Are You Part Of
The Joshua Generation?

We have a college age youth in our Church by the name of Russ. He is in his early twenties and he is on-fire for the Lord. He is a youth leader and has been on the missions field a few times and he is dedicated to serving God.

Russ somehow got a hold of a copy of one of my emails, the one that later became lesson one of this teaching series. He wrote a response back to me, from the youth's perspective. I feel his response was very insightful, and I would like to share it with you.

A Youth's Take On Equating The Joshua Generation To Youth (by Russ Pekkonen)

I personally have felt very uncomfortable and disturbed by the constant focus on youth. I've felt as though the youth are pointed to simply because youth are quick to get excited about things and because they are not held down with responsibilities. Let me share my feelings when I hear that strong focus on "the youth," as if revival and all that are dependent on the youth leading the way. I find myself wanting to turn to them and say "YOU go do it!"

There are some youth who are committed to God and on fire for Him. There are some youth who I think God will use as a part of ushering in the revival. But, to be honest, there are many who won't be used. Many youth often lack a clear vision of where to go or any plan of how to get there. They can have a tendency, in the face of struggle, to either give up or turn to rebellion. Youth generally lack or fall short in the area of balance and most youth have not yet acquired a "level head."

I don't expect any of this to be news to you.

Sometimes I wonder when the youth are so encouraged to "go" in place of the adults. Is it because those saying it are too scared to go themselves? (I know that's not always the case, because sometimes the commission for the youth to "go" comes from those who DO go.) But I still wonder why they focus on the youth instead of on the church at large. Maybe they have given up hope that the 30+ crowd will do anything? I don't know!

I wanted you to know that the discomfort in overemphasizing the youth to the exclusion of the rest of the Church is not one-sided. It is not simply the "adults" who've noticed this.

I hadn't thought of the Joshua bit before... of how Joshua and many in his army were not youth. I like that. I have heard so many stories of people well past my age doing incredible things, things that only someone that age could do. Even the elderly have a wisdom and authority that inspires me.

One change I believe is coming to the church is a more unified body, where we are not so divided by age. Many times, the youth seem so "out there" from the rest of the church (at least from my perspective). I mean, the youth are typically separated from the rest of the church, and often not in a good way. That must change! The body of Christ must learn to work together to advance the kingdom of God! It is time to stop segregating ourselves by age.

How Can The Youth Enlist In The Joshua Generation Army?

In the first lesson, we saw that the Joshua Generation is not the youth to the exclusion of everyone else. It is those members of the body of Christ who love God passionately and who have sold out to the Lordship of Jesus. It is who are committed to obey God no matter what He asks and through whom God can advance His kingdom.

However, the Joshua Generation definitely includes the youth -- any youth who meets the criteria can sign up for it. The criteria is simple. God is looking for youth who love Him and who are deeply committed to serve Him and who are willing to make Him Lord and boss of every area of their life.

God is looking for young men like David, who He can train and mature as they go about their day-to-day lives. They did not have formal schools in those days. So David's father assigned him to watch the sheep and act as a shepherd. That was considered a very menial task, something that was not at all important to do. But David found a way to bring God's Lordship into his life even in that menial position. Even though he was in a place of obscurity, stuck out in the hillside by himself with a bunch of sheep, David pursued God. David allowed God to grow and mature him, and to transform him from a "school boy" into a powerful warrior.

David was a worshipper and He spent a lot his shepherding time writing and singing worship songs. He developed a skill playing a stringed instrument -- if they had guitars in those days, I think David would have been a guitar player. But since they did not have guitars, David played what was available, and he used it in his personal worship. He also developed his personal relationship with God when he was alone in that obscure place with the flocks.

David's heart was after God, so God began to train David for his destiny. God did that right where David was, as a part of his day-to-day life. Let me give an example. From time-to-time, a wild animal would come to attack the herd, looking for easy prey. Instead of abandoning the sheep and running away to safety, David used those attacks as opportunities to learn to fight under God's anointing. He talked about that experience in 1 Samuel 17:34-37.

34 ... "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine [giant who challenged Saul's army] will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

In other words, God began to work in David's day-to-day life to train and equip him, and to draw David into a close and intimate relationship with Him. God's training preceded God using David. However, God did not make David wait until he had grown up before He used him powerfully in His kingdom purposes.

