Tom Tate4/1/2017
"Nothing New Under the Sun"
I am not on Facebook. I know there is some good on it like the family pictures, but it is something I choose not to do. On occasion my husband would show me something someone posted. I would read it only to find myself getting upset and yelling "Seriously, I can't believe that person wrote that!" and "This is why I'm not on Facebook!" He finally learned to screen what he shows me. Now he shows me dishes that I can make with just a snap of my finger or the waving of my hand. Even with that said, one day he pointed out something he thought I would find interesting to read. I found out later it was posted by my BEAUTIFUL, talented, and tender hearted granddaughter, Belinda which I say without any prejudice. It was an article entitled, "59 Percent of Millennials Raised in a Church Have Dropped Out -- And They're Trying to Tell Us Why" by Sam Eaton.
I was intrigued by the title and carefully approached reading the article so not to get upset. John was right, I did find the it interesting and took what Sam had written to heart. He had put a lot of thought, heart and soul into the writing of this article. Not only did he give his own 12 theses to why the Millennials are dropping out of church, he also gave solutions for these issues.
As I was taking in all he had written I must admit I had to laugh a little to myself as I was reminded of Solomon's saying "Nothing new under the sun." As well written as Sam's article is, his thoughts have been voiced, discussed to death, prayed about, moved on from, caused divisions by so many other people, since the beginning of man be it church or society in general. Did God not be the first to be upset with the generations of men he himself made?
Sam's writings took me back to my generation who heard from older generations, "This generation blah, blah, blah... I could remember being upset at hearing this and vowing I would never say that. Well... that came back to bite me along with, "When I was your age," and "In my day." It was a good thing I didn't have to ride a horse to school, or carry my shoes as these would have been something I brought up next. I remembered wanting to talk about important issues that were happening in the world in our teen class at church, like why women couldn't wear pants in the workplace or church, women working outside the home, church being stuck in the dark ages and not any fun, all we hear is "Thou shall not____," or "You'll go to hell if you do or don't do something." the generations before us misusing our natural resources, Viet Nam, long hair on men, drinking, dancing, smoking, interracial dating/marriage, address the issue of why we couldn't wait until we're going off to college or out of the house so we could stop going to church, why we don't trust anyone over 30 etc., etc., etc.
I was doing more research after reading Sam's article and came across an article written by Dr. Jill Novak, University of Phoenix, Texas A& M University entitled, "The Six Living Generations in America."She gave more detail descriptions of each generation but the divisions were:
1. GI Generation (born 1901-1926)
2. Mature/Silents (born 1927-1945)
3. Baby boomer (born 1946-1964)
4. Generation X (born 1965-1980),
5. Millennial/Generation Y (born 1981-2000)
6. You'll have to keep reading
Again, I couldn't help but laugh a little to myself because again there was nothing new under the sun for no matter where you fall in these divisions, there are some people in every generation who blame another generation for being too closed minded. There are some people in every generation who blame another generation for being too liberal. There are some people in every generation open to change. There are some people in every generation that want to live in the good old days. There are some people in every generation who has people who do nothing but talk the talk. There are some people in every generation who has people who walk the walk. There are some people in every generation that do nothing but write down their plan, goals, and mission statements for change. There are some people in every generation that give life to plans, goals, and mission statements for change. There are some people in every generation who want to only belong by showing up, sitting in their pew, and do most of the complaining. There are some people in every generation that want to belong being it in or out of their pew by their actions. There are some people in every generation who become the short-lived majority and are on "fire for the Lord." There are some people in every generation who become the long- lived minority who are the committed and relied upon to keep the embers going. There are some people in every generation that want to reach others by doing anything even if it means going against God's teachings. There are people in every generation that want to reach other by doing anything if it doesn't go against God's teachings. And believe it or not there are some people in every generation who embrace learning from their elders, as well as some of those elders excited to see how things can move on from those younger then themselves.
A couple of days after reading these articles, we were watching "Last Man Standing." We have always enjoyed the subtle comments made about religion/God on the show which always made us laugh. The episode that night devoted a large portion to religion/God where Mike and Vanessa Baxter were concerned about two of their daughters not going to church. Mike was convinced it was from the boring sermons. He took it upon himself to help the minister spice things up so to keep everyone interested. The following Sunday the minister had people "glued to the pew" with laughter. Mike felt good in his accomplishments and just knew his daughters would want to come back. Although they enjoyed the sermon they had no intention of returning. He finally figured out church wasn't about entertainment, although his idea to help the minister was a big help, but involvement is what was truly needed. From there using his dad's charm he got his daughters to use their talents for the church. I wonder what generation or generations are the writers of the show?
How wonderful it would be if someone, no matter what generation could solve the ongoing problem of how to keep people from dropping out of church. Maybe, it will be the sixth division, Generation Z/ Boomlets (born after 2001), or will they like so many others blame the generation before them ... the Millennials? And who knows maybe by that time I'll be on Facebook.
BIBLE READING:
Ecclesiastes 1: 9-11, John 17, Matthew 20:28
ADDITIONAL READING:
http://faithit.com/12-reasons-millennials-over-church-sam-eaton/
http://www.astudyofdenominations.com/overview/
http://www.history.com/topics/reformation
"Muscle and a Shovel" and "When Shovel Breaks" by Michael Shank
ADDITONAL THOUGHTS:
Spend time with someone, face to face, from another generation and listen to what he or she says, acknowledging their thoughts and not giving any of yours.
"The beauty of collaboration between older and younger generations is that we combine strength with wisdom—a surefire way to accomplish more for the glory of God." ― Brett Harris
©Melinda
Sutherland, 4/1/2017
