Dusting off the ol' soap box

Good day all, I hope you've had a pleasant summer so far and an enjoyable Fourth of July celebration. I fear this will turn into a rather lengthy post so I'll just jump right in.

A few weeks ago one of the blogs I frequent regularly had an installment touching upon the idea of different generations in ministry and trying to connect them and ease the transition in leadership. On this particular post a comment was posted. Now, before I go into anything I need to make a few things clear. I am NOT attacking the person who posted the comment (I'm not linking to it for this reason). I don't know this person, I don't know their background, I don't know anything about them. Perhaps what was said was not worded as this person meant it to be, all I can go off of is what was written, so bear in mind I am responding to the ideas put forth, NOT the person. Also, I am not angry or resentful or anything like that. I am passionate about what I'm about to blog upon, but I am not mad or anything. If you do decide to read the entire post and feel I am mistaken in my comments, please feel free to let me know. Thanks.

In this commentary on this unnamed blog a lot of questions were put forth about any apparent disconnect between the older and younger generations in the church. I won't speak to them all, but there were ideas that I wanted to comment on. (and I'll take them in order) Also, my comment should be taken in the context of speaking from and to people within the christian church.

1.) First of all, in each of the questions there was an apparant younger vs older vibe, with a lot of the blame being placed at the feet of the older generation. I guess I should clarify one point, while I no longer consider myself the "younger generation" the writer of the comment is 30, so we are of the same age. I hear a lot of comments about this generation or that generation messing up. A lot of times, it's the younger crowd groaning about the ignorance of the older crowd. The funny thing is I hear a lot of complaining and little suggestions on what to do. I hear even less people talking about the mistakes they themselves have made in relation to the issue, or what they are doing themselves to help. When I used to work in the Boys and Girls Club, we worked with a lot of what would be categorized as underpriveleged kids. And the one thing I tried to teach them was, while life may be unfair at times the only thing you can control is your reaction to the situation. You can't make anyone else think or act in any particular way. All you can do is control your own thoughts and actions to the situation. The same goes here. If we as the younger generation feel as though the older generation doesn't understand us, what are we doing to help it? Are we trying to understand them? Are we taking the time to find out why they believe/think/react the way they do all the while bemoaning the fact they aren't taking the time to find out about us? Are we even giving them the opportunity? Which leads me to topic number 2...

2.) The question was raised about the difference in willingness to invest in relationships, with the younger generation being shown with an intense willingness to invest in relationships. Myspace and Facebook being used as examples of that willingness. I disagree with this reasoning on this premise... Myspace and Facebook connections are not relationships, they are acquaintances. They can certainly be used as tools within a relationship, but in and of themselves they cannot be relationships. A relationship is messy, time-consuming, even inconvenient at times. A relationship takes investment, it takes opening yourself up to being abused and rejected. While the internet is great and obviously I use it, it is not effective for true relationship. This is especially true in christian discipling. You are reading my words right now, but you have no idea what my body language is like as I convey these thoughts. You don't know if I'm weary or energized, mellow or agitated, you don't even know if I'm a guy or a girl. (Obviously, I say I'm a guy and have pics of myself on my myspace and facebook... but unless you've met me personally, you don't REALLY know if I'm being truthful.) It's too easy to hide who we are online. If you email me and it's something I just don't want to deal with, I can either lie or ignore it until a later time. For all you know, I just haven't checked my email. It's a little harder to duck the issue if you ask me in person. This is relationship. Studies are starting to prove that while people in the 20's and 30's age group have more connections to people via the web they are lonelier than ever. Why? I believe it's because we have traded relationships for acquaintances. We want everything quick and easy, and relationships are just too messy for our instant gratification society. Which now leads me to the third point...

3.) The question of whether the disconnect is because of the shorter attention span in the younger generation. The statement being made that the younger gen. has about a 7 second attention. Ok. I have to admit, this one REALLY gets me going. I am soooooooo sick of hearing that my generation has no attention span and that it gets worse the younger you go. It REALLY gets me fired up when we bring it into the church. I do have to make a few clarifications. I am NOT talking about people with attention disorders and the like. I am also not talking about how the church approaches reaching the lost, but about interactions within the Body of Christ. Society says we have no attention span, I would expect the lost to act that way, they are under the chains of the world we live in. Why should I expect anything different from them? But the ones who are free... why should we act as though we are still in bondage??? I read scripture and I don't see a 7 second God. I don't see any of the heroes of the Bible who had a 7 second relationship with God. I see effort and work and perseverance and determination. What do I see when I see a 7 second approach? I see laziness. Yup, I said it. I see the attitude that God is no more important than that food commercial. I've heard many complain about the length of service and messages on Sunday morning. More than an hour is just too much for me. Why? Do we not have the discipline to invest time seeking what God has to say to us? I don't care if it's an expository on Deuteronomy, isn't all of scripture useful for teaching and preaching? It pains me when I hear someone come out of any type of meeting where scripture was read and say "there was nothing there for me". If scripture was read, isn't there always something? Whether it be new or a reminder or whatever, the word of God does not come back void... or are we too advanced for that old document now? Relationship takes investment, effort and intentionality. It is no different with God. A 7 second attention span is simply an excuse. Those of us who are married, do we approach our spouses the same way? If so, how's that workin out for ya? That line of reasoning is the world rationalizing laziness and self-centeredness, why do we allow it to infect our lives as believers?

Finally, I think that there is one common thread with all three of these issues and I've already mentioned it. Self-centeredness. It's all about me. I don't like the generation gap, how are you gonna fix it? This is how I do things, are you gonna get with it? I want it quick and easy to fit in with my schedule and if not, then I'm out. I'm not excusing any generation for any mistakes, neither the older ones or the younger ones. What I am trying to say is that we have to get away from a me-first, society driven approach. Instead we have to say, alright "x" needs to be different, the only thing I can control is how I react. How is that going to be? How will you react? How will I?

If you actually read all of that, then kudos to you. As always if you have any comments/questions/disagreements feel free to let me know. God bless and if you think of it pray for me and my fam. Jennifer, my parents, and my brother and his wife are all going to India for 9 days. That leaves just me and Kaylee. Yeah, I'm scared too. :D