Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

Reaching the Next Generation (Part 3)

Millennial3

This post is a third post in a three part series on identifying who the next generation is and how the church is to reach them.

In order for the church to reconnect to the next generation, Kinnaman says the church will have to rethink relationships, rediscover vocation, and reprioritize wisdom.[1] Kinnaman says that the church must (1) Cast out fear by discerning the times and embracing the risks of cultural engagement (2) Leave shallow faith behind by apprenticing young people in the fine art

of following Christ (3) Respond to today’s scientific culture by stewarding young people’s gifts and intellect (4) Live by a sexual ethic that rejects traditionalist and individualist narratives of sex (5) Demonstrate the exclusive nature of Christ by rekindling empathy for the other (6) Faithfully work through doubts by doing acts of service with and for others.[2]

To change the perception the church currently has from being un-Christian to Christian, Kinnaman and Lyons say the church must (1) Respond with the right perspective (2) Connect with people (3) Be creative (4) Serve people.[3]

The next generation craves community, depth, responsibility, and connection.[4] The churches that are meeting these needs are (1) Creating deeper community (2) Making a difference through service (3) Experiencing worship (4) Conversing the content (5) Leveraging technology (6) Building cross-generational relationships (7) Moving toward authenticity (8) Leading by transparency (9) Leading by team.[5]

To counter the prevailing Moralistic Therapeutic Deism that is running rampant in the church house today, churches must use the tools they have for “cultivating consequential faith.”[6]

Dean identifies these practices as translation, testimony, and detachment.[7] Rainer states that the “typical Millennial” wants a connected family, wants parental involvement, are diverse, believe they can make an impact on the future, are not workaholics, want a mentor, are green but not that green, communicate unlike any other generation, are financially confused, and are not religious.[8]

In order to reach these Millennials and the unchurched today, Schultz says that church practice must return to (1) Radical hospitality (2) Fearless conversation (3) Genuine humility (4) Divine anticipation.[9] To change the outsider’s perception of Jesus and His Church, Christ-followers need to act in grace and speak the truth in love. The church must embody service, compassion, humility, forgiveness, patience, kindness, peace, joy, goodness, and love.

Not all news is gloom and doom for the church’s next generation. “Lots of information abounds on young people leaving the church. But not all leave; many stay, thrive, and are impacting the world for Christ.”[10] Dr. Alvin Reid has identified some ways that the church can reach and keep the next generation (1) Befriend and mentor someone of the next generation (2) Take students out of the Christian subculture to develop skills and knowledge for interacting with the real world (3) Help students to think and live missional lives now (4) Help young people see how the Bible relates to their career (5) Help students own their faith and see faith lived out in the real world so that they can beyond a check-list Christianity to a lifestyle of following Jesus that matters.[11]

Though a new Pew Research survey found that the self-identified Christian share of the population declined almost 8% from 2007-2014, Evangelicals should not be alarmed. In a USA Today news article, Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of LifeWay Research, states that Christianity is not collapsing but is rather being clarified. Stetzer says that the church is not dying but is being more clearly defined and that churches are not emptying because evangelicals are attending church more than ever before. Stetzer asserts his belief because Pew Research does show that evangelicals in America have risen from 59.8 to 62.2 million in population over the past seven years and that those who self-identify as born-again have also risen from 34% to 35%. Stetzer says that “convictional Christianity” will continue.

Simply put, committed Christians who “value their faith enough to wake up on Sunday morning and head to their local church are mostly still going.” It is the nominal Christian­–people whose religious affiliation is in name only-who are becoming “nones” leading to the shrinking of Christianity in America. Though “Nones” have increased from 16%-23% of the total population over the past seven years, this increase is found to have come mostly from Catholics and Mainline Protestants.[12]

[1] Kinnaman, You Lost Me, 202-212.

[2] Ibid, 205-206.

[3] Kinnaman and Lyons, UnChristian, 206-12.

[4] Stetzer, Stanley, and Hayes, Lost and Found, 67-68.

[5] Ibid, 143-44.

[6] Dean, Almost Christian, 106.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Rainer, The Millennials, 30-48.

[9] Schultz, Why Nobody Goes to Church Anymore, 68.

[10] Reid, Blog, “Thursday is for Training: Keeping the Next Gen in Church,” March 12, 2015.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Stetzer, USA Today, “Survey Fail: Christianity isn’t Dying,” May 14, 2015.

Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

Reaching the Next Generation (Part 2)

Millennial2

This post is the second post in a three part series on identifying who the next generation is and how the church is to reach them.

