The great challenge for second-generation Christians is to make the faith of their parents, their own. So often, children of first-generation Christians struggle with their Christian identity due to the nearness of it all. The question becomes, “Is this what I believe? Or do I believe this because this is what my parents believed?”
In Real: Owning Your Christian Faith, Daniel Darling combines his story with that of such notable second-gener’s as: Jon Acuff, Tullian Tchividjian, Jerry Jenkins, Trevin Wax, Tim Challies, and Sean McDowell among others. Each chapter looks at an aspect of embracing the Christian faith and then ends the chapter with an interview pertinent to the chapter topic.
Second-generation Christians have the benefit of being raised in a Christian home, whose parents uphold Christian values, and who develop a Christian worldview from childhood. All these are good things. The struggle, then, is that once the bubble is popped – once they are challenged by different values and worldviews – there is often a difficulty of identifying the moment that they embraced these values. When they realize those values to have been the atmosphere they breathed growing up, often they choke trying to breathe different air.
In Real, Darling offers a tremendously helpful resource to those struggling to breathe something else while they decide whether their parents air is adequate enough.
what interesting thoughts.
i came to Christ at a young age and come from a strong Christian family.
my husband on the other hand came to Christ in his late teens on his own…
the way he approached our shared faith has gotten me excited about my faith all over again. i began to see that when God moves in you, He moves in you. sometimes there are family members or friends or youth groups along the way to help guide you, but God speaks to us all differently. he’s blessed some of us with amazing families that can guide us in the ways of the Lord and he’s blessed some of us with beautiful stories that just make no sense how you came to Christ on paper.