A Quick History Lesson
When cultural change first shook the "builder" generation their kids were pretty young. Korea was over and Vietnam was on the horizon, few parents could have seen the impact of the 1960's that loomed over their youngsters. But as the kids grew, a seismic rift was tearing away at the cultural underbelly and soon all those lovely children were, "tuning in, turning on, and dropping out!" The hippie rebellion was on and their target was anything that smacked of authority, institution, and establishment. Many parents reacted in a variety of ways and while there was general upheaval (and abandonment on both sides) the Church didn't seem to notice too much and instead chose to focus inwardly (or more rightly stated...stuck their head in the sand).Although it seemed an eternity to those builder parents who remained faithful the hippies changed into "yuppies" and eventually returned to a "dressed up" version of "Contemporary or Seeker Church" (if you want to call putting lipstick on a pig dressed up)--driven by a shift in worship music and consumerism but keeping all the same traditional structures in place. After all, even hippies/yuppies who rebelled wanted their own children to grow up in Church...and so they did...they not only grew up in Church but the Church basically raised them---there were so many programs that the "Gen Xers" or "Busters" were inundated with either the busy life of Church every day (Church basketball, your rally, Church soccer league, Church camp, etc...) which soon became stale and tiresome OR they were left to their own devices and quickly discovered the raw reality of the "grunge"/"slacker" world...as Kurt Cobain coined, "I feel useless and contagious, here we are now, entertain us!" The lipstick on the pig was quickly wearing off. Soon those restless, raw, bored kids became adults, and their parents assumed that they would eventually "wander back into the fold" in the same way that they had. But they didn't.
They didn't because the changes that took place in the Church did not reflect the cultural tsunami of the first generation that was spoon-fed postmodernism. A healthy dose of postmodernity at breakfast each morning had completely desensitized those of us who found ourselves on the fringe who fit the "Gen X" profile...and now it is too late...the Church has lost the Gen X generation---they are adults with kids of their own who are more secular than previous generations, who have seen what "religion" has done to their families (even the good ones), and they have been negatively impacted by "church" so they won't be darkening the doors anytime soon. Those of us who have "stuck it out" are desperate for change...not for our sake (it is too late for us)...but for OUR children.
Technology will continue to drive cultural change...it refuses to abate...what should the Church do? What can the Church do? What would God have us do? There may be only one thing too big for God to handle...ourselves.
MOVING ON...
Statistics say that the "Millennials" are the largest generation yet (even outdoing the now retiring baby boomers) and while some advances have been made to address the underlying paradigm shift in our world--they are coming too slowly, and some are headed in the WRONG direction.How many more generations are disposable? How many families must suffer the loss of faith and spirituality because we keep doing it wrong!?!? How long can we hide from a culture that is setting the standard when Jesus says BELIEVERS ought to be setting the standard...by being servants...and servants NEVER get what they want (or have it their way) because to be a servant is to give up control.
I struggle to pray these days...but sometimes I can't help myself...I don't have any other avenues so I can do no other. But when I do...I try to look beyond myself, the hurt of being disposable, the struggle for my own significance (as if anyone will remember), and I pray for God's people to FINALLY start to act like God's people...and IF that happens...I pray the world will notice.
I believe...help me in my unbelief.