In describing the religiously unaffiliated, James Emery White prefers to use the term “none.”[1] White claims that a snapshot or portrait of the average none shows that a none is (1)

Male (2) Young (3) White (4) Not necessarily an atheist (5) Not very religious (6) A Democrat (7) In favor of abortion and same-gender marriage being legal (8) Liberal or moderate (9) Not necessarily hostile toward religious institutions (10) Most likely a westerner.[2] According to Pew Research, the percentage of nones rose from 5 to 15% from 1940 to 1990 but exploded from 21 to 34 % between the years of 2008 and 2012.”[3] White believes this marked difference is due to the secularization, privatization, and pluralization of the modern world.[4]

Why is it that the next generation is shying away from church in larger numbers than years past? The unchurched offer many reasons as to why they avoid church. The unchurched claim church is boring (15%), they are not sure why they do not attend (13%), or that they are too busy (11%).[5] The unchurched perceive church people to be anti-homosexual (91%), judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), old-fashion (78%), too involved in politics (75%), and out of touch with reality (72%).[6]

In You Lost Me, Kinnman says that the disconnect with the church that the unchurched experiences is due to the fact that the unchurched perceive the church to be overprotective, shallow, anti-science, repressive, exclusive, and doubtless.[7] “The younger unchurched believe the church is too critical about lifestyle issues, full of hypocrites, and not necessary for spiritual development.”[8] Church refugees also claim they dropped out of church because they wanted a break, they moved to college, or they did not feel connected to the people in their church.[9]

Finally, other reasons given for not attending church come from those who say they do not want another lecture or that God is irrelevant in their life.[10] Katie Galli speaks for many younger adults when she says, “We’re especially disillusioned with the church.

Somewhere between the Crusades, the Inquisition, and fundamentalists bombing abortion clinics, we lost our appetite for institutionalized Christianity.”[11]

The first step for any church that is even mildly interested in next generation ministry is to identify who the next generation is. The second step is to seek to understand what appeals or methods are best utilized for successfully reaching the next generation. Gabe Lyons believes that the next Christians will be (1) Provoked, not offended (2) Creators, not critics (3) Called, not employed (4) Grounded, not distracted (5) In community, not alone (6) Civil, not divisive (7) Countercultural, not relevant.[12]

The idea that Lyons presents concerning the next Christians is one of restoring the culture and the cosmos. The idea of creation restoration is appealing to the next generation not only because they are taken up with social issues but because creation restoration explains in a fuller sense the intent and scope of the gospel and the kingdom of God.

But before the next generation can be creation restorers as God originally intended them to be, they must first be Christians. And in order for one to have his or her soul restored, he or she needs a Christ-follower to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with him or her. The church calls this event and process evangelism.

Unfortunately, White says that the church is avoiding these spiritual conversations thus figuratively closing their front door.[13] “Evangelism is fine in theory but not in practice.”[14] This amounts to the church saying we want the unchurched in heaven but we act like they can go to hell.[15] White claims that a church’s evangelism approach to reach the unchurched must be like an incubator: “Every approach, every program, every service furnishes a particular environment that will either serve the evangelistic process or hinder it.”[16] In reaching the next generation, White also believes the church must offer a cause, be full of grace and truth, establish a new apologetic, be unified, invite the unchurched to church, and renew their own commitment to church.[17]

[1] White, The Rise of the Nones, 13.

[2] Ibid, 22-23.

[3] Pew Research, “Nones on the Rise.”

[4] White, The Rise of the Nones, 45-46.

[5] Ibid, 53.

[6] Kinnaman and Lyons, UnChristian, 34.

[7] Kinnaman, You Lost Me, 92-93.

[8] Stetzer, Stanley, and Hayes, Lost and Found, 65.

[9] Rainer, Essential Church, 3.

[10] Schultz, Why Nobody Goes to Church Anymore, 23-27.

[11] Galli, “Dear Disillusioned Generation,” Christianity Today, April 21, 2008.

[12] Lyons, The Next Christians, 67.

[13] White, The Rise of the Nones, 84

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid, 93.

[17] Ibid, 99-165

 

Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

Reaching the Next Generation (Part 1)

Millennial1

If you hang around long me enough, you will hear me say, “to reach the next generation, you must know who the next generation is.” This task is easier said than done.

The next generation, also known as Generation Z, the iGeneration, or the Centennials is a complex group that can be divided and appropriated into various subheadings. As it pertains to church attendance, the next generation can be classified into the unchurched, de-churched, re-churched, never churched, or found faithful to attend church.

