Raising Smart Christians

If you pay any attention to my list of recommended articles to the right, you may have noticed that one of these things is not like the others. Today, I read an interesting article on “Raising Smart Kids” from Scientific American. I’m not real sure why I read it. At 21, 17 and nearly 16, my kids are fairly well “shaped. I’ve probably done all the good or ill I can do in raising them—at least in terms of how “smart” they are. But I was curious—and I will be a grandmother some day and it is always helpful to have lots of “Wise” advice to force upon my children ;-D However, as I read the article, I realized that it has something to say to us about how we raise disciples of Christ in the Church today

As I’ve stated in early entries, Millennials have been our most “over-watched” generation. Everything they have ever done has been documented—they have truly not only been there, but they actually do have the video and the t-shirt for just about every event in their lives. They were awarded trophies simply for showing up. We measured their intelligence at a young age and assured them that they were not only special but they were Lake Woebegone children—above average—simply because they had been born.

The main point of this article is that when we raise our children to think they are inherently smart, they fail to excel when faced with challenges. The author maintains this is not only true of academic challenges but also social, work and even family challenges. The reason is that they think that struggle or failure is a sign that they are not truly smart. As a result, they are unwilling to admit failure or respond to constructive criticism because that would be admitting that they aren’t smart enough. Or they simply give up. So the answer to raising smart kids is not to teach them that they are smart because they have a high IQ, but to teach them that they are smart when they work hard to learn and to achieve.

Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings. . . . Praising children’s innate abilities . . . reinforces this mind-set, which can also prevent young athletes or people in the workforce and even marriages from living up to their potential. On the other hand, our studies show that teaching people to have a “growth mind-set,” which encourages a focus on effort rather than on intelligence or talent, helps make them into high achievers in school and in life. --Carol Dweck

What does this have to do with the church and reaching 20-somethings? Well, it raises a couple of questions to me: How do we talk to this generation about grace when in fact they expect it as their due? Will they really respond to a message that simply repeats “You are special—a beloved child of God”? Won’t they just hear this as an affirmation of what they have been told all their life and will it simply play into the notion that if things go wrong something is horribly amiss within them!

In “Googling God," the author says that Millenials test the truth of something by how well they can measure up to it. Well, what happens when they measure themselves up against the standard of “Be ye perfect”? So how do we talk to them about grace when they fall short of the mark? How do we teach them to enter into the honest, critical self-examination that is required of the on-going Christian life?

For me, this means a return to good old fashion Wesleyan theology. Discipleship is hard work! And while that work is a response to salvation and not the means of obtaining it, we need to teach this generation that hard work and perseverance are a vital part of our faith. We need to proclaim not only that they are saved by grace but also that they are called to a committed discipleship of Jesus Christ. If we miss this message of commitment, study, growth and service, I think we will do them a disservice!

Worship Essential 3: Vulnerability—Opening Up To God

People have a great need to be real in worship. They need worship to deal with the reality of the messiness of their lives—the brokenness, the sin, the pain, the doubts, the temptations. If we insist that our worship should always be “happy clappy,” then we deny the reality of many people’s lives. True worship will have joyful, Easter moments, but it also must have Good Friday moments where we face our brokenness, die to things so that we can experience Easter resurrection. Therefore, Morgenthaller insists worship must be:

• Sinner-Friendly – just as we seek to make church a comfortable place for the un-churched, we must also seek to make our worship a place where sinners know they are welcome. In fact, we need to be able to admit that they are welcome because they we too are, in fact, broken sinners.
• A Place to Lament – Scripture makes it clear that lament is a part of what it means to be in relationship with God. Take a glimpse at the psalms and you’ll see that the psalmist regularly cry out to God about their pain, their fears, their anger. Lament should be a regular part of our worship because we do live in a broken, hurting world.

To resist or forbid lament is un-Christian, dishonest and unhealthy. The dark powers of secrets, of shame, of pretending, are dispelled by the act of lament . . . [and] God is identified as our sole, hope, life’s ultimate power . . . . The lament trusts God’s unconditional love and mercy to accept and handle the truth about [us], no matter what . . . . Through [it] God is invited, and He surely comes to save. – Mark Hiiva

• A Place for Reality Checks—Worship should provide the opportunity for self-examination. This was an iatrical part of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition and should be retrieved by us. Where else than in church, should we be called to look at our lives, acknowledge our sins, ask forgiveness and then, of course, receive it!
• Worship must be a place and time where we can get real with God!

