An article I just read

I just read an article in a newspaper that the Georgia Baptist Convention prints up each month called "Families Choosing Time Together Over Church," and it got me thinking a little bit. The article was written pretty fairly... as an explanation of the culture and overall views of Gen X an Y toward church... instead of an outright attack on people that don't spend every waking moment at church.

There were several lines that caught my attention. Quoting Leadership magazine, the article states, "The increased emphasis on family time, even at the expense of meaningful involvement in church life, is a sign of the times...It's one way Generations X and Y are making up for the hands-off, latch-key childrearing styles that characterized their Boomer parents: heavy investment in the kids, and everything else takes a back seat - including church."

On the flip side, the article talks about the tendency to trade church attendance in for time spent on something the kids are doing and says (quoting Albert Mohler Jr.), "Every kid has a 'thing' going on virtually all the time. That is the condition of life today, it seems. But when that 'thing' keeps the child - or the whole family - away from church we need to name that thing what it is... at best a snare, at worst an idol."

And, here's what I take away from the article: NOT a specific stance on what "church involvement" means; NOT whether its right or wrong to skip a church activity to spend with your family; and, NOT how to develop church to recapture a generation that sees it as less relevant than a little-league baseball game (though, on a side note, that should shake up Christ-followers around the country... that we have somehow allowed the incredible Good News of the amazing love of the Creator for his flawed creation to become essentially irrelevant).

Instead, I look at the disagreement between the two sides of the issue and I see examples of the many futile attempts generations make to develop the 'next generation' to believe as they do. After all, the Builder generation took what they learned in the developmental years and tried to develop the 'next generation' to work hard for the good of the 'country'... falling into an 'us versus them' mentality and false views of "differences." The Boomer generation took the developmental years of their childhood and became unbalanced in their approach to life... falling into workaholicism and false views of "success." The Gen-Xers took the developmental years of their childhood and decided to completely go against what they learned... falling into child-centeredness and false views of "spirituality." So, how are we developing the next generation? How will they respond to our parenting and leadership? What will they fall into? What incorrect views will they have?

Developing people is the most challenging and important thing we do in life. And, whether it is our own kids or just the next generation in general, they are watching us. What they learn from us will affect the entire culture in 20-30 years. Let us never forget how important it is to develop them well... to give them a correct view of people and a balanced life and God.