In their book UnChristian, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons claim that unbelievers are a set that “includes atheists, agnostics, those affiliated with a faith other than Christianity (such as Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Mormonism, and so on), and other unchurched adults who are not born-again Christians.”[1]

Lifeway’s research concludes that “more than two-thirds of young churchgoing adults in America drop out of church between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. Thom Rainer in Essential Church says, “the church is losing this generational battle on two fronts: (1) An increasing amount of young people are deciding to live according to a secular mindset, thus dropping out of church and not returning to church as previous generations did (2) An increasing amount of young people are deciding to drop out of church and not claim the Christian faith of their parents or their grandparents.” [2]

Kinnaman categorizes generational dropouts into three groups: (1) Nomads (2) Prodigals (3) Exiles.[3] Kinnaman describes nomads as those who walk away from church engagement but still consider themselves Christian. Prodigals are those who lose their faith, describing themselves as “no longer Christian.” Exiles are still involved in their Christian faith but feel stuck or lost between culture and the church.

What possible explanation exists for why so many young people are leaving the church today? Perhaps it is because the church has presented the next generation a false gospel. In Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling The American Church (written by Kenda Dean), Christian Smith and Melinda Denton are given credit through their National Study of Youth and Religion (NYSR) in stating that Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is “colonizing many historical religious traditions and, almost without anyone noticing, converting believers in the old faiths to its alternative religious vision of divinely underwritten personal happiness and interpersonal niceness.”[4]

Smith and Denton conclude that “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is supplanting Christianity as the dominant religion in the United States.”[5] If this takeover is happening, what are the guiding beliefs to this new religion? Dean lists these beliefs in five summary statements: (1) A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over life (2) God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and by most world religions (3) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself (4) God is not involved in my life except when I need God to resolve a problem (5) Good people go to heaven when they die.[6]

To follow up on groundbreaking research released in SoulSearching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Teenagers, Smith wrote Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults revealing that 18-24 year-olds comprise six religious types; (1) Committed Traditionalists – no more than 15% (2) Selective Adherents – perhaps 30% (3) Spiritually Open – about 15% (4) Religious Indifferent – at least 25% (5) Religiously Disconnected – no more than 5%, and (6) Irreligious – no more than 10%.  These findings show that 40% of all “emerging adults” (meaning prolonged adulthood) are clearly distanced from religion. Practically speaking, adults are not coming back to church once they marry and have kids  like they once did.

Believe it or not, I am only scratching the surface of who the next generation is and how the church can reach them. This is why I am making this post into a three part series.

[1] Kinnaman and Lyons, UnChristian, 17.

[2] Rainer, Essential Church, 8.

[3] Ibid, 25.

[4] Dean, Almost Christian, 14.

[5] Ibid.

 [6] Ibid.

Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

Down, Set, NGM NGM, Hut

orange football

My favorite time of the season is just around the corner.  I am not talking about the seasons of fall, winter, spring, or summer.  I am talking about football season!  I travel to nearly all home and away local high school football games on Friday nights and love to watch college football games on Saturday.  I am not as big a fan of the NFL as I am the NCAA game, but I do like to watch the NFL come playoff time.

Though I never played a down of organized football, I played in the roughest and toughest league around.  On various weekdays after school and weekends, my neighborhood teenage friends and I would assemble a game of tackle football.  We would play come rain, wind, or snow.  Our playing surface was a back yard with all of the rocks included.  We did not have helmets to put on and we sure did not use pads.  We became familiar with the ground.  Scrapes and scratches were just a normal part of the routine.  When tackling, we would sling each other around, often going in circles, until one or both players fell down.  Age divisions did not exist.  High school students could toss the middle school students around and middle school students could gang up on a high school student in an attempt to bring the big behemoth down.

Having watched hours of football games and having played hours more of real football and football video games, I have become an expert in understanding the inner workings of the game.  Although watching giants knock the breath out of each is other is appeasing to the eye, what I have really to come to enjoy about football is the strategy employed by coaches.  A team with less talent, less strength, less speed can still win football games if they have the right strategy in place and if their coaches teach proper technique.  As unorthodox as it may sound, football is really just a chess match using people in the place of a pawns.

