As Christians, we can do the exact same thing if we are not careful. Having taught at the college level, I often come across students that will proudly tell me that their father or grandfather was a pastor of a church back at home, yet when I ask them about their faith, they no longer believe or have become complacent
in their faith. They no longer attend the church; they no longer are interested in their faith or the things of God. The results are clear – the church no longer has enough willing members to do the ministries of the church. The church no longer can run the bus ministry to bring children and people to and from church that do not have any transportation otherwise. The nursery no longer has volunteers to give nursery services for parents of young children who otherwise would not be able to take part in the worship services out of fear of disturbing others. Vacation Bible School is sacrificed since there is not enough workers to plan and offer this valuable ministry. One by one, every outreach ministry the church once offered is soon ended because there is not enough workers. The church has now begun to enter its last stages of life.
There were some real consequences because of not teaching the younger generation
During the time of the Judges, Israel had reached a point in its history where it seemed that God was nowhere to be found. The prophet Samuel is believed to have written the book of Judges and wrote as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit: 
And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side: Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel (Judges 8:34-35). Chronologically, the children of Israel in this passage are about sixty to eighty years after the exodus from Egypt – the great-grandchildren of those who were brought out! Think of our churches today and we see the exact same pattern emerging – the great-grandchildren and grandchildren are no longer faithful in their worship and service of God. For the most part, our churches are no longer filled with multiple generations of families – in the case of our church, there seems to be an average of two generations of any family. Rarely do you see the adult children – the third generation – attending church once they have moved out of the family home. Something is happening and they are not being taught about the things of God. Some even become bitter and resent their “churched” upbringing, even to the extent of shaking their fists at God. And… [they] remembered not the Lord their God…
Again the prophet Jeremiah was led by the Holy Spirit to pen the words, A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God (Jeremiah 3:21); they will come to a point in their lives where they will realize they need more, that they are spiritually empty and dead, and they will not understand why God – the one that listened to their grandparents – now seems not to hear the prayers of their family. Through the prophet Isaiah, God warned the children of Israel of the consequences that await our children when
we do not teach them the things of God: Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow (Isaiah 17:10-11). Even the psalmist David gave a dire warning to those that forget God: The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalms 9:17). We are condemning our children to a Godless eternity of judgment when we neglect to teach them the things of God. God even gave the children of Israel a warning within the writings of Moses: Say unto them, Whosoever he be of all your seed among your generations, that goeth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from my presence: I am the LORD (Leviticus 22:3). Regardless of our faithfulness, each generation can choose to forsake the blessings of God and choose to stay in their sins. Even the apostle Paul wrote understood the precious relationship that Christians have with the Lord Jesus Christ: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (I John 1:7).
As we approach a new year, let us be mindful of the grace that God has given each of us. Let us also remember to do as we have been called to do through the psalmist, David: I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments (Psalms 78:2-7). I know for myself, this is my sincerest desire as a parent that I teach my three-year old daughter, from this point forward, the things that she must know and understand about my savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
