t was all so clear to Tom, so straightforward. In college, he heard the gospel presented in exact terms. "We all are sinners, Christ died to save sinners, we can't come to God apart from the saving work of Jesus Christ. Will you accept Christ as your personal Savior?" "Yes!" Tom said, and this baby boomer came to faith in Christ. He has been growing as a believer ever since.
But now his son, Craig, is in college. Craig isn't receptive to the Christian message at all. Tom thought he knew what to do. He took the same materials that had been used in bringing him to saving faith, referred to the same passages of scripture, gave the same step-by-step presentation that had been so clear to him 25 years before and presented it to his son. What was Craig's response to this spiritual formula? "So, that's your opinion," Craig replied.
"No, this is what the scripture says," Tom argued. "Look at the Bible verses." Craig had an answer: "That's what the writers of the Bible said because that was their information, their interpretation, their spin. Dad, you have your religious beliefs. I have mine. Yours, mine, whatever." And Tom, like many of us, is a frustrated ambassador for Christ.
Worse, poor Tom isn't getting any help from his friends either. Some of them tell him, "Religion is important to you-that's fine. But you can't make it your whole life. We enjoy golf and fishing, but we don't build our lives on those hobbies." And his parents are telling him, "We have always been a religious family, Tom. That's part of being a good citizen. We are strong supporters of our denomination. Why do you keep talking about belonging to Jesus?" What's going on here? Aren't we all the same? God's redemptive message is the same, isn't it? It's absolutely true that Jesus died, rose and lives to save all who will come to Him by faith. But all people don't grasp this message the same way. The gospel is for everyone. But no one-size-fits-all presentation of the gospel communicates to people of different generations. Most of us tend to forget that we too are products of a particular time. Because of when I was born and raised, I learned a certain way and followed the cultural input of my day. You did too. We may think that everyone responds as we do. But our way of hearing the message of Christ isn't necessarily the way another person hears it. We need to know that.
Let's examine what our culture looks like, recognizing that it is not fixed, there are crosscurrents, and no generation is a duplicate of another. Even when we attempt to date the generations, we have to admit that no two sociologists agree on where one generation cuts off and another begins. That's because it's a continuum. Yet there are some cultural distinctives that help us as we think through the gospel presentation in our society.
Born since 1981; 64 million At an all-night graduation party, high school seniors are listening to music. Soon the music stops. The students want to talk, to be together, to have community. In the morning after breakfast the host says, "I'm going to church." The rest of the party goes home. For most of these kids, community ends when church is introduced.
Born after 1981, coming of age in the new millennium, bridgers are also called the echo boom or generation Y. There are some 64 million in this age group. They long for stability and have a desire for what worked in the past. They don't necessarily want to face the world as they know it. They don't trust it.
For many in this generation the Bible is new. Concepts of sin and redemption are a curiosity. They are absolutely certain of only one thing- that there are no absolutes. They are into "faiths," and any faith will do. There is little residual Christianity in the culture, so they are a brand new mission field if we can demonstrate to them Who Jesus Christ is.
This is the 'net generation, having grown up with the Internet. They have a lot of information bits (and bytes!) at their disposal, but that doesn't mean they can link those pieces of information together or find cause and effect.
Information isn't knowledge, and knowledge isn't wisdom. They need what mature believers have to offer; we can explore the gospel of Christ with them. Jesus is attractive to them. Point to Jesus.
Older generations, grandparents, have an opportunity here. Bridgers want values, stability, but wonder if such things are possible. Christians who are living out what the gospel is, who haven't themselves just accommodated to the culture, will have a voice. And the church that is not simply an institution but is truly a community of believers will be attractive.
Love them, be honest with them, recognize that the longing in their hearts is the very longing for God that is built into all of us. Most haven't had the chance to find out that God made them, cares for them and offers wholeness and peace to them. They haven't rejected the gospel; they simply haven't heard it in a way that's meaningful for them.
Born between 1965 and 1981; 44 million When I was a child I played with a kaleidoscope. Whichever way I turned the glass there was a new configuration. Which one was right? Which one was better? That's the wrong question to ask about a kaleidoscope, and the people known as Gen Xers say the same thing about religion.
Born between 1965 and 1981, there are 44 million in this age group who have been called all kinds of names. And they hate every one of those labels. Because X is an algebraic term that can stand for anything, they are called the X generation. But they have also been called the whine generation, the boomer shadow, the nowhere generation, the "Why me?" generation. They are a generation with low self-esteem.
So many grew up with divorced parents, blended families. They were latchkey kids watching MTV with its images changing every second, receiving feeling more than content. They have seen fallen heroes (preachers, politicians). Why trust any group or institution or authority figure? Yet they are a fixer generation, trying to repair what they feel the boomers broke. They want marriages that last. Children are important. They want to get along.
Biblical truth is seen as "your truth," or "my truth." They argue: "That's the way the Bible writers saw things. That doesn't mean I have to accept what they saw and wrote. Objective historical fact? Who says? That's their fact, not mine." Christians who walk the talk, who will listen, who are flexible, will appeal to them. "How did you stay married?" they want to know. "How did you find God?" "What's it like to have inner peace?" We need to acknowledge their pain because they feel it-because of their broken families, their mixed-up world. They are desperately looking for something that will give them meaning and hope. The Bible can't be taught just as information. They want to know what works in life. "Does it apply to me? Can I use this now?" People who just like to quote the Bible at them without application are going to miss out. But patient witnesses who understand that God is bigger than our grasp of Him and who know that God wants us to have redemption and love and eternal life will be heard. Be there for them. They feel so alone.