Strategy is important in ministry too.  If you are a ministry leader and you are not obtaining the spiritual results you desire, you may be in need of adopting a new strategy.  Typically, a lack of effort by ministry leaders is not the problem.  A lack of prayer is another matter, but even with substantial prayer, a weak strategy can produce weak results.  Take the veer offense, for example, in football.  You can pray three times a day to score more points on the field on a Friday night, but chances are that once the game is over, the score on the scoreboard is going to look the same.  Why?  Because the veer, used in the 1970s, has a hard time of keeping pace with the high speed, no huddle offenses used today.  There are always exceptions to the rule, but generally speaking, your strategy determines your score.  And your score determines your wins and losses.

I would agree with Thom Rainer in Transformational Church that churches often measure success by the wrong scorecard (bodies, budgets, and buildings).  But I would also suggest that churches measuring success with the right scorecard (read Rainer’s book) are often stuck with weak results because they are using the wrong strategy.  To reach the next generation, church leaders must begin to meet together to discuss the best strategy for this all-important task.  Since the next generation is not coming to church, the church must find ways to GO to the next generation (Matt. 28:19-20).  I would advise the evangelistic method or technique (since I am writing about football) called servanthood evangelism embraced and taught by ministry coach Steven Sjoren (he’s really a pastor).

James Emery White chronicles how evangelism is now both a process and an event in his book The Rise of the Nones.  White declares that the typical unchurched person is no longer simply unchurched, but more than likely is a “none”, meaning that person is unaffiliated with any religion.  Churches and church leaders must be innovative in strategy and patient in work as they help a generation who claims to believe in nothing.  It is not that the next generation will not go to church or will not believe in Christ as Savior.  It is just this process of becoming a church member or even considering the claims of Christ often takes longer today.

Let me option back to football for a moment.  National attitudes about youth participation in football are evolving.  A study conducted in July came out of the University of Massachusetts finding that four out of five parents expressed the opinion that children under the age of fourteen should not play tackle football.  Many rule changes have been adopted by football legislative bodies to make the game safer at all levels.

As a football traditionalist, I do not like all of the rule changes and I think that in some ways the legislative bodies have crossed the line and ruined the game in certain aspects.  But I also have to admit that football is a safer sport and that this is good news overall.

Now, I am going to throw it back to NGM.  It pains me to see the changing spiritual landscape of our great nation.  I would desire that the next generation were already familiar with the Bible’s content and the man named Jesus.  However, 42 BLUE, 42 BLUE – if the sport of football can change for the better, I do not see why churches cannot do the same.  We have the best news in the form of the gospel and we have to find the best and safest way to hand the gospel off to the next generation.  My strategy of choice is NGM!  Let’s circle up and call the right play, BREAK!

 

Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

Scorpions and NGM, oh My!

I live in the country and am surrounded by trees.  I see all kind of critters.  At times, I observe beautiful animals at work in nature that are rarely seen by others such as woodpeckers, finches, red foxes, and chipmunks.  At other times, I encounter hideous animals which I wish had not crossed my path.  For example, a large oak tree stands next to my back porch.  This tree has a dark hole in it whereby I can stand on my back porch and shine a flashlight down into the hole to see what has crawled inside.  Over the past two years, the hole has been occupied by a rat snake, a possum (which jumped out at me), hornets, and creature(s) you will discover below.

Seeing the best and the worst just comes with the territory.  What I am about to tell you next is the worst and reads like a horror story.  A few nights ago, I was walking in my bare feet in my house with the lights off around midnight when I nearly stepped on a scorpion (think tail up and pinchers out).  As you can tell from the above excerpt, this sighting comes as no surprise.  I knew what needed to be done.  I immediately went to access my pocket knife so that I could divide the scorpion into two.  What happened next, however, is something that I would not have predicted.  Think about the movie Alien (or Tremors) with the little mouth (or worms) coming out of the alien’s (or tremor’s) big mouth or what happens to Gremlins once they touch water.

scorpion

Scorpion babies are born alive and not hatched from eggs like insects (sometimes, mother scorpions even eat their babies).  Once I pressed my knife blade on the back of the queen scorpion, seven baby scorpions jumped out and scattered going in all directions. Now, it was incumbent upon me to save my feet and at the same time track down and kill eight scorpions.  The beast had multiplied in front of my eyes.  To make a long story short, my precious feet were not harmed and I won the crusade by massacring the scorpion empire.  But you may be asking yourself at this point, “what does this horror story have to do with next generation ministry (NGM)?”

Before I give you the “what” answer, you need to understand that any ministry or desired ministry outcomes that you have must start with the question, “Why?” I learned this “what’s your why” principle from next generation guru Dr. Jeff Lovingood, author of Make it Last.  Likewise, Simon Sinek, who wrote Start with Why, says “the why” provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be lead, and people can be inspired.  “The why” has nothing to do with money or making a profit.

