The lost generation is not a myth. I have heard many talk about this developing phenomenon for years but it truly became real to me in February. As many of you know, I teach history at a local community college in rural Kentucky. While I do not openly discuss my faith in Jesus Christ in class, when a student comes to me during my office hours or will contact me outside the classroom and asks, I will boldly and with great excitement, share my faith in Jesus as the opportunity provides itself. The apostle Peter reminded the early Christians, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15) and it is still good for us today to be ready to share the gospel of Jesus when the moment makes itself available.
The lost generation begs to be heard…
This semester has been incredibly challenging to me for several reasons – and it hasn’t even reached mid-terms! Like most semesters, I have had to deal with the average problems most college instructors would tell you about: lack of fundamental writing skills, a diminished work ethic (doing just enough to get by), poor attendance, and so on. That’s not where the challenge has been; the challenge has tried to balance the role of college instructor AND counselor to a group of young people who are having an incredibly difficult time in various aspects of life. Earlier this semester and after a lecture on the emerging role of the black church after the Civil War, a young female student came up to ask questions. At first, the questions were about the lecture materials and what books I could recommend her read about the development of the black church but soon developed into more personal questions about the generalities of Christian faith, human psychology of religion, and my own personal faith.
In our conversation she said something that shook me to my core: “I’m 23 years old, grew up here in Henderson and past by a dozen or so churches every day. I’ve never been to church…” Immediately my mind went to a verse in Deuteronomy: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deuteronomy 11:19). Now I understand that as Christians, we are under grace and not the Law, there is still great wisdom in following the precepts of the Law and in this case, to use every moment to teach our children – the younger generation – about the goodness of God. This young woman was asking questions that she needed answered. She needed to be heard.
It wasn’t that I was offering her any advice that any other Christian couldn’t. It was that I was taking the time to engage in conversation with her, on a personal level, and took the time to understand what she was asking and trying to say. We live in a fast-paced world where we are bombarded with electronic communication, we get our news from 30 second sound bites, and our dinners take only a fraction of the time to prepare than did the meals our grandparents and parents shared just a few decades ago. Everywhere you turn, you see someone talking on a cell phone, posting to Facebook and Twitter. Yet it is the younger generation that in spite of all these means of communication, has become the lost generation. They are unsure how to ask questions in a personal dialogue in front of another person; they search for answers on the Internet but realize that even if they are reading truth, something is still missing from it. They are seeking answers, are asking questions, but too many Christians have also become wrapped up in the Internet world and are helpless to respond to the questions.
The lost generation is looking for answers…
A while back I heard an older person at Wal-Mart make the comment that the younger generation are ungrounded in reality and have no understanding of what life really is about. The conversation then turned into a discussion about sexuality, entertainment, work ethics, and ended with an indictment against the new emerging (and fleshly) focused culture. While I was in agreement with much of what this man and the cashier were discussing, I began to think of how the younger generation – this lost generation – is looking for answers to their questions. Jesus taught, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Luke 11:10); it is important to remember that when people seek, not only does the Lord reveal himself, but Satan will reveal counterfeits to whatever the Lord offers. I cannot help but to wonder how many young people chose the counterfeit because it was easily available at hand, was appealing, and seemed to offer what they were seeking.