David was the youngest of 8 boys. His three oldest brothers were in Saul's army when they went to war with the Philistines. David was much too young to enlist in the army, but from time-to-time, his father would send him to the front lines to bring supplies for his brothers and then bring home news about his brothers. When David got home, he would tend his father's flocks (1 Sam 17:15). David served both as a shepherd and as an errand boy for this father.

One day Jesse sent David to the front lines with some supplies for his brothers. David heard the Philistine giant's challenge for the Israelites to select a champion to fight him to decide the course of the battle. All of Saul's soldiers cowered in fear because the giant was so big and so fierce. But David had already seen God's power and anointing on him when he fought the lion and the bear. Because of that, David did not look at the situation through natural eyes of fear -- he saw through the eyes of faith. That is why he told Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him" (1 Sam 17:32).

They had a brief discussion where David explained why he thought he was qualified. Then Saul decided to let him go fight this giant.

As I read this passage, Russ's statement echoed through my mind -- "Saul, YOU go do it!" Doesn't it strike you as amazing? This mighty king and ruler of Israel was afraid to go fight the Philistine himself, but he was willing to send a youth to go do it in his place. We are not sure of David's exact age. David was probably somewhere around 12 or 13. We do know that David had not hit puberty yet, he still had the skinny physique of a boy. His body had not developed into a man's body yet. 1 Samuel 17:42 tells us, "And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking."

It never made sense to me that Saul would send this young school boy out with a sling shot to represent his army. Saul knew that an untrained boy was very likely to lose against a huge, fully armed and highly trained soldier. Saul also knew that if David lost, he and his army had to surrender to the Philistines. It was counterintuitive for Saul to let David go fight this giant.

But God was at work behind the scenes and He is the one who chose the youth -- David -- and sent him out to do real kingdom work.

We know the rest of this story: God empowered this youth and he defeated the Philistine giant in hand to hand combat. God had been looking for a champion through whom He could work His glory in this battle. None of the experienced or trained warriors stepped up and volunteered. But David came along and said, "God, here I am, send me!" And God did.

God will not make the youth wait until they are all "grow up" before He uses them to do real kingdom work with Him. He will not require that they complete their formal education before He releases His power and anointing on their lives. But on the other hand, He will not send out someone who He has not worked with behind the scenes to prepare, train and equip.

What am I saying here? I am saying that youth are not disqualified just because they are young. God can and will use them. But, on the other hand, they are not qualified just because they are young. They need to be personally committed to the Lord. They need to pursue God and allow God to begin to train, develop and mature them behind the scenes. God will meet the youth in their day-to-day lives today, just like He did in David's time. He will help them form the right heart after Him. He will draw them into a depth of intimacy with Him. He will put them into situations designed to grow their faith. God will prepare them and then God will use them for His glory.

I have heard many modern-day stories of God using the youth very powerfully. For instance, many of the powerful evangelists in the great revival in Mozambique are youths. They walk for days to come to a Muslim village and they begin to preach the gospel and to perform miracles and signs and wonders. The Muslims believe the gospel because of the demonstration of power (the signs and wonders) and they get saved. The young evangelists plant a church of new converts then walk another day or two to the next village to do the same thing.

There are churches in Argentina who have their children pray for the sick and people are healed as the children pray for them. Many of these adults tend to receive the Lord after He healed them through the children.

And God uses some youth strongly in the prophetic. I personally know a high-school aged boy from the UK who operates in a level of prophetic proficiency close to those who are established in the office of the prophet. He is only 17, he hasn't finished growing up yet. But He has a heart for God, and God is releasing powerful prophetic words through him that touch and effect people all over the world.

The Apostle Paul told Timothy not to let anyone despise him because he was young (1 Timothy 4:12). And we must be careful that we don't despise the youth who God is raising up in our midst. And we must not segregate them. The adults need to allow them to rise up beside us and take their rightful place in the army of God.

God can, does, and will continue to use the youth. But He dose not use youth simply because they are young. He uses the ones whose hearts are after Him. He uses the ones who are willing and obedient. He uses the ones who have committed their lives to the Lord and who are pursuing Him and developing personal intimacy with God. God uses the youth who believe the Bible when they read it and then begin to apply it to their lives. He uses the ones who believe and live "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," then they go do whatever impossible thing God told them to do. And they accomplish it because they don't go in their own strength or ability -- they go in God's power and anointing.