The purpose or “the why” of NGM is to make disciples (Matt. 28:19-20).  Dr. Aubrey Malphurs has correctly stated that a Christian is a disciple.  Jesus expects disciples to grow in their faith from the moment they become his follower.  Next generation ministry is a discipleship process whereby students from the cradle through college worship, study, and serve together as they transition from one life stage to the next.

NGM produces a unity and cohesiveness between age-graded groups.  Overlap occurs in and between preschool, children, youth, and collegiate ministries making the discipleship strategy a team approach.  Since no age group or ministry is left out or considered less than another, disciples are made.  NGM is about multiplying disciples, not dividing ministries.  Students who have been discipled then develop into adults who marry and multiply in the form of Christian families, beginning the discipleship process all over again in next generation ministry, this time with their babies.

Unlike the horror story I shared, the gospel represents a beautiful awe-inspiring redemptive story.  Multiplication is a theme in both stories, but multiplying disciples, not scorpions, is what Jesus has commanded his followers to do.  NGM is a strategy used to accomplish the end-goal of making disciples.

Categories
Leadership Next Generation Ministry

Possible Pitfalls in NGM

pitfalls

The strengths of the next generation ministry (NGM) model are many. I do not just promote NGM because I have studied it.  I promote NGM because I do it and because I believe in it!

There are other ministry models that are worthwhile.  I have much respect for various family ministry models, particularly Timothy Paul Jones “family-equipping” ministry model.  I have dabbled some in the “intergenerational ministry” model espoused by Holly Allen and Christine Ross and Genonministries.org.   I would prefer any of the above mentioned ministry models over traditional children and youth ministry models.

But to be an honest salesman, I need to warn you that NGM is not all peaches and cream.  I need to help you take off any glasses with rose-colored lenses you may be eying NGM through in order to warn you of possible pitfalls.

If left unguarded, NGM can divide a church.  Constant care, attention, and supervision of NGM must be supplied by Next generation leaders.  Words matter.  NGM must always be viewed in the context of the whole church.  The vision of NGM begins and end with a church’s pastor. Though he is not the Next Generation Pastor, he must fully back NGM and promote its value to the congregation.

Next Generation leaders must then be careful not to ostracize any church members from other generations.  Generations nor generational ministries are to be compared to as better or worse than each other.  A senior adult ministry is just as valuable to the church as next generation ministry is.

As a next generation ministry practitioner and pastor in a small rural church context, I email my next generation parents and leaders every week, but my email goes to the entire church.  When next generation events are held, I make sure that everyone in the church knows they are invited and encouraged to attend.

The church is a community.  In the past, various age-graded ministries within what I now call NGM acted as silos and operated unto themselves.  NGM must be just as careful not to isolate itself (though more unified than traditional ministry models) of making the same mistake by separating or distancing itself (birth through young adult) from or against the rest of the church (middle-aged adult and up).  If this happens, a church will still be divided, though the fractions be less (1/2 as compared to 1/4 or 1/5).

In large churches or megachurches, next generation ministry can pose problems if the Next Generation Pastor is not able to work hip to hip with the church’s Discipleship or Adult Education Pastor.  The relationship between these staff members must be a marriage of cooperation and service.

No matter the size of the church, NGM, like any ministry model, will suffer if leaders are not held accountable.  Next generation leaders must be faithful to lead their age-graded ministries and or small groups (life groups, transformation groups, mission groups, etc.).  Next generation leaders who do not show up can stifle the ministry and make life hard on the Next Generation Pastor.

In my small church context, I “float” in between next generation student groups to check up on next generation leaders and or to help when needed.  If one of my leaders do not show up, I can no longer float because I am then required to teach.  In a small church, a Next Generation Pastor is a floater who oversees volunteer preschool, children, and student leaders.

 

 

Categories
Great Commission Next Generation Ministry

What color is NGM?

 

orange

Reggie Joiner, founder of the reThink group and Co-author of Playing for Keeps/Losing your Marbles, has noted how church, represented by the color yellow and family, represented by the color red combine their influences to make the color orange.  The light of the Lord (yellow) and the love of the home (red) “collide” to make an influence that is greater (orange) than either unit operating in and of itself.

