A few years ago, a friend of mine challenged me with this question, “How many second-generation homesteaders and small farmers do you know?”
This came as a result of his observation that many children of Christian ‘back-to-the-landers’ become part of the ‘back-to the-city’ movement as soon as they leave home. I know of exceptions, but I also have seen a lot to confirm my friend’s observations.
When parents, trying to follow the Lord’s leading, make sacrifices to leave the comfort of a normal consumer life and adopt some level of agrarian lifestyle, it is often motivated by a desire to disciple their kids through work that allows them to teach them about the Lord, “when you sit at home and when you walk along the road” (Duet. 6).
I know this was a big motivation for me to start my farming career. I said early on that I would rather work 16 hours a day with my family than 8 hours a day away from them. I thought this would help me win my children’s hearts and offer them a lifestyle they would appreciate, even if they were called to something else.
But in the years since I have spoken to some who grew up in a homesteading/farming family that don’t just feel called to something else. They don’t really want anything to do with that kind of lifestyle. And sometimes they don’t want anything to do with Jesus.
This kind of reaction indicates that farming or homesteading itself isn’t a silver bullet for creating an attractive Christian culture or discipling our kids.
So, what are we missing?
It is not my primary goal to have my kids follow in my agrarian footsteps. My prayer is that the relationship-based lifestyle of productive living will help me not only point my kids to the gospel but help them to value what God values and equip them with the skills that will make them useful in whatever way He wants to use them, agricultural or not.
Of course, if our kids choose not to carry on our faith and follow Jesus, an agrarian lifestyle of productive work, simple living, relationships, productivity, sacrifice, and focus on the Creator can’t compete with the allures of the world for those who grew up sheltered from them.
Thankfully, there is a growing number of Christian young people that are interested in agriculture. But many of them are from city-dwelling families.
The ones who grew up on a Christian family farm are often passionate to serve the Lord but not interested in the lifestyle they grew up with. Why?
Maybe we need to re-evaluate the kind of agriculture and heart we are modelling for them.Here are five things I think are required for the next generation of Christian young people to be attracted to and succeed in agriculture. They are:
· Purpose
· Passion
· Proficiency
· Profit
· Pleasure
As you can probably see, there is a bit of a sequential order to these. Purpose produces passion which can motivate perseverance that leads to proficiency which results in profit and ends in God granting us great pleasure in our work.
Purpose is the solid foundation required for any calling. Agriculture requires a lot of suffering and sacrifice. And without a sense of purpose behind what we are sacrificing for we get discouraged.
Young Christians today want to feel like they are making an impact on the world. Are we communicating how agriculture can build God’s kingdom?
I think that the challenge for farming and homesteading families is that we fail or forget to remind ourselves and our kids about the WHY behind what we are doing. And ultimately, the WHO.
This is the reason I feel so passionate about equipping Christians to articulate the connection between faith and farming. Sometimes we say we are doing agriculture for Jesus, but we tend to talk mostly about the amazing things we hope to get out of it. It is easy to be motivated by the romance of agriculture.
What about when it is hard? When it isn’t fun? If the reason we are doing it is because it is fun, then once it isn’t fun we lose any motivation.
I wrestled with this in the past while doing chores during very rainy seasons when the romance of moving my pastured chicken shelters was in reality more of a mud and manure and poultry rescue operation.
I remember the thought, “Why am I doing this again?”
I felt like God answered me something along the lines of, “Because I called you to, and this is how you show love to me through obedience right now. Remember I said to rejoice during trials? You aren’t going to become a good farmer if everything is always easy. This is how I equip you to shine for Me.”
And you know what? When I remembered I was doing it not for me, but for Jesus, it became FUN again. My passion and joy returned, and I could smile even while slipping around in mud and manure with rain dripping off my nose.
Because God saw me in that moment. He was smiling at me.
I knew He could grow me and use me to bless others if I put Him first. And all of a sudden, my agriculture had a solid foundation again.
It is the passion and perseverance that purpose gives that helps us push through to proficiency and profit, which is key if agriculture is to attract a new generation.
Purpose without profit is not sustainable. Businesses today are finding that money isn’t enough to attract young people if they find no fulfillment, but lack of money can definitely drive them away even if they have a growing passion.
But profit is only good as a fruit of faithfulness fueled by purpose found in Christ. It is a poor foundation as a purpose in itself.
Whether or not my kids are called to steward the land, I want to model for them and impart to them a purpose in what our family does that ultimately ends in a resilient joy in our calling. I hope they can take that purpose into whatever calling God gives them.
But if I let Jesus fuel my purpose, passion, proficiency, profit, and pleasure in agriculture I wouldn’t be surprised (given the multi-generational legacy design of God in family) if at least some of my kids follow in my footsteps.
Whether or not God multiplies this generation of Christian land stewards likely depends on whether we are farmers worth multiplying.
What do you think is needed to inspire the next generation of Christ-loving land stewards?
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5
