A generation is rising up…

Over the last few weeks I have had numerous conversations with a variety of people about the state of Christianity in Northern Ireland and in this generation in particular. Some of those conversations were promted by SonShine week in Ahoghill, others by StreetReach in Belfast, and others by the Twelth celebrations taking place. Generation 24 is here…

This generation has a faith that is different to that of our parents. It questions. It searches. It doesn’t settle for second-hand knowledge. Whereas our parents generation by and large accepted what they were taught – and why shouldn’t they, they had no reason not to trust – our generation does not. It doesn’t accept something just because it’s what we’ve always done, what our parents/grandparents believed. The ‘church’ has become tainted… child abuse in the Catholic church, gay clergy in Anglican church, affairs, arguments over styles of music, baptism, etc… for many it is no longer acceptable to trust what the church teaches simply because the church teaches it. We ask questions… Why do we do it this way? Why shouldn’t we do it that way? Whats wrong with this? My generation is one that is searching for answers, but will not accept off-pat answers and cliched responses. We want an authentic faith… we want God, not religion.

Sometimes that searching gets us into trouble… Sometimes we may be viewed as irreverant for questioning the church, or as having no respect because we don’t wear a suit and tie to church. But our heart is in the right we place. Like David in the Psalms, we want to know God the way our forefathers in the faith did – intimately.

“I know, dear God, that you care nothing for the surface – you want us, our true selves!” 1 Chron 29:16 TM

For more on this topic…
Leadership Journal has a great article on leadership styles in Boomer churchers and GenX churches here.