Some studies suggest that anywhere from 70-80% of students raised in church drop out of church after high school graduation, with many to walk away from their faith altogether, never to return.  Joiner calls for new strategies to be developed within this church/family partnership paradigm so that young people continue to attend church as they enter college and adulthood.

I believe the comprehensive strategy that Joiner is calling for is Next Generation Ministry (NGM).  NGM encourages the next generation to worship, study, and serve together as they transition from one life group to another.  Joiner emphasizes that once a child is born, a parent has 936 weeks with his or her child until he or she graduates from high school and moves onto college or young adulthood.  In contrast, next generation ministry leaders (pre-school, children, youth) only get 52 weeks (36-40 weeks if you take out holidays, sick days, vacation days, sports, etc.) to influence a toddler, a child, or a teenager for Christ.

In any given year, a parent or guardian has 3000 hours to teach their child the ways of the Lord whereas next generation leaders are given an average of 40 hours at church.  Well-documented research by social scientists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton have taught ministry leaders that parents are the primary disciplemakers of their children.  Long before this groundbreaking research was completed, however, God gave families this time-tested directive in Deuteronomy 6:4-9.  Parents were to have faith talks with their children when the child awoke, at their house (breakfast/dinner table, etc.), on the way (to and from school, etc.), and when the child went to sleep.

Psalm 78:1-8 adds that parents were to tell the next generation of God’s commandments and glorious deeds.  There is a faith legacy or torch that needs to be passed down to the next generation and grandparents are often involved in this faith process (2 Tim 1:3-7).

Often included within next generation ministry are milestones, phases, or rite of passage ceremonies.  Milestones can play out differently depending on church context and philosophy. Rather than give you a full myriad of options, I have chosen to list just one faith journey that churches and families can walk together on.  Brian Haynes in his book Shift details seven rite of passage events that the church should partner with the family to celebrate as a student develops through his or her life stages;  (1) The Birth of a Baby (2) Faith Commitment (3) Preparing for Adolescence (4) Commitment to Purity (5) Passage to Adulthood (6) High School Graduation, and (7) Life in Christ.

Next generation ministry encompasses smooth transitions as handoffs are made when a preschooler moves into children’s ministry, a child moves into student ministry, or a teenager moves into a church’s collegiate/young adult ministry.  Rite of passage ceremonies come naturally and assist the discipleship process.  In next generation ministry, a “student” is a baby, child, or a teen.  Next generation leaders work hand in hand with parents and guardians to make disciples of students (Matt. 28:19-20).

 

Categories
Prophecy

It’s 1984 All Over Again

1984

Shane Hipps in his book Flickering Pixels and Craig Detweiler in his book iGods have done a masterful job in wedding the concepts of technology and culture together.  Hicks promotes the idea that people should possess a theology of technology and Detweiler claims technology has become our God in the form of technological gadgets, symbols, and images (Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc.).

I could not agree more.  Whereas we humans used to control technology, now it is controlling us.  We beckon to its every call (texts, social media, email, etc.).  Just hear the sound of the bell, and there we go running like rats to retrieve our devices.  The internet has become the all-seeing eye.  There are now men who are required to answer their work cell phone that the company gives them 24/7 (what happened to family time).  It’s man vs. machine and I fear we are losing the battle.  McDonald’s already has produced a machine that can make 4000 hamburgers in an hour (oops, there goes our jobs).  And Lord knows what would happen to our businesses and banks if all computers crashed and data could not be recovered.

We should have known this was coming.  It was prophesied (don’t take me literally) in two other books written before the 1950’s.  Hicks writes, “George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World . . . are prophetic visions of societies overtaken by technological power.  Orwell’s novel introduces us to the all-seeing, always-watching “Big Brother” and warns of a dark future where conformity is guaranteed by invasive and controlling technology.  A Brave New World describes a seductive, seemingly utopian future in which technological promise is the succulent but poisoned apple that leads to humanity’s downfall.”  Hipps notes this running technological theme in modern day movies such as Minority Report, The Matrix, and I, Robot.

What does the future hold?  I do not think anyone really knows the complete answer, but a movie that came out in 1984 may give us a hint.  Terminator (think cybernetics, robotics, microchips, etc.) presents a world in need of a savior (John Connor).  The AI defense system, Skynet, has a mind of its own and schedules itself to initiate a nuclear holocaust.

H.G. Wells The Time Machine reveals how a man discovers that his vision for a future utopian society is disillusioned after he travels forward into time only to find a dark and dangerous society.  The use of certain technology can have disastrous consequences.