Born between 1946 and 1964; 76 million Watch the television ads. "People are getting older and need glasses," we hear. Never mind that people have always gotten older and needed glasses. Nothing really happens until it happens to the boomers. This "we-are-the-center-of-the-world" view has been taught to them since they first burst on the scene, and at 76 million strong they have influenced everything around them. There are even a few boomer pastors and evangelists who are so caught up in their own experiences that it's difficult for them to recognize any other age group than their own. And there are enough other boomers who authenticate their ministries that they sometimes overlook those who came before or are following after.
Born between 1946 and 1964, boomers went through Vietnam, campus unrest, the hippie movement, free speech, free love and the Jesus movement. But they also got caught up in the greedy '80s and are known as much for being the "me" generation as the change-the-world-with-a-cause generation.
We can reach them with dialogue. They want to know how Christianity works, primarily how it works "for me in my life." They want to know: will it help me with my finances, my divorce and my children? Many are self-navigators, self- directed. "If anything is going to happen for me, I have to make it happen." They are not alone. This self-navigation has passed down to Gen Xers and even bridgers.
Many boomers are coming to the point in life where they wonder, "Is this all there is? What comes after getting the lake cottage and the BMW(tm)? Show them the power and love and life offering of Christ. They are at a good age for hearing the message that they pushed away when they were first rebelling against their parents' generation. Unlike Gen Xers who are hearing the gospel in a context of little cultural Christianity, the boomers did have some Christian context in their earlier years. Now as they get older, even though they fight aging with cosmetic surgery and creams and dyes, they sense that life is moving on. They are more open to examining that which they once rejected.
Life can feel empty when it begins to show where all the dead-ends are. The gospel can be brought anew to a people who know that life as they tried it really doesn't work without God. Many are exploring church and old truths again. It's a good time to welcome them and give them solid biblical principles that they can discuss with their peers and apply to their lives.
Born between 1930 and 1945; 39 million Victory! The War is ended, the future looks bright. The builders are the post-war generation ready to take hold of the American dream. A house, a car, a good job with a growing corporation. Don't rock the boat, just get on it and become a success.
Born between 1930 and 1945, these 39 million are known as the silent generation, even the "non-generation." They weren't of age in the depression or World War II, but they weren't part of the Vietnam, campus unrest era either.
They are in-between. Trusting and trustworthy, they want certainty; they will join, support and get behind groups and the church. They have a more regulated life, a sense of responsibility and duty. They want to be taught and will accept what is taught with authority.
But they also want to discuss what the authorities say. They will discuss the Bible with boomers. And like the seniors before them, they want their lives to count for something.
They are more fixed than the generations that followed them. They formed their philosophies and convictions during their student years and didn't change too much afterward. But even though they may say they have life figured out, their hearts still have the inner restlessness that God put there. They know now that there is more to life than a good job, a nice home, a secure world.
Opening the Bible to builders will not be seen as irrelevant. But, many may feel they have heard it all before, even tried Christianity once. What they may have tried was church and rules and doctrines without ever really encountering the living Christ as Savior and Lord.
Doing the right thing or joining the right church isn't the same as being the "right" person. Show them what it means to be right with God by God's definition. We need to be aware that if they have been good people-and many have-they may not quite see the "all have sinned" side of redemption because "there really isn't that much wrong with me." But talk about what blocks eternal life and the meaning of belonging to God, and you will begin to connect. Help them move past faith in faith to faith in Christ.
Born before 1930; 35 million Every day in every way things were going to get better. The great war to end all wars was behind them, the times were roaring, the stock market booming. Then came the depression. "Brother, can you spare a dime?" Then World War II came with no guarantee of victory at first. People pulled together. They had a cause that was bigger than themselves. They were survivors.
Born prior to 1930, 35 million strong, they came of age during the great depression and fought in World War II. Loyal, conservative, hard-working, patriotic. Yet if they know about Christianity, it may be more denominational than biblical, more of a club that they joined-just as they joined other respectable civic or community organizations-than a relationship.
We can work with scripture and personal testimony. They will accept a lecture presentation sometimes even more than a discussion. They want to learn but may feel that they have lived long enough that they pretty well know all there is to learn. They watched kids rebel (the boomers) and wonder why everything has to be so chaotic today. "Why can't things be as they were before when everybody was patriotic and moral like me?" they wonder.
With seniors we may be working with people struggling with illness, with financial limitations, with worries about children and grandchildren, and with loneliness because they have fewer friends around them. We may be dealing with people who wonder if their children care, and why God is not taking away their pain or letting them die. We are also dealing with fear-fear of the streets, fear about the future. Go to them with the good news of the One Who takes away fear. Show them how they can know God's peace and security and the certainty of heaven. You are not asking them to join something; they've done that all their lives. You are asking them to open their hearts to God Who loves them. Doing that will make you a bringer of good news.
Roger C. Palms is on staff with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. He is the former editor of Decision magazine. The author of 14 books, he also serves as the speaker on "Something for You," a nationally syndicated radio program.