Continuing and Upholding the Legacy of True Holiness – HTC Women’s Weekend

By Mother Vivian Pruitte

Looking at today’s generation, I frequently say to my husband that within 20 years, our young preachers and missionaries will look totally different. They will walk around with holes throughout their bodies from the piercings they got during their younger years and have tattoos that simply can’t be covered up with make-up or clothes. Unfortunately, many of these future leaders will be from households that went to church, though they did not adhere to the church’s teachings. Or, they will be products of my generation – who tried to give our children everything that we didn’t have or the things we had to work hard to get.

We need only turn on the news or read the latest headline to see that we did not adequately teach today’s generation to love and adhere to the principles of the God we serve. While our parents kept us in church and taught us to love God and the people of God, we allowed our children to choose whether they wanted to go to church. We allowed them to do things and go places our parents would have never allowed.

Likewise, my generation was taught to work for things, but we have not instilled this same principle in our children. We gave liberally without teaching our children that they must exert some effort to obtain the things they want in life. So not only have we raised a generation that does not ascribe to the principles of holiness, but also one that is ungrateful.

I find it a little humorous when I hear this younger generation talk about wanting to go back to Bishop Mason’s day, but at the same time, can’t attend two services within a given week. They want the power and anointing of our forefathers, but without any effort or sacrifice – just like all those other things they received without having to work for. Like I said before, we are partly to blame for allowing them to grow up without knowing the benefits of hard work and sacrifice. They are used to reaping rewards without having to do anything to earn them.

You may begin to wonder what can be done with this generation. This leads me to our theme for this year’s Women’s Weekend: “Continuing and Upholding the Legacy of True Holiness.” But you may ask, how can we continue this legacy if it has been “dropped” by the current generation?

Well, the good news is that not everyone had dropped it. In the Bible, God always had a remnant that continued to hold to the principles of holiness, even while living in the midst of a wicked generation. The same holds true today. God still has a remnant and this remnant has continued to hold on.

This remnant now carries the burden and responsibility of upholding the legacy that was passed on by the previous generation. It is a difficult task to try to bring a generation which has strayed so far away, back to its foundation. Just ask Isaiah, Jeremiah or any of the other biblical prophets. The remnant must stay prayerful so they themselves won’t stray, while also interceding on behalf of the current generation – that they may return to God. Although the task seems monumental, it is something we must continue to do.

So where do we go from here? Can we really bring this generation back to Bishop Mason’s day? In truth, this may be something we never fully achieve. I don’t believe we can get this generation to give up all their technology and modern conveniences, and let’s be honest, even we wouldn’t want to do that! But what we can do is keep sounding the alarm and continue to be an example by living a holy life in front of them. We must continue to pray, fast, teach and preach the Word of God. We must also teach our generation some work ethic. For example, the next time your child says, “Can I have that new game?” you can say, “Sure, when you start keeping your room organized and after you clean out the garage.” We may not be able to leave our children material riches when we pass on, but true holiness is a legacy we can leave them – and it is one that will take them further in life and into eternity. Let us continue to uphold true holiness at any cost.