The medium (our technological devices) has also become the message whereas the medium used to just deliver the message.  Referring to The Matrix, Hicks says, “When Neo studies the medium of the mirror instead of being distracted by his reflection-its content-he is freed from the prison of his mind; it is only when he observes the medium apart from its content that he perceives its true power.”

Technology is one thing.  Media is another.  Marshall and Eric McLuhan in Laws of Media define media as “anything that stretches, extends, or amplifies some human capacity.” Dr. Tim Elmore in Generation iY has noted how girls in college now shower with their cell phone.  For teenagers, the smart phone has, like a hand, become an extended part of their arm.  People don’t think they can do without their devices for one day and would rather die than face the consequences of going without.

Devices, left to themselves, are not evil, though many today would say our gadgets have become idols or objects of worship.  With the iMac, iPhone, and iPad (I wonder who these are about?), have we turned ourselves or better yet, a projected image of ourselves into an idol-making game?

For the Christ-follower, media and technology in the form of 24/7 news coverage, ever expanding networks, social media, Netflix, Snapchat, etc. can slowly crowd out the spiritual disciplines (Bible intake, prayer, etc.) in the life of a believer as he or she attends to every bell and whistle that is sounded.  Jesus warned us of this slow fade in Luke 8:14 when he said some would hear the word but be choked by life’s worries, riches, and pleasure.  We must take time to think if our new lifestyle has made us better off. Has it really enhanced our relationship with Jesus and with our fellow man? Might it be time to go back to a simpler way of life?

We don’t necessarily have to become Amish people (resisting all media and technology), but we do need to take a step back and evaluate what has happened and what is going to happen if we do not slow down.  We must recognize the power of media and technology and become its master yet again.  If we do not, I fear there may be no going back.  I do not think we should live in the past, but I do think the past has value and contains some lessons for us to learn from.  Somewhere in the middle of all of this, we should be able to find a happy medium!

And oh, yeah, if the world were to blow itself up, we have a Savior whose initials also start with JC!

Categories
Great Commission

Ministry to the Next Generation and Beyond

star trek

The Great Commission lies at the heart of next generation ministry.  Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He commanded his closest followers and friends to go and make disciple of all nations (Matt 28:19-20).  What were these band of brothers to do without their leader?  Thankfully, Jesus had promised to leave his band a Counselor, the Holy Spirit, who would guide them to reach their Master’s goal.

The Church of the 21st Century is no different than this original band in that The Church has a timeless message to proclaim.  The Church of the past 2000 years has been led of the Spirit to incorporate different methodologies to spread the gospel message over this vast span of time.  Like a spaceship, the 21st century Church has need of God’s Spirit to guide it into new frontiers.

God’s Spirit can lead the Church to use new tactics to accomplish a mission.  A word that is emphasized in 21st Century politics, warfare, and business is the term “strategy.”  What is the United States of America’s strategy to defeat ISIS?  What strategy will Republican and Democrat candidates utilize in order to win the presidency?  What is Apple’s strategy in creating the next great gadget?

Methodologies or strategies change over time.  But the message of good news that Jesus handed down to his disciples to share throughout the ages in word and in deed never changes.  It had to be reassuring to the original band and the early church when they learned that the message would never change.  Imagine how much more assuring it means to the 21st Century Church that this timeless message remains the same in a world where technology, media, and ways to communicate are changing every nanosecond.

The American church faces a dilemma today.  Traditional children and youth ministry is not achieving the same successes it has enjoyed in the past.  I submit to you that I believe the Church is in need of a new strategy, a better strategy.  I, myself have achieved many victories using the older paradigm of children and youth ministry, but have found myself waiving the white flag in the face of new challenges today.

Today’s economy, world, and people are different than in previous generations.  The next generation is a complex group that must be paid attention to.  Yes, the notion that the Bible is all that the Church needs is correct in one sense.  However, if the church does not keep pace with the culture by understanding who this new generation is, the church will lose this generation.   To reach the next generation, the church must know who the next generation is.

The next generation hungers after a vision that is bigger than themselves.  There is no greater mission for the next generation to fulfill than the Great Commission.  Establishing a caliphate pales in comparison because fulfilling the Great Commission requires a God and a Church that spans generational ages themselves.  If ISIS can lure young people into its strategy for achieving global jihad, then the Church can have a strategy that is effective at making disciples for Jesus Christ.  Both ISIS and the Church want to grow in number.  Does ISIS have a better strategy for accomplishing its mission than the Church?  I think not!

