By all reports, Ray and Jani Ortlund are really nice people. Who’d have thought they had a secret vision to take over the world? Their secret is out now in the form of a book: To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future. In it, the Ortlunds give their plan for world domination. But they don’t call for domination in a worldly way, using methods of modern kingdoms. Instead, they present a plan to reach the world for Jesus through godly families over the long haul. It’s a beautiful vision.
You may be thinking, Another book about raising godly families? So what? And that’s understandable. In my quick survey from Goodreads alone, I counted 128 of them. Many are helpful and contain wise counsel. So hasn’t everything been said that needs to be said?
No. This book shows us why with surprising and garden-fresh takes on God’s big picture. The Ortlunds call it “generational devotion to Christ” (ix).
It’s the idea that if we raise faithful generations of godly families “unto the 10th generation,” we can see worldwide effects for the cause of Jesus. Hence the book’s title. This thought springs from Jani’s devotional reading of Deuteronomy (no less). She and Ray argue that God desires to bless individual families well beyond the typical myopic focus of two generations—parents and their children.
To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future
Ray and Jani Ortlund
To the Tenth Generation: God’s Heart for Your Family, Far into the Future
Ray and Jani Ortlund
In the midst of family life, most days are too busy to think far into the future. Then once the children are grown, family life can feel like mostly memories, often tinged with regrets. And the future? More worries and fears, laden with unknowns.
But you and your family right now, whatever your ages, whatever you’re facing, are living within a much larger story than you might realize. Your faithful efforts today matter. They are how God himself shapes the future. His heart can create in your home a culture of faith that will strengthen your family To the Tenth Generation.
Biblical Vision
Jani, an author and conference speaker, points out after some quick, unscientific math that 10 generations would be approximately 200 years. In that time frame, taking the natural growth of their own family as an example, they’ll have 55,000 descendants—equivalent to “a city the size of Sarasota, Florida” (12).
Ray, president of Renewal Ministries and a canon theologian in the Anglican Church in North America, joins his wife to pray an audacious prayer: that “the whole world will hear about Jesus through [their] family.” They go on to say, “We’re not asking God for an ideal family. . . . We’re just asking him for a saved family” (13, emphasis original).
What a refreshing take on family and missions. It’s nothing new; family and missions have long been rooted in God’s plan to bless the peoples of the world throughout biblical history. Yet it’s a countercultural perspective.
And it’s a selfless perspective. I’ve never thought much past five generations: grandparents, parents, my generation, children, and grandchildren. But the expansive view of 10 generations is a call to serve those you’ll never meet: for example, your great-great-grandchildren. This big vision is captivating. Yet the authors make few promises about what will happen.
I approached this book with some trepidation. Books on child-rearing remind me of diet books: promises of success, strict regimens, and dramatic anecdotes, but in the end? Mixed results. In contrast, the Ortlunds’ recommendations for child-rearing are the ordinary means of grace and godly wisdom, bounded by Scripture.
Consistent Vision
A few things set this book apart and put it at the top of my child-rearing book list.
The Ortlunds’ recommendations for child-rearing are the ordinary means of grace and godly wisdom, bounded by Scripture.
The book is an easy read. It’s peppered with pithy quotes from others (beyond the obligatory quotes from C. S. Lewis). But some of the most memorable lines come from the authors. For example, they write, “Nominal Christianity would be a curse to our children. But a real, rugged faith in Christ is a blessing to our children” (150). Amen to that.
Much of what’s good in this book is expected, but it’s presented with captivating sparkle. They include a chapter on the importance of a strong marriage, for example. Yet such calls bear repeating in our day. And though the book advocates a big-picture view of family, it’s also chock-full of down-to-earth, practical ideas for raising a godly family. Comments from their grown children give credibility to their advice—the Ortlunds practiced what they preach.
Unique Vision
Unlike many Christian books on parenting that focus only on the nuclear family, the Ortlunds include wisdom about making church central to child-rearing. It’s beyond a mere “go to church.” They provide clear help on what kind of church you should attend: a humble, gospel-centered, healthy church that feels like family.
They offer advice about creating a gospel culture in the home: “A truly Christian family is one in which the gospel culture they share makes it almost feel like Jesus lives there too” (50). That requires treasuring God’s Word and treasuring one another.
I often feel alone in making my way with my seven grandchildren without much published wisdom from others. Thankfully, the Ortlunds have a chapter for grandparents, and the prayers they write for a grandparent’s family are priceless. Those made it into my prayer journal.
The Ortlunds offer grace and encouragement to those who feel their families are failures. This section is so good, and they write with such tenderness. I wondered why it was tucked away in the book’s second-to-last chapter, but perhaps the lesson here is to read the whole book.
The book concludes with 10 biblical insights that form an expanded summary of the book. My English teacher was a stickler that “conclusions must conclude”—the Ortlunds didn’t have my English teacher. These insights contain new material, so don’t skip the conclusion because you think it’s only a summary.
Renewing Vision
As I read the book, I couldn’t help feeling it wasn’t for everyone. It won’t be relevant for some: The single mom struggling to get by while holding down a job and trying to raise her kids. A family with a member struggling with addiction. Or, in a more extreme example, the refugee family living in a tent who attended the church I pastored in Iraq.
They offer grace and encouragement to those who feel their families are failures.
Yet two things came to mind as I read. First, the Ortlunds never claim this is a book for everyone; they regularly say, in effect, “You don’t have to do it our way.” Their focus is on intact Christian families with humble parents who have an abiding faith in our risen Lord. And good for them—the world sometimes derides those who aspire to raise godly families with traditional structures. Second, throughout the book, the Ortlunds maintain a biblical vision rooted in Scripture that’s applicable, in principle, even to refugees living in tents. Does it take some contextualization? Sure, but the wisdom is relevant.
To the Tenth Generation is a book for those who long to strengthen Christian families, including their own. It’s worthy of being front and center in your family library. Will their vision win the world for Jesus? Maybe. But we should never forget Psalm 110. One day, God the Father will give to his beloved Son, Jesus, the world for his footstool.