Gen Next Conference: The cries of a broken generation

James Harder

Last spring, a group of Christian organizations, from Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship to Ecumenical Campus Ministry, got together in Lethbridge, Alta. to plan a conference that would help bridge the gap between Generation X (those currently aged 10-30) and today's church. Sponsored by College Drive Community Church and First Baptist Church of Lethbridge, the conference addressed the theme "Longing for wholeness in a broken world" (Luke 4:18-19).

The conference ran Sept. 26-28 and featured Walt Mueller, founder and president of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. To understand the mindset of Generation X, Mueller reads every issue of Spin, Details, Rolling Stones and Entertainment Weekly cover to cover.

Panel of Xers

The Friday night session began with worship. Then, to give participants a firsthand taste of the issues Gen X is dealing with, a panel of four Gen Xers were asked to address the question: "What can the church do to better meet the needs of Gen X?".

At age 14, Shannon discovered that her mother was having an affair with her boyfriend. She grew up in a broken home, unsure of where to turn to get the love she longed for. By the time she was in high school, she was involved in the magical arts and considered herself a wicked or natural magician. It wasn't until her boyfriend backed out on a sexual encounter because he was a child of God that she broke down and was open to Christ's healing love. "Teach your kids about God, but also about Satan," she said. "If you don't, someone else will. Most importantly, share Christ's love."

Cliff, the last panelist of the evening, had a powerful life story. Involved with drugs since age 9, he was in prison by age 16. His life had come to revolve around crime, ending in a prison sentence. "I really felt like a leopard who couldn't change his spots," he said. "That is, until a little old lady grabbed my arm in the prison one day and dragged me into the chapel."

This "little old lady", who had no previous knowledge of Cliff, was a ministry volunteer. Over the course of the next several weeks, she visited, wrote letters and brought Cliff cookies. "She became something I never had before," Cliff explained. "She became a friend."

On the day of Cliff's release, this friend was waiting at the prison gates. "She took me to her house with a group of her friends, brought out her best china and served me dinner. She helped me see that a leopard can change with the help of someone who cares, and I thank God for that."

A lost generation

Drawing on these stories, Walt Mueller began to describe Generation X. "People have labelled you a lost generation because they judge you by the look and the exterior," he said. "We are hypocritical. . . . If this is a lost generation, it is because we have not reached out and shared Christ's love with this generation."

Mueller said that many people don't even realize that the largest unreached people group is those aged 10-30. He spoke passionately about his personal desire to hear the cries of Gen X and relay those cries to parents and youth workers struggling to understand: "Everyone of them has a story. We have to take time and listen. The mistake of the church in the West is we are doing a lot of talking."

Postmodernist background

Mueller used a seminar on Saturday to describe the postmodernist background which lies behind the empty cries of Gen Xers. Postmodernism says that "There is no absolute truth; truth is relative to the community in which we participate at any given time." If truth is seen as relative, it becomes difficult to preach a gospel which deals with absolutes. Since Gen Xers have largely embraced the postmodern worldview, it comes as no surprise that they are a "lost generation". The loneliness and desperation in today's pop songs are an accurate depiction of this generation's pain.

Mueller went on the identify four cries that he has heard when listening to Generation X:
* Relationships. "People are longing to have a relationship with someone whom they can trust and who will be there tomorrow."

* Acceptance. Shannon summed this point up well: "The wilder and stranger I looked, the more I was crying out to be loved and accepted."

* Moral Relativism. "This generation is experiencing a spiritual hunger that has never been experienced before. They are searching for Truth, but going about it by pulling bits and pieces together from all over the place."

* Hopelessness. "People have tried everything, and nothing has worked. Hearts are looking for rest and redemption."

How should the church respond to these cries? Mueller suggested three responses:
* "Be salt. We need to rub ourselves into our culture, so that through the love of Christ we can preserve life where there is potential for death and decay."

* "Be light. We need to go where there is darkness, for it is in darkness that light is needed."

* "Be sheep among wolves. Go out and represent the love of Christ in a world that is often hostile to this message."

Next

The conference came to a close Saturday night with a joint event between Gen Next and Gen X, the sister conference which was putting together a worship CD. Mueller left the audience with one final challenge: to be the hands and feet of Christ, vessels of Christ's love, reaching out and personally impacting people's lives.

James Harder

SIDEBAR

Confessions of a Gen Xer

I was born a Mennonite and have always been surrounded by Mennonites. However, in 1995, I decided to take a year off from my studies and travel. For the first time in my life, I was completely alone. The close friendships I had enjoyed within my comfortable Mennonite circle were no longer there. I had to interact with people who would not normally have come across my path. I spent 12 months walking and talking with Gen Xers in 29 countries. They had different languages, ideologies, histories and insights. Yet one thing remained constant: There were always people who were searching for the truth. But with postmodernism so widespread, how do you explain your personal belief when the slightest hint of the absolute truth found in Christianity slams doors faster than you can say "borscht"?

I have found this to be a perplexing question over the last several years, being a student at a university where I am continually faced with the postmodern view.

I became quite excited last spring when James Penner, an IVCF staff worker at Lethbridge Community College, shared with me his vision for the Gen Next conference, specifically because it would be dealing with this question. When the conference arrived, I became more intrigued and excited. Here were some of the answers I had been searching for.

Part of me had been searching for the correct theological approach to bridge the gap between Christ and the postmodernist. That is much too restrictive. The love that Christ revealed for humankind in the New Testament transcends borders, culture and time. It is this love that bridges differences. When we can't explain our faith in Christ due to inadequacy of words, the extension of Christ's love is indeed the solution.

I am still a Mennonite, but I hope I never again become confined to a Mennonite circle. There are too many people out there who are wanting to experience a touch of God's love. I used to think there were others who could bring this message of love better than I could. Now I know that He wants to use everyone that will name Him as Lord and Saviour.

James Harder

Return to the M.B.Herald Vol. 36, No. 23 Home Page