Next Generation Ministry advances the Gospel through a biblical strategy, collaborating through the local church with parents, leaders, and students for the spiritual formation of those from birth through college.  Next Generation Ministry is a comprehensive strategy that creates smooth transitions between the various stages of life contained in Next Generation ministry (pre-school, children, middle school, high school, college), and yet operates as one.

Next Generation ministry is in-reach but not to the neglect of outreach because Next Generation Ministry is both family-oriented and missional.  Next Generation Ministry aids singles and young married couples without kids to prepare them for a missional future with their kids.  From the cradle through college, Next Generation Ministry does not overlook any age category in its mission to go and make disciples.  In next generation ministry, “students” are anyone from birth through college.

Too often, traditional models of children and youth ministries overlook certain age-graded departments to the detriment of others.  Most often, this devastation occurs in the Pre School and College departments when churches hire ministers for certain age groups to the neglect of others.  As a result, would be disciples drop out of church when life stage transitions take place.  For instance, a high school senior drops out of church because the church does not offer the same quality of ministry for its college-aged students . . . or a child does not join the church’s youth group because he or she has not made adequate friends or connections within the church’s children ministry.

In the meanwhile, silo departments and leaders squabble over time, money, and resources.  Instead of making disciples, these churches are making enemies with each other.  Their goals have become sidetracked and their missional targets are now off base.

Next Generation ministry is a new tactic that God is using today to keep his Church focused and on-mission.  Ministry leader (“Live long and prosper”), would you consider jumping ship?

Categories
Mentoring

What the Next Generation Is Missing and Found Wanting?

 

Miyagi

The past generation has something the next generation is looking for.  The past generation received something from the generation that preceded them that the next generation is still waiting to be handed down.

If the past generation needed help in finding a lost puppy, they were given it.  The next generation is a lost puppy and is getting very little help.

Before I tell you what it is that the next generation desires, I want you (if you’re old enough to remember) to turn back the clock with me.  I love everything 1980’s.  To me, the 80’s represented the greatest in music, movies, games, and television.  So that I do not plumb the depths of everything 80’s, let me just scratch the surface by touching on the 1980’s category of “movies.”

In the 1980 Rocky movies, Mickey (before he dies) trains an upstart boxer, taking his protégé from chump to Champion of the world.   In the original Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi mentors young Luke Skywalker in the ways of the force.  In Back To The Future, a teenager named Marty McFly receives help from a scientist named “Doc” and in Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi, an instructor, teaches Danielson life lessons learned through the value of hard work.

The one common theme reflected from movie life in the 1980’s is the theme of mentoring.  Young people desired for and asked to be mentored and mentors were happy to and found joy in embracing the call to mentor.  My fear today is that there are some from the next generation who are not seeking a mentor and some from the previous generation not wanting to mentor.  The reasons can vary and in some individual cases may even be justified.  But what cannot happen and what must not happen is a total abandonment by a previous generation to the next generation as it relates to mentoring.  Mentors should be warned upfront that Generation Z (2001-2018) is complex, has short attention spans, and would rather use symbols or images, such as emojis to communicate.

That being said, I would like to give some sound advice to mentors from this generation who have not yet given up on the next.  My advice comes from adaptations from and additions to suggestions made by Dr. Tim Elmore and Dr. Alvin Reid.

1. Let Generation Z be who they are, especially as it relates to their technology.  Motivate and encourage them to learn using the devices they love.

2. Impart virtues such as perseverance, passion, dedication, and discipline.

3. Life map with Gen Z and help them set goals in order to give them purpose and realize potential. Gen Z does not know how to plan.

4. Teach them to serve and teach them life-skills and do this at the same time if possible.

5. Help them to see that life is bigger than themselves. Allow them to travel the world and to see the big picture.

6. Increase their interpersonal communication and critical thinking skills by helping them to focus on the person in front of them and or the task at hand.

7. Give students a cause and assist them in finding their call.

8. Be there. The next generation desires weekly feedback.

9. Introduce the next generation to other successful adults you know.  You can do this over dinner.  Allow the other adult to share his or her life story.

10. Don’t tell them what to do.  Tell them why and show them how.  Guide the orphan.  As you go, take them with you (teach them how to wash clothes, how to cook, how to fix cars, etc.).

In the OT, Moses mentored Joshua (Num 27:15-21) and Elijah mentored Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:1-17).  In the NT, Paul mentored Timothy (2 Tim 4:1-8) and both older men and women are told to mentor younger men and women (Titus 2:4-8).  Will you take the time to mentor someone today?