"Young people's problems and culture are so different that my experience doesn't translate or help them."
How it sounds in your head: They're dealing with social media, gender confusion, tech addiction, gig economy—things that didn't exist in my world. How can I possibly relate or offer guidance when their entire reality is foreign to me? My advice sounds like old stories from a different planet.
"That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun."
-- Ecclesiastes 1:9Enemy distraction focusing on METHODS changing rather than PRINCIPLES remaining constant—same tactic that made religious leaders miss Jesus because He didn't match their expectations.
Their vocabulary is different, their challenges have new names, and when you try to share wisdom they smile politely but you see their eyes glaze over. The cultural gap feels too wide to bridge, and you don't want to be the out-of-touch grandpa spouting irrelevant platitudes.
In a completely foreign culture (Persian exile), facing a genocide plot using political systems that didn't exist in Israel, elderly Mordecai's wisdom about 'such a time as this' saved an entire nation. Cultural differences didn't diminish his ability to see truth and guide the next generation.
I REFUSE the lie that cultural changes make my wisdom obsolete or irrelevant. IT IS WRITTEN that there is NOTHING NEW under the sun—methods change but human nature and spiritual principles remain constant. Social media is just a new arena for ancient identity battles. Economic uncertainty is the same test Abraham faced. IT IS WRITTEN that Mordecai's wisdom saved a nation in a completely foreign culture with foreign systems. The BARAK blessing gave Joseph the ability to prosper in Egypt, speaking a different language in a pagan culture. I carry TIMELESS truth about a UNCHANGING God, and that's exactly what this generation is starving for beneath the digital noise.
The Father isn't wringing His hands over generational gaps—He's smiling that you've watched Him be faithful through multiple decades of cultural upheaval, and that TESTIMONY is the exact medicine for a generation drowning in opinions but starving for someone who's actually seen God come through.