In 2005, The Mosquito was marketed in London as a device meant to keep young people from loitering. The Mosquito device emitted a frequency that was high enough that it could only be heard by people under the age of 20. For those young enough to hear the sound, it was painful enough to discourage them from lingering outside of the stores that used the device.
Since that time the device has morphed, and it is now used by teens as a way to discreetly communicate in school using sounds their older teachers cannot hear. However the Mosquito device is used, the facts remain the same. There are certain sounds that can only be heard by people of a certain age.
This same principle is true in God’s generational kingdom work. It’s easy for older people to condemn the young for their aloof and entitled attitude. In the same way it is easy for the young to condemn the old for their antiquated opinions and lack of flexibility. For those of us in the middle, we can condemn both groups—the old for being slow and obsolete, and the young for being fast and dumb.
The reality, though, is that all three groups are wrong when they focus on the shortcomings of the other group. Instead, we should learn from the mosquito ringtone and remember that God speaks to people, and even generations, in different ways. This means there is possibly a way that God is speaking that you will not be able to hear or understand because it wasn’t meant for you.
If God is truly speaking uniquely to each generation, then it changes our response. We must support and validate the work of God in those older and younger than we are. We must remember that God is moving and working generationally, and that he may have something different to communicate to different groups of people at different ages and stages all over the world.