Growing Edge

Each Sunday a mob of young people clad in an array of GenX urban-wear (oversized, retro, torn, tight, pierced) as well as an array of urban-attitude (ambivalent, cynical, self-absorbed and generally bored) crowd the front pews of our church to worship God. However, their slouching during the sermon and swaying during the singing spurs askance glances from the more traditional set. An older woman confronts me afterwards: “When are you going to teach these kids how to act in church? Their behavior is outright profane.”

Au contraire, argues Tom Beaudoin in Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Jossey-Bass, 1998; to order, call 415/433-1767). Using irony as your magic decoder ring, what appears profane is in fact profound. GenX expressions of “religiosity” have simply moved from the arenas of conventional religion onto a stage more parallel to popular culture.

Irreverent religion

A layered effort (that reads like a master’s thesis), Beaudoin makes deep forays beyond the apparent irreverence of music, television, fashion, and cyberspace to conclude that religion still matters but in ways you may not naturally decipher. He does get a little carried away (Pierced navels as a form of stigmata and tight jeans as surrogate parents? Please.) Nevertheless, he renders a creative (if not totally convincing) case for shifting religious categories to accommodate faith that arises from pop culture.

Employing a theo-cultural methodology (eerily reminiscent of the hermeneutical circles of liberation theology), Beaudoin unveils four primary theological themes characteristic of GenX religiosity, each of which carries implications for pastoral ministry.

1. Suspicion of institutions

Disenchantment with acquiescent institutions easily translates into cynicism and a quick jettison of institutional commitments for virtual (and, ironically, sometimes more authentic) faith commitments in cyberspace. Keeping Xers in church (or getting them there in the first place) means closing the distance between shepherds and sheep. Xers want to see their pastors as sinners saved not sanctified celebrities.

2. Experience

Something has to happen for religion to be valid. Faith must work. He asserts that GenX preference is not for the overt and entertaining, but for the grounded and mystical. Cut through the manufactured performance fluff and get to the gospel—radical and untamed. Jesus didn’t water it down; we shouldn’t either.

3. Suffering (no whining)

Generally understood in terms of societal failure (divorced parents, national debt, environmental meltdown, temporary jobs, etc.), this suffering must not be minimized or domesticated but construed as liberating and redemptive. The key is not to fix it but to acknowledge it as significant.

4. Ambiguity

Simple answers to complex questions are no answers at all. Beaudoin writes, “The holy and unholy are removed from black-and-white categories and take on hues of grey.” This leaves little room for the common tendency to reduce mystery to “life application.”

If preachers are sometimes accused of answering the questions no one is asking, Beaudoin can be helpful with the questions. He maintains that reaching Xers means gaining Jesus and losing religion. The desire is for a serving of Jesus straight up with imagination, humility, and irreverence within the context of a faithful community (in real space or online).

Two valid and necessary means of communication are irony and imitation.

Irony is not merely mockery but a deflation of something (an ironing out) in order to reinflate it later. Questions create space for new expressions of faith and orthodoxy to emerge.

Imitation means recognizing an Anglican mass in a Baptist church may ignite fervor in ways that sticking to “genuine” Baptist communion forms never would. Likewise, occasional preachers via video present no problem for a generation that commonly communicates through screens.

Though the book can be labored reading at times (when’s the CD coming out?), Beaudoin boils the GenX-religious quest down to one question: “Will you be there for me?”

If that’s the question, then Jesus still has the best answer: ” . . . always, even to the end of the age.”

—Daniel Harrell Park Street Church Boston, Massachusetts

TOP PICKS

Books to help you take the next step.

How to Thrive as a Small-Church Pastor (Zondervan, 1998; to order call 800/727-3480) by Steve R. Bierly.

BIG IDEA: Small churches can be rich, God-given destinations for pastors willing to care for themselves and reframe perennial struggles as opportunities for ministry.

BEST CHAPTER: “The Only Thing to Fear Is Fear Itself.” Bierly reveals the passion behind his practical advice and the possibility of life-giving change in small congregations.

QUOTE: “No, it’s not my church. But then again, that’s the whole point. The church belongs to Jesus Christ. It’s his bride, not mine. In the small church this becomes painfully clear. And I’m glad it does.”

BUY IF: (1) You are considering a call to a small church or are already pastoring one and not thriving, or (2) you currently pastor a larger congregation and need fresh perspective—you will be amazed at how much small church thinking is in your congregation.

The Second Coming of the Church: A Blueprint for Survival (Word, 1998; to order, call 800/933-9673 ext 2037) by George Barna.

BIG IDEA: Renewal is possible only if Christians recover a biblical worldview, focus training on gifted leaders (not necessarily pastors), and create new forums that make the gospel accessible to multiple generations.

BEST CHAPTER: “Cultivating a Biblical Worldview.” Barna argues that each Christian needs to take personal responsibility for a coherent and systematic theology as congregations decentralize and lay leaders step into more and more key roles.

QUOTE: “As long as American Christians model a faith based on complacency, convenience, and narcissism, living no differently from anyone else, our evangelistic witness will be hollow.”

BUY IF: Statistics help you see the need for change in the church and you are concerned about the place of truth in these changes.

Out on the Edge: A Wake-Up Call for Church Leaders on the Edge of the Media Reformation (Abingdon, 1998; to order, call 800/672-1789) by Michael Slaughter.

BIG IDEA: To reach people in a “post-literate” culture, Christians must embrace new means to communicate unchanging gospel truth more experientially and personally.

BEST CHAPTER: The included Multi-Sensory Worship CD-ROM. While I had difficulty getting the CD to run on my computer, the examples on it drive home the power of worship that integrates multimedia.

QUOTE: “Effective communication is not about compromise. A compelling gospel must be clear about the truth in the language of the culture.”

BUY IF: You want a nuts-and-bolts glimpse of a congregation that has embraced multimedia technology as a key strategy.

—Kevin Finch First Presbyterian Church Seattle, Washington

NEW SOFTWARE

3 CD-ROMs to help you preach and lead 3 ministry tools worth examining

Reviewed by Tim Ostermiller, assistant editor, Computing Today

1998 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us.