Just One More Reason…

why the church is in trouble…

Well…  this is going to be a popular post.

I admit that I sort of fell off the blogging bandwagon in the past few weeks.  I am trying, but there are so many things to do in any given day that snapping a fun picture to post has been relegated to the bottom of the “to-do” list.  I hope this will change when summer vacation arrives.  I am not sure I have ever needed a summer vacation so badly…  Three more weeks…  Just three more weeks…

At any rate, I set out to create a fun post today.  I recently purchased an already inexpensive jogging stroller, on sale, at Amazon…  At some point it occurred to me that if I ever wanted to walk on a regular basis again, I was just going to have to take Miah with me.  I eventually want to start the couch to 5K program (I’ve been talking about it for a year now, time for some action), and Grace is really interested in doing this with me.  So I put on my walking shoes, loaded up the girls and the new gigantic stroller, and to be honest I was sweating before we left the driveway…  Nice…  This post was going to be about our awesome time on a 3.6 mile jog through the park.  Let’s be real…  1.8 miles and 31 minutes into it, I was done.  Whatever.  It’s still better than the zero miles in zero minutes to which I have grown accustomed.  I admit that it added insult to injury (forgot to stretch) when my eleven year old said, “Are you sure you don’t want to do one more lap, Mom?”  But I’ll get over it… probably three months from now when (if) I can run a 5K...

I took a picture of Miah in her new “strollie” (that’s what she calls it) before we got started.  See that face?  That’s why I have to take her everywhere…

And that was going to be my post for the day…

Except…

When we got into the van to drive to the park, the radio was on.  I was hoping for some music, but let’s face it, Christian radio almost never plays music in the late morning hours.  I proceeded to listen to some (self proclaimed) Baby Boomer explain to youth pastors how their jobs are now obsolete, and hey…  it would be nice, he’s sure, if they could get a paycheck from the church, but that’s just not the way it is anymore.  In fact, Boomers have done such an amazing job with their children, described as Millennials, that they… the Boomer parents… can run the youth programming for their well sheltered, overly loved little ones just fine, thank you.  I had to stop for moment to determine whether this broadcast was recorded in 1989 or not. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I am actually all for family based ministry.  But this guy is talking about coordinating roller skating field trips (I think), not theological teaching and spiritual formation.  And, OK…  whatever…  I don’t know what the perceived needs of his community are…  But I wonder when it will occur to him that the Boomers are the grandparents (and even great-grandparents) of the Millenials, and there is at least one more generation sandwiched between them, maybe two…  I mean, there’s nothing I’d like better than a 68 year old parent led youth group that focusses on singing Gaither choruses and bowling scores, with an occasional pot-luck ice cream social, but… oh… wait…  I’d like almost anything better than that…

I wonder when the Boomers are going to realize that their children are actually not teenagers anymore, and that, in fact, some of us have teenagers of our own (I will fall into that category in just under five months, myself).

We reached the park and took our walk.  Remember, we walked for 31 minutes.

Thirty-One minutes later, the guy is still talking!

This time he is talking about how important it is for the Boomers to hire Millenials, and even though they might have to make some allowances for their terrible work ethic in the morning, there is hope that the Boomers will be able to teach the Millenials how to do things in the ways they have always been done…  And by the way, the church is changing and the new model should just be about business leaders running the church (I think he missed the memo that this, unfortunately, happened decades ago)… 

At this point, I am actually yelling at the radio.  I think my exact words were, “Why don’t you just retire so they can have your jobs!  Grace (who is, at least by some definitions, a Millenial) says, “Mom… why don’t you just turn it off?”  I look back at her and explain that I can’t do that if I want to write terrible things about this program on my blog.  We, of course, break out in hysterical laughter…

Obviously, I am just a jaded Gen X-er…  Forgive me.  I am still trying to get used to the idea that my generation has been completely forgotten and will never have any real influence on the world, because the Boomers will die trying to control the whole Earth and when they do the torch will pass to the Millenials…  Sure hope I’m raising my kids well…

L.

PS  When I went to label this post, it came to my attention that I have never used the label "church" before...  ironic...

I Feel Disturbed Tonight...

This week I have heard several variations on the thought that people cannot be your friends if they do not support all of the decisions you make, and if people disagree with things you hold to be true, they should keep quiet, because that is common courtesy...

I am finding this to be almost frightening, to tell you the truth. What is the world coming to if it is inappropriate to express our opinions? And should we allow our friends to travel down a road to destruction in order to be deemed supportive?

For some time now it has been apparent to me that a new generation has sprung up. As irritated as I was with my own generation at times... and with our push for tolerance in everything except religious freedom... and with our seeming inability to find reason as an acceptable filter for truth... I think this is more dangerous...

It is like mass groupthink...

I haven't completely wrapped my mind around it just yet, but I believe that when we come to a point where it is deemed unacceptable to intelligently debate ideas, we are going to see some catastrophic results. I don't have to win all the time (although I do like to)... and I realize that my opinion may not always be the most popular... or the most productive... or even the most right! But I do not think that my opinion should be stripped from me if it is expressed in a respectful way that creates thoughtful interaction with others...

In fact, I was involved, just this week, in a pretty good, sometimes heated discussion about health care reform. I'm sure that no one walked away with a new view on the health care bill, but it was still valuable time spent discussing options and preferences with friends. We do not have to agree in the end to be friends. We do have to interact in a way that is respectful and allows for differences in worldview. If we lose that ability, what's left to talk about?

Lisa