Hope for the Next Generation Church

When I share with people about my new work as the EMC Director of Next Generation, many people respond with some comment that indicates they are glad someone is doing this. They often say that this generation is facing more challenges being a follower of Jesus than at any time in history. Well, maybe they don’t say it exactly like that, but I do find that often the conversation turns to the challenges young people face today that those of us who are a little older didn’t face.

It is quite a change. When I was young, I was often reminded how much harder the previous generation had to struggle through their childhood.

The conversation often continues and includes a bemoaning of the loss of Christian values in the wider community and the challenges the church is facing with the loss of Christian society.

At times these conversations leave me discouraged. What chance do my children and young grandchildren have for a meaningful relationship with Jesus? It is easy, if emotions are left unchecked, to spiral down into despair and lose hope.

However, that is not how I am choosing to respond. I am choosing hope, and I’d like to give you a few reasons why.

Intuitive understanding of culture

Having grown up in Generation X (birth years 1965–1980), I recognize that I straddle two distinct eras. I’ve experienced life before the internet, smartphones, video games and even colour TV. But I am also young enough that I grew up learning and beginning to integrate some of this technology as I was heading into the workforce.

Photo by Hillie Chan on Unsplash

I grew up in a time when, in small-town Canada, most everyone had some connection with the Christian faith; the church was a respected and trusted piece of the community. I now live in a time when I feel anxious if I leave my phone at home, the church is no longer assumed to be a trustworthy part of many communities, and there is a strong push to marginalize all faith in a growingly secular society.

Transition is difficult, and while many leaders in the EMC, my age or older, have been wrestling with this Christian to post-Christian societal change, there are generations of leaders growing up with their feet firmly planted in the secular or post-Christian society. The ministry styles, strategies and understandings that are challenging for me because they are outside of my first culture, will be intuitive for those growing up with both feet in this current societal structure.

I anticipate innovation in ministry practices and communication styles as emerging generations take more leadership within our conference. While this may mean significant change for people my age and older, my goal is to be a cheerleader and support for young leaders. I am excited to see how these emerging generations will use their cultural and sociological understanding to introduce people to Jesus. And so I have hope for what is to come.

God is faithful, Jesus still transforms, and the Holy Spirit is moving

As secular society pushes back against religion and seeks to devalue religious affiliation, it is natural for Christians to feel the need or compulsion to defend Christianity as worthwhile. We want to show the good that followers of Christianity have done in the world, and we debate the validity of the Christian social ethic. It is easy to get caught up in this defence to the point that we lose sight of an important piece of the story; God does not need our defence.

The God who has the power to create our universe and continues to create and control even the furthest stars and planets doesn’t need our social media posts in defence of Christianity. God will remain faithful; God is not dead. If we believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God, then we can rest in that knowledge and turn our focus from defending God to introducing people to this transforming, holy and loving God.

Introducing people to God means introducing them to Jesus, the human embodiment of the creator God. Jesus “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6–8).

When Saul, soon to be Paul, encountered Jesus as a blinding light on the road to Damascus, the person of Jesus intersects with Saul, transforming Saul’s entire reason for living, his passion, and the focus of his work. Paul changed from a life focused on maintaining the purity of the Jewish religion to a life devoted to introducing people to this Jesus who changed him. It is not a surprise that Paul uses the term “in Christ” or “in him” 143 times in his letters to describe the relationship we are able to have with Jesus.

When we encounter the life-changing power of Jesus and the gospel, there is a meshing of relationship between the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present God and our humanity. Change happens in us, and we are joined together with Jesus. That is still happening today. And I know this because I have witnessed people meeting Jesus and having had their motivations, passions, and actions completely changed by that relationship.

Introducing people to God continues as we invite people to see the power and work of the Holy Spirit. We see this power in the supernatural ability of those walking through significant trials and suffering finding the strength to endure and raise a banner of praise to God over their situations. When gratitude and hope seem impossible, we see followers of Jesus experiencing this impossibility.

The power of the Holy Spirit is seen in the remarkable gifts that have been given to followers of Jesus. Gifts of language, hospitality, prophecy and exhortation, discipleship, pastoral leadership, prayer, and worship, remind us that the Holy Spirit is moving.

We see the Holy Spirit in each act of love, when we experience joy, when peace overflows, when patience is grown, in expressions of kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

But we also see the Holy Spirit moving in new and exciting ways. Earlier this year, many of us watched with excitement, and some with skepticism, as a move of the Holy Spirit began at Asbury College in Kentucky. Students experienced a peace-filled time of prayer and worship that lasted for three weeks. It was an out-of-the-ordinary experience for those who participated.

Photo by Meredith Spencer on Unsplash

At home in the EMC, there was evidence of the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of students and leaders at Abundant Springs. When given the opportunity to trust God with an aspect of their life, hundreds of students and leaders came forward to express their desire to put their trust in Jesus.

All of this reminds us that we are not alone, that God is still faithful, that Jesus still transforms, and that we still have access to the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, I have hope for what is to come.

The church will remain

Jesus looked at Peter and said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matthew 16:18, emphasis added).

Ronald Reagan, in his inauguration as Governor of California on January 5, 1967, spoke about freedom by saying, “Freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.”

Over the years it has been easy for Christians to adapt this statement and use it to describe the church; the church is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. And there is some truth in this. We as followers of Jesus have a responsibility to pass on our faith to the generations that follow.

However, if we pin the sole responsibility of faith formation and development on us humans, we are forgetting that the church belongs to God and, as such, God is masterfully, creatively and with divine power building God’s church. Unlike Reagan’s view of freedom, the church is our inheritance. Rather than fighting to preserve it, the church is a gift given to all people of all generations to participate in and enjoy.

The church has survived two thousand-plus years of cultural shift, the industrial revolution, technological advances, theological challenges, repressive governments, in-fighting, false teachers, reformations, persecution, and wars. Rebecca McLaughlin, in Confronting Christianity, says, “By 2060, the latest projections suggest, Christianity will still be the largest global belief system, having increased slightly, from 31 percent to 32 percent of the world’s population.” Globally, Christianity continues to grow. McLaughlin continues, “In the US, while nominally religious people are more likely to declare themselves nonreligious if they are more educated, professing Christians with higher levels of education appear to be just as religious as those with less schooling. Indeed, highly educated Christians are more likely to be weekly churchgoers.” This is encouraging news for a Christian community that feels like it is continually losing ground.

This doesn’t mean that we sit idle, refusing to take active steps to pass on our faith, but it does mean that we can shift from a scarcity mentality—circle the wagons and hold on to the precious few—to an abundance mentality—God is in control—joining together with the sustaining work of a transcendent God.

What we may lose is our own ideas of what God’s church looks like. But we do not need to live in fear of the church becoming extinct. God is building the church, and we all have an opportunity to participate in that process with hope and excitement for the future. And so, I have hope for what is to come.

When I look specifically at our conference, I have hope because of the fantastic, committed, Jesus-loving leaders I have met in the last few months; leaders who are creatively, boldly, thoughtfully, and lovingly entering into lives of students in these emerging generations; leaders that see hope and a future for the church; leaders that love Jesus, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, and seek to learn more about God; leaders that are engaged in the work of understanding the changing culture they minister in. They may make mistakes and at times struggle with new concerns and societal issues, but they are engaged.

Let’s fight the urge for doom and gloom and step into the joy and hope of trusting Jesus with our future.