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Maybe It’s Not the Kids

Maybe It’s Not the Kids

Last updated on: July 10, 2026 at 12:27 pm by Rob Giannamore

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Maybe It’s Not the Kids 2026-07-10T12:27:41-04:00 Rob Giannamore

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Many churches, especially our small churches, carry the yoke of survival: “How do we keep things going?” Our stubbornness then arises when our yokes become those of ego, fear, judgment, or control. | Image created by Gemini for Patheos.

Anchor Verse: Mathew 11:16-19, 25-30

Every Generation Thinks the Next One Is the Problem

As I read this morning’s scripture, verse 16 immediately jumped out at me. Here, Jesus says to his disciples, “What will I compare this generation?” My mind immediately went to the line I’ve been saying for the last few years, at my tender young age of 49: “kids these days.” Every generation has had something to say about the past generation. In a Reader’s Digest article from December 2025, I found these thoughts:

Younger and older generations have been at odds since, well, forever. “Generations have been clashing for around 2,500 years in the written record, and almost assuredly as long as there have been people,” Protzko says.

In his fourth-century BCE work Rhetoric, ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote of young people, “They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” Sound familiar? A few hundred years later, in 20 BCE, the Roman poet Horace wrote, “Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.”

Fast forward to 1624, and we have the Reverend Thomas Barnes writing, “Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie, the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.” Saucy, indeed.

Even in the modern era, the famous song “Kids” from the 1960 musical Bye Bye Birdie describes youth as lazy, disrespectful oafs who can’t speak and don’t listen, and (while we’re on the subject!) ends with a final lament: “Why can’t they be like we were, perfect in every way? What’s the matter with kids today?” This song is just as relevant now as it was when it was written during the rock ‘n’ roll revolution: For example, who can understand Gen Z slang? No cap!

So, generations have been clashing for (literally) millennia. But because of rapid technological progress throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, generational differences became more pronounced because the world literally changed faster.

Regardless of our age or generation, we are under a yoke of discipleship. A yoke is not just a burden; it is a way of being guided. To be yoked is to admit that we are not wandering through life on our own terms. Something is shaping us, leading us, and teaching us how to walk.

When Jesus asks, “To what will I compare this generation?” he is showing us that generational critique is not new. Too often, we assume that the problem is “kids these days.” But Jesus points to something deeper than age. The reality is the issue may not be youthfulness but spiritual stubbornness. Too often, Older generations may carry the yoke of nostalgia: “Things were better back then.” But younger generations may carry the yoke of anxiety: “The future is uncertain.” Many churches, especially our small churches, carry the yoke of survival: “How do we keep things going?” Our stubbornness then arises when our yokes become those of ego, fear, judgment, or control.

To take this thought even deeper, we must ask not the question whether we are yoked. The question is what we are yoked to. Are we yoked to fear? To resentment? To being right? To the need to prove that our generation has it figured out?

We Often Reject What We Do Not Understand

In our passage this week, it is pointed out that we often reject what we do not understand and both young and old generations blame each other. We see this too in the critique of John and Jesus’ different approaches. The problem was not John’s style or Jesus’ style — it was the people’s unwillingness to receive God’s work when it did not match their expectations. In our unwillingness to receive God’s work when it does not match our expectations, we have become like children who refuse to go along with the rules of a game when we are losing.

When I was in the Army, I learned very early on an important lesson that has stuck with me for almost forty years. It is this – It is okay to say I do not know, but I will find out. This tied with my early spiritual explorations on humility have allowed me to assume I know anything until I do.

God’s Wisdom Often Appears Through the Humble

Jesus says that truth is hidden from the “wise and intelligent” and revealed to “infants.” That challenges our assumptions about who has wisdom. Sometimes the young, the overlooked, or the teachable see what the proud miss.

Because of my affiliation with the Order of Saint Benedict, I often sit with the concept of humility. Here are three things I want you to understand about humility:

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less
Ego is tied to our lack of humility
Spiritual maturity is tied to understanding that God will provide for our needs even when the answers are not the ones we seek.

Being humble means remembering that we are disciples first, not experts. Even with two master’s degrees, years of experience, and a reputation in my field in my home city, I try not to use the expert word when describing myself. I feel that means that you somehow arrived and know everything. I often tell my students that, in some ways, they have more to teach me than they realize because they are learning with fresh eyes. Too often, those of us who have been in the church, counseling, or in any profession long enough can begin to puff ourselves up with expertise. But my students usually come to me with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn. If I can match their posture, then I can continue to learn something new about my work, my faith and myself.

Humility does not make us smaller; it makes room for Christ to become greater in us. And when Christ becomes greater in us, we no longer have to prove that our generation is right. We only have to follow the One who is gentle and humble in heart.

Jesus Invites Every Generation to Lay Down Its Burden

In closing our scripture this morning, Jesus invites every generation to lay down it’s burdens. Right now, our biggest burden for all our generations is our division. We have become a nation divided under one God.

One of the questions I hear often is, “What is wrong with the world these days?” I understand why people ask this. Beneath the question there is often grief, exhaustion, confusion and longing for something better. As a pastor, a clinician, and someone who has spent much of my life listening, studying, and praying over the human condition, I know there is no easy answer. But I do believe we can name the part of the burden we are carrying: we have forgotten how to belong to one another. We have lost our respect for each other, drifted away from true community, and retreated into our own silos of certainty – whether political, cultural, digital, or even religious.

If we are going to help build the kindom Jesus speaks of, then we have to begin by laying those burdens down. We have to release the pride, fear, resentment, and certainty that keep us divided from one another. On Friday morning during my devotions, I read a reflection from Father Richard Rohr that pointed to theologian Diana L. Hayes and the essential question she places before people of faith: “Who am I?”

Who am I? I am a child of God, whether black, brown, yellow, red, or white, because race does not exist in God. Nor do other divisions exist in God, not those of Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, or other, because God is God for all of humanity, however God is named…. We are all created in God’s own image and likeness, a creation that God declared to be good without caveats. Why am I here on this earth at this time and place? To help bring about God’s kin-dom by recognizing and, more importantly, by affirming my co-createdness with all of humanity and thus the presence of God in all with whom I come into contact. I am called, as all are called, to contribute to the rebuilding of … a community in which all are welcome.

Friends, the church cannot become the sign of Christ’s kindom if we mirror the divisions of the world around us. To follow Jesus is to let love become our center: love in our speech, love in our choices, love in the way we see one another. The unifying love of Christ does not erase our differences, but it teaches us how to hold them with grace. We belong first to Christ, and because of that, we are called to walk as beloved followers of the Way.

Our passage this morning ends with Jesus saying, “Come to me, all you that are weary.” The answer is not for one generation to win over another, but for all of us to take on the gentle yoke of Christ together. Amen

Benediction

May Christ who dwells in you continue to do good work in you, blessing you with grace and perseverance to continue on in the journey of faith as you grow into the image of Christ more and more every day.

May you be safe, May you be happy, May you be at east, Go in Peace, Amen.

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