There's an old expression, "shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations". This is an American form of a Lancashire proverb, “there’s nobbut three generations atween a clog and clog.” Our changing fashion sense may have rendered this old proverb less meaningful in the day of business casual and casual casual (even the CEO is called "dude" and "buddy" and everyone goes by his first name).
So, what does it mean?
The expression captures the waxing and waning of family wealth, the hardworking grandfather who rises from working class drudgery (i.e., wearing working class shirtsleeves) to leave a successful enterprise to his son, who squanders it (after all, the son had it handed to him and did not know the toil and sacrifice of the grandfather). By the time the grandson comes along, they are back to the working class (or shirtsleeves by the third generation). The Scottish render this proverb as "The father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells, and his son begs."
Like all proverbs, this is not necessarily an ironclad rule so much as it is an observation. It happens, but it does not ALWAYS happen. Beyond the world of work, are there lessons this proverb can yield for the American church?
Barna (and others) often report on church-raised kids who wander from the faith. Why? And perhaps the more salient question is, if this is undersirable, how can we as parents prevent it?
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