Boomers and the Unfinished Task

Drawing by Jaiden Burk, age 10

By Frank King

They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit.   - Jeremiah 17:8

Following World War II, millions of soldiers returned to their homes and, as a result, birth rates in the United States increased by nearly 50%. The Baby Boom continued throughout the ’50s, creating the largest population of teens and twenty-somethings in the history of the nation. During the early ’60s and into the late ’70s the Baby Boomer Generation became the driving influence in economics, culture, and social change. It was during the young adult years of this generation that the nation saw the Civil Rights movement, the rise of Feminism, and an all-encompassing countercultural swing to a libertine lifestyle. It was a generation used for good. It was a generation used for evil.  

It was also a generation used by God; a generation lost and leaderless, which spawned America’s mid-century revival: The Jesus People Movement. We Boomers had seen our parents turn to prosperity and away from meaningful religion. We were seeking “truth” and spirituality, and a great percentage of us wanted to turn from our parent’s superficial religion to something deeper. We dabbled in Eastern religions and the occult, but in the end, we turned to Jesus. By the thousands, we were drawn to Bible studies, coffee houses, and storefront churches. We were saved and grafted into the church. We were united in a great commission: to disciple the world for Jesus. It was a time of “small beginnings,” with lots of enthusiasm and little training. We went forth and proclaimed the Word, knowing that Jesus could return at any minute. God rained down on us in a great outpouring of His Spirit. We gave our all to the cause, and few of us imagined we would grow old before the Rapture.

Fast-forward four decades. Many of those small beginnings have now grown into established churches. Some have grown religious (we almost always become our parents), but some spiritually thrive, still following the vision of the early days: Go. Preach. Teach. Make disciples. Some went. Some stayed. As I Samuel 3:24 tells us: “We share and share alike--those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment." The goers and the stayers all grew the church. And now, we Boomers look in the mirror and see our fathers and mothers. Who is that old person? we wonder, and then realize… it is ME. And we wonder whatever happened to that young revolutionary who wanted to change the world. We sometimes forget that we did change it. When Pastor Warner preached his annual theme sermon in January, I realized something else: That man in the mirror is part of the Unfinished Task.

He and thousands like him, the pioneers of our fellowship are, as Billy Graham so eloquently termed it, Nearing Home. And, just as God poured His early rain upon our generation in the ’70s, His desire is to continue that work by providing the latter rain. Before we go home, God wants His harvest from the Boomer farm, and we are it. Jesus began the work and only He can finish it, but we, the seed stock of the church, represent thousands of unfinished tasks.

Unlike those outside the church, our purpose is clear. We are called – not to retire, sit back and be ignored or neglected – but to blossom. We don’t blossom necessarily as pastors and teachers, but we all are called as roots of a fruitful tree. Our method is not necessarily street preaching or pioneering; we are the roots of this revival, and healthy roots are absolutely necessary for a healthy plant. We must allow God’s latter rain to permeate us. We need to nourish ourselves daily with His Word, and be prepared to be part of this final revival. Most of all, we need to find the individual purpose God has for each of us. We need to be aware of the way God is moving today, and of how He wants to use us as part of this move.

Roots can reach places where branches never will. They tap down to the sources of water and nutrition and keep the rest of the plant healthy. Roots provide stability when the storms come, and we already are seeing those storms buffet the church. Roots reach down to the original source – the Word of God as written – and draw out the nutrition which is passed on to the trunk and branches. Roots also have the ability to reach out to resources that will financially nourish the growth. The Roots were there before the Branches flourished. And they are there still.

Some of the Boomer Generation never pioneered outside the local congregation. God called us to support the local congregation in our giving and our ministry. Those decades in the local church gave us some insight and wisdom that a pioneer pastor may never have. We developed a sense of responsibility to support world outreach, and the resources to allow for that support. Some of this Root Generation was sent, and now they have come back into the congregation – some for redirection, aiming at going again; some now established in the congregation and fulfilling a new purpose from the original. But, while here, these glorious and gifted men and women, boys and girls become part of that root; supporting the local congregation as it supports the outreach branches. We join ministries, disciple others, and grow together with other members of the church. For even though each of us has a different purpose, we are all called to the same vision: “Go ye into all the world…” So Boomers, stand firm, stay rooted and be ready, and allow God to complete His Unfinished Task.