Social Media...

What many (usually older) people who don't understand is that young people are no more aware of social media and ubiquitous communication than a fish is aware of water- it is simply a part of their environment. Neither is a young person aware of their language- they simply acquire it and use it naturally. But learning a new language in adulthood is difficult, and it's likely we will never become really fluent in the new language. And adjusting to social media can be just as difficult.

Social media are really more about means and opportunity than about content. Since the Garden, people have used whatever means are at hand to communicate. It started with the spoken word, and stayed there for a long time. With the spoken word, stories were heard only within the immediate circle, and were preserved and transmitted within a very noisy channel.

The first huge technological leap was writing itself. Suddenly (historically speaking) stories were preserved and spread faster and farther than could be imagined before. And periodically since, there have been these quantum spurts of technologically-driven increases in the speed and reach of information- think Gutenberg, Morse, Bell.

Did our grandparents many times removed scratch their heads and wonder if parchment and reed pens would really catch on?

An interview with Ed Stetzer...

Ed Stetzer is President of Lifeway Research and a well-respected author and observer of the church scene in North America. This is an interview with him reviewing some of his research findings in a new book, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them.

This research supports something we see intuitively at The Church at Argyle about 20-somethings

• They are turned off by people or things things that are not genuine
• They highly value close personal ties
• They are spiritually open but skeptical
• They seek cross-generational relationships but resist being dominated or talked down to
• They seek truth but won't take things for granted- they want to explore their beliefs in depth

What does this mean? It means that we can't assume that the disconnection from the church of large numbers of our young people is a "phase" they will grow out of in their 30's and 40's. It means that we need to spend time and energy nurturing relationships with them, to model Christ for them, to earn their attention to the message of the Gospel. It means seeing them as equals, if not as peers, in our lives and communities.

Sometimes the truth hurts...

Listening to a podcast involving Dr. Ed Stetzer about 20-somethings in today's church, I heard something that is both true and disturbing. (Very close paraphrase- may not be an exact quote)

"Most churches, given the choice, will choose their traditions over their children."

I am so glad that my church isn't doing that- or at least not in an overt way. God help us to continue to make decisions based on reaching as many people as possible, most particularly our children, with the Gospel of Jesus. Please God, don't ever let us choose our tradition or our comfort zone over loving the people you put in our sphere of influence.