\nThe Great Room at the Navigators’ Glen Eyrie castle never rocked like that\nbefore. When a high-decibel praise band and around 200 people involved in\nministry to Generation X descended on Colorado Springs last March, more than\nwindows quaked. Those evangelizing and discipling this post-baby-boom,\npost-Christian generation called for a reappraisal of Christian mission every\nbit as radical as that demanded by the Jesus People twenty-five years ago.<\/p>\n\n
\n“For many of the nearly 40 million young people between 18 and 34,” said\nKen Baugh, director of Frontline, a ministry to baby busters at McLean Bible\nChurch in McLean, Virginia, “preachers are like used car salesmen or politicians.\nBut if your relationships with them are good, and if you are perceived as\nbeing authentic, then they’ll follow you into the church through the back\ndoor.”<\/p>\n\n
\nThroughout the three-day Gen X Forum, sponsored by Leadership Network, speaker\nafter speaker emphasized the importance of authenticity, quality relationships,\nand new ways of doing church. Kevin Ford, an evangelism consultant (and nephew\nof Billy Graham), opened his talk by playing Joan Osborne’s Grammy-nominated\nsong, “One of Us” (“What if God was one of us”), one of many contemporary\nsongs exploring spiritual issues. Ford then asked his listeners to create\nbiblically-based narratives that touch busters’ imaginations.<\/p>\n\n
\n“Don’t destroy a good narrative by breaking it up with points,” he said.\n“That’s condescending. Just tell a story. And don’t explain it.”<\/p>\n\n
\nPollster George Barna agreed on the importance of stories. “[Busters] are\nnon-linear, comfortable with contradictions, and inclined to view all religions\nas equally valid. The nice thing about telling stories is that no one can\nsay your story isn’t true.”<\/p>\n\n
\nIn 1995, buster pastor Chris Seay helped launch University Baptist Church\nin a Waco, Texas, movie theater. Seay, with palpable passion, said he fears\nthat busters, a spiritually needy population, are “falling through the cracks\nof Christendom.<\/p>\n\n
\n“This generation has rejected the church,” said Seay, whose baggy clothes,\nshort-cropped hair and beard signal Gen X. “But it hasn’t rejected Jesus\nChrist. They desire a dialogue with a church that won’t listen.”<\/p>\n\n
\nSeay’s Waco praise band rattled a few windows and touched a few hearts at\nthe conference. Their song, “There’s No Chain,” was particularly evocative,\nshowing how Jesus answers the spiri-tual cravings of a generation living\nin the shadow of divorce, inflation, global disasters, and Howard Stern.<\/p>\n\n
\nSeay said he respects the baby-boomer model of ministry but that it won’t\nwork for his generation: “When you coordinate the color of your shirts with\nthe color of your lights, people don’t see that as authentic.”<\/p>\n\n
\nCan the old wineskins of established churches stretch to hold the Gen X vintage?<\/p>\n\n
\nNot according to many leaders at the conference. “We do our Gen X ministry\nat a local hotel,” said one attendee.<\/p>\n\n
\nNumerous speakers said churches serious about reaching busters need to recruit\nand empower buster leaders. Some said the future of Christianity in America\ndepends on new patterns of leadership and outreach.<\/p>\n\n
\nBut what are these new patterns?<\/p>\n\n
\nWillow Creek Community Church buster pastor Dieter Zander, who previously\nfounded New Song Church in Covina, California, spoke for many at the forum\nwhen he said, “If you feel like you’re fumbling around in the dark, you are.”<\/p>\n\n
Steve Rabey\nfree-lance writer\nColorado Springs, Colorado<\/p>\n\n
\n“In a culture steeped in cynicism, the use of sarcasm in preaching, ironically,\nprovides a valid point of contact for the gospel. It exposes inconsistencies\nand shallowness. Basically, sarcasm is just telling the truth. It removes\nobstacles so the truth can be seen.”<\/p>\n\n
Daniel Harrell\nassociate minister\nPark Street Church\nBoston, Massachussetts<\/p>\n\n
1996 by Christianity Today\/LEADERSHIP, journal.<\/p>\n\n