Worship Essential 2: Knowledge – Worship Centered on Christ

Knowing who it is we worship is the second essential for real worship. We cannot have a relationship with a God we don’t know.

Christian worship focuses on the life-giving active Word of God—Jesus Christ. Worship which focuses on the God of Hebrew Scriptures or the action of the Holy Spirit while skipping over the revelation of God in Christ misses the point of Christian worship. This is an issue of the content of our worship. We can in fact plan a service that is moving and educational, but if it doesn’t point toward God as revealed in Christ then we’ve failed.

This is challenging because much of what passes for worship doesn’t meet this test. In fact, Morgenthaller says: “It is the ultimate irony that there is so little of Jesus Christ and the Gospel in evangelical worship today.” She points to trends toward “cookbook Christianity” where the worship service is a way of presenting 4 steps to a disciplined life or 5 ways to make your marriage work or other such step-by-step instructive sermons. While these are well-meaning and even grounded in Scripture what they often fail to do what Christian worship must do—point to Jesus Christ.

For worship planners, this is where she wants us to be careful in planning “thematic” worship. Is the theme of the worship is “how to handle conflict” (such as I recently preached) we need to make sure that the service does not stay so focused on good advice that it doesn’t proclaim what Jesus has done for us. The purpose of worship is not to teach us how to handle conflict but rather to place us in the presence of God and allow us to respond to God’s presence.

[New Testament worship was] a response to the gospel . . . the living, dying, and rising of Jesus; the forgiveness of sins that comes from the work of Christ; and the ultimate overthrow of evil that results from the Christ-event. – Robert Webber

She challenges us to remember that neither well-articulated sermons nor high quality music and drama or even sermon notes to take home and ponder give power for salvation. Rather it is on the Gospel (the living, dying and rising of Jesus) that has the power for salvation! If we lose focus on that simple fact, then we have lost it all.

Let me close with what I think is her most powerful paragraph in this section (and in the book so far):

Think for a moment about the service you are planning for this week. Will Melinda’s neighbor who has been abusing her kids be able to differentiate your God from the ones on the “Psychic Network” shows she watches? Will she know what to do with her self-hate and guilt after experiencing an hour of “possibility Christianity” and a message entitled “If You Can Think It, God Can Do It”? Or picture young Joey, the crack addict. Will he be motivated by this week’s riveting reiteration of pull-yourself-up-by-the bootstraps morality, “Developing Self-Control”? Consider Cheryl, caught up in a series of adulterous affairs. Will she intersect with God’s love for her and find the power to break free from her chain of self-destruction if all she connects with is a hot worship band and an impressive video? Finally, what about Don, grieving about last night’s fight with his son? Will he see any Christians doing a gut-level reality check with God, coming to the foot of the cross for help and mercy and hope? Will he hear the message, “It’s okay to be hurting, okay to have doubts, okay to cry out to God from the depths of your pain”? Or will he go away convinced that Christianity is only for people who have nice smiles and have somehow managed to get their act together?

As I read that paragraph, I saw faces—very real faces— of people that sit in our pews and seats every Sunday: some are struggling with drug addictions; some with guilt over an extramarital affair; some grieving the breakup of their family; some celebrating the end of a destructive relationship; some struggling with sexual identity; and other simply struggling to accept that someone—even God—could love them. There are single parents, sandwiched sons and daughters raising teenagers and caring for elderly parents, unwed pregnant women; couples ready to split and tearing each other apart in the meantime; teenagers trying to figure out who they are; adults trying to figure out who they are; couples looking for a place to marry where they won’t be judged; refugees from other Christian traditions where they never seemed to have it together enough to belong, and so many others sitting in our church on Sundays. And the question for us is: How can we offer them Christ?

Worship Essential 1: Nearness—a Sense of God’s Presence

In corporate worship, God desires to remove our blindfolds and give us an extraordinary, breathtaking glimpse of divine radiance.

Jesus promised to be with us always. And we do believe that God is always present even in those moments when we feel like God is absent. There truly is no God-forsaken place! (See Romans 8 –neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come nor anything else in all creation can separate from the love of God in Christ.)

However, we also believe that God promises to be present in a special and unique way in our worship. Jesus indicates this in Matthew when he says that where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there. Hebrew Scripture talks of special places where God’s glory dwells and is especially present. And Christian experience has also indicated that there are times and places where God feels especially present. Celtic Christians refer to those places as “thin places” where the gap between heaven and earth seems to shrink. Worship (at least true worship) is one of those thin times and places. In fact, without a sense of God’s presence, worship is not worship!

God’s nearness is not something we “bring down,” “whip up,” or otherwise manipulate. God’s presence is always something we “come into.”

So the question for those of us who plan worship is: Who’s responsible for ensuring God’s presence? Okay—I realize even in the phrasing of that sentence I was being sarcastic. God’s presence is assured; our task is to create an environment where God’s presence can be experienced. So what creates that environment?

First, the presence of the Word – all things in worship point to God as revealed in Jesus including Scripture. We can read the Bible and give suggestions for better and moral living yet still fail to invoke the presence of God’s living and active Word.

Second, our heartfelt praise--Morgenthaller maintains the first responsibility of those leading and planning worship is to be worshippers themselves! She makes a scary suggestion that the quality of our worship makes a difference in how God is revealed to the congregation! This is why I feel privileged to be in ministry with worship participants who truly do worship! I love the moment before the service when we gather for prayer. I used to worry that it was too “clique-ish” for us to huddle together before the service, but I know understand it to be a statement to the congregation that we do know that we must begin with prayer and a call to God to work through us before we can begin. It’s like a band taking a moment to tune up before a concert. This moment of prayer is the most important tuning of our instruments that we can ever do!

However, she leaves off the responsibility at that point. Perhaps because she is addressing worship leaders, pastors, and worship planners, she doesn’t go into the responsibility of the congregation—which by and large is out of our control. However, I know that part of entering into God’s presence is being receptive to it. As a lay person, I discovered that I experienced more in worship when I prepared myself for it. For instance, if I laid out the clothes and shoes on Saturday night rather than scrounging on Sunday morning, I was less stressed when I entered worship. Or when I read the scripture and ponder it before hearing the sermon. Most importantly, when I began to come to worship expecting to hear God’s voice instead of expecting someone to make God present for me, I began to experience God in every service no matter the quality of the music or the preaching! I share this observation not because it lets us worship planners off the hook, but because it frees up the worshipper to experience God even when we miss the mark!

God may indeed be waiting to reveal himself, but God is also waiting for us to draw near. C.S. Lewis

Worship Evangelism – Chapter 5 – Worship Essentials

(Sorry for the break in summarizing this book!)

The question for this chapter is: What does it take for something to “happen” in worship? The answer is simply a relationship with God. For it to be Christian worship, we are talking about a relationship with God as revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Essentially for something to happen in worship, we must be about the simple task of offering them Christ. Come to think of it—that at the core of the movement that John Wesley began. We should be really good at it. But we struggle.

Morgenthaller suggests that all relationships are based on four essentials and those essentials must be present in our worship.
Essential 1 – Nearness – a sense of God’s presence
Essential 2 – Knowledge – our worship must be centered on Christ—the ultimate revelation of God
Essential 3—Vulnerability – Opening up to God
Essential 4 – Interaction – Participating in a Relationship with God and others

I’ll take each essential separately as we explore what each means for our understanding of worship.

What's working well with young adult ministry?

According to "Googling for God," these are things that are working well in reaching young adults.
1. Ministry which takes advantage of the “Moments of Return” (e.g., weddings, baptisms, sickness, deaths, and life changes). We are already at work on some of these. We have recently changed the wedding policy to allow weddings of non-church members at Trinity and we are working on establishing a support/play group for single moms and their children. (Please let me know anyone you know of that we should invite to this!)
2. Ministry which has a “digital spirit.” We need an internet presence—the question is what kind?
3. Ministry which is open to dialogue. I recently asked my 21 year old son what his friends would want from a service and he said an opportunity to dialogue. He loved his experience at Renown because it allowed that opportunity. I think this is an essential piece to any new service.
4. Ministry which is rooted in both mystery and tradition. What must these young folks think when they walk into the New Room which is almost devoid of mystery and symbolism? What can we do to better advertise Taize which has both of these elements? Or how can we incorporate it into a service with other types of elements.
5. Ministry which has a mission