodus 16:8-1, Exodus 17:1-2, Chronicles 20:1,3-4,13-14a, Ezekiel 37:24-28).
Children learned in a multi-generational environment (Deuteronomy 6:4-8, 1 Kings 8:2, Proverbs 22:6).
The generations were meant to be interdependent (1 Samuel 2:18-26 & Ch 3, Matthew 18:1-14, Malachi 4:5-6).
They were created by Him (Isaiah 41:4), and let’s remember that “What God has joined together let no man put asunder.”
As I looked at the church, I saw a peer-orientated culture and wondered how Biblical culture could be so ignored. Then I discovered that it was not ignored. Subconsciously, simple words like “everyone” have been changed to “adults.” I realized that we had adopted a Greek education system and lost our Jewish roots.
I saw that Moses (in what we call the Jethro model in the small group) kept families and generations together.
This is what I have always seen, and it is what I still see as I travel preaching and teaching. It amazes me when people say, “I have never heard this before.”
Sometimes I wish, “Why can’t people simply read the Bible then look at the church and ask ‘Where in the Bible did they do this?’”
Maybe I am just “simple.” But in reality, “I simply love being simple!!”
Daphne
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