Toast in the chapel

Get this: One day I show up for chapel in the gorgeous theater at North Central University* to hang with my son, Ryan, who studies music at the school.

“Who’s leading worship today, buddy boy?” I ask.

“One Accord.”

“They any good?”

He just grins at his senile father.

Five minutes later OA begins playing in front of 600 peers and professors, appearing demure and casual and unimpressed with their own celebrity. The songs have no dramatic modulations or big endings. There are no “inspirational” solos, no heavenly smiles.

Sandi Patty and Steve Green this isn’t.

By the second tune, I’m toast. I’m taken down, captured, disarmed, humbled. OA is too good, too attuned, too understated, too mature musically and spiritually for me to resist, nor do I want to.

Curiously, all the musicians seem to be watching something as they play—something they assume is happening in the theater which is beyond their control.

I finally see it too: The Lord walking among his people.

*****

After chapel I bump into music professor Dave Pedde who coaches OA. Late 20s, gelled hair, piercings?

Nope. Dave’s about my age, silver mane, pianist.

Two things stand out to me about OA:

1.    How astonishingly well coached they are.

2.    How little their music/look/feel (the whole package) resembles their coach’s generation.

Think about how tough this is to pull off. Boomer-run institution sponsors boomer coach who trains—but then releases young people to do their thing in their own way, for their peers.

I find this very gutsy.

Does your church have the courage to do the same?

I invite your comments.

* North Central University is located in Minneapolis, associated with the Assemblies of God denomination.

A Titanic Change

In his excellent book, Emerging Hope, Jimmy Long reminds us that the young generations in America represent a shift from Enlightenment modernism to postmodernism.

In Long’s view (and mine), this is a change of titanic proportions.

It means, among other things, that “Those who think that in due time [young people] will ‘grow up’ and look like everyone else should prepare to have unfulfilled expectations.”  (UnChristian, p22)

I believe those of us 45 and older can slip into denial quite easily about the identity of the new generation. We think they’re pretty much like us—aside from the tattoos and iPads.

Perhaps we’d rather not think that the arduous sweat equity that went into establishing the evangelical flag the past 50 years will be wasted on our children and grandchildren.

All that hard work! It can give us a sense of entitlement. It can blind us to the changing realities of a new day, a new audience, a new calling.

I believe the new calling is to bridge the gap between old and young, modern and postmodern, traditional and contemporary. Thing is, we have to realize that THIS particular gap is not traversed by walking across the room. More like flying to another planet.

I invite your comments.

Radical Divergence

If you’re 45 years of age and up (like me), I have news for you: The younger generation of evangelicals is not going to learn our ways and grow into maturity to look like us. They’re never going to get it, as we define “it.”

They’re not going to take over our (white) churches like sons and daughters assuming the reigns of a family business and run things like we have.

They’re not going to start dressing up for Sunday services or tuck in their shirts or sign up for a lot of committee work or revive the old hymns (at least not in the old forms).

They’re not going to fight the same battles that divided their parents’ churches on issues such as charismatic gifts, women’s roles, eschatology, and the social gospel. They’re into inclusion, not drawing lines in the sand.

They value vulnerability, personal stories and admissions of imperfection. The bigger-than-life man of God who reigns sovereignly over a local parish, who preaches with doubt-defeating conviction and shows no weakness, will not be impressive to them.

But the leader who shares from the heart and speaks across the table rather than downward from a pedestal, will connect. . .
------------
I could say so much more. Another time.

But WHY the radical changes? What’s driving the new thinking? The new methods?

You tell me.

•    If you’re 35 and under, tell us what’s going on. Us old-sters need to hear from you.

•    If you’re 45 and up, what are your thoughts about the younger generation?

•    If you’re 35-45, which way do you lean—younger or older? Why?

I’ll share my own thoughts on the subject next week.

The Camel's Nose

My friend Dr. Bob Osburn at the University of MN http://www.wilberforceacademy.org/ notes how the arrival of postmodernity actually creates space for Christians on campus in a backwards sort of way:

“There is little doubt that postmodernism has been the camel’s nose under the tent, and, thus, alternative, nontraditional worldviews like Christianity have found a place to enter and engage the academic conversation.”



In other words, every group on campus is supposed to have a place at the table to speak. Even Christians.

A fabulous opportunity for us!

But wait a second. Many of our sharpest students are not sitting at the table at all. Instead, they’re attending Christian colleges (including my son).

Question: Do you think the church has a vision for reaching the secular university? If so, are we willing to send our best and brightest students there as missionaries?

Do it with Style

I’m trying to confuse you. Last week’s post was a “never happens” dialog between Modern and Postmodern, that happens (implicitly) all the time.

Hopefully, you were not happy with either side.

Moderns tend to be overly impressed with their own knowledge and institutions. Let’s not get stuck there.

Postmoderns sometimes fall into cynicism and relativism. That’s no good either.

My suggestion? If your church wants to grow by reaching people 35 and under, you have to go postmodern STYLISTICALLY. Skip the cynicism and relativism but work toward these changes:

• Focus on community, personal experience, interactive learning, stories and modeling transparent spirituality.
• Preach more in the gospels, Acts, Psalms and OT narratives.

SO, if you're 45 and up, join me in trying to show some stylistic flexibility.

If you're 35 and under, you already get it. Postmodern style comes naturally to you.

If you're 35-45, you'll be in power, soon, in your church (if you aren't already). Stylistically, which way will you go?

Pomo vs. Mo

A hackneyed, stock conversation in the anthropology dept between Postmodern and Modern that never actually occurs. Except everyday.

Pomo: You “Mo’s” have been running the show for 400 years, and we’re going to put an end to it.

Mo: What do you mean?

Pomo: It started with your European claims to know absolute truth. Then you forced yourselves on MANY native cultures. It’s called colonialism. Ever heard of it?

Mo: Wait a second. I admit, abuses took place. But most were carried out by European governments and their armies, not by Christians. There’s a difference between the true followers of Jesus and those who use religion to oppress others.

Pomo: Don’t deny your own history, Mo. If you’re saying that the political motivation to expand, to colonialize, to force-feed religion on other cultures didn’t come from the church historic, which included many sincere believers, where did it come from?

Mo: Before you impose your understanding of history on me too forcefully, Pomo, you should know that there are now more Christians in the developing world than in the west.

Pomo: So the end justifies the means? I suppose the next thing you’ll say is that God is the one who gave you this country. Damages along the way were merely “collateral.”

Mo: Unfortunately, we don’t agree among ourselves on this point right now, so we’re not prepared to give an answer.

Pomo: That’s what I thought.

Mo: Don’t get too smug with me, Pomo. You’ve made a HUGE mistake yourself: You’ve  become a relativist. Ironically, relativism ultimately means, “anything goes.” And if anything goes, even colonialism would be acceptable.

Pomo: I never said anything goes. I believe we should respect and be tolerant of all human beings!

Mo: Except Christians.

Pomo: They don’t deserve respect. They’ve dominated for centuries. Now it’s time to take away their power and re-distribute it to the powerless.

Mo: That’s what’s maddening about you. You don’t bother to make a strong argument against my position—probably because you can’t. You simply run me over, all the while spouting off about “respect."

Pomo: Mo, it’s called colonialism. How does it feel?

Question: What’s Mo’s next move?

The 500 Foot Wall

Derek and Amber are postmodern college students. They have entered your church for the first time, hoping to find spiritual reality, but a 500-foot wall appears to be blocking their way into the sanctuary.


From the “narthex,” you spot D and A. They look out of place here at church—baggy clothes, tattoos, tongue rings, I-pods. Confused yet confident.

An unmistakable 500-foot barrier separates them from you.


I believe the barrier is real. It’s a cultural barricade, actually. Compare the tendencies of these two cultures:

 

Question: What do we do with this 500-foot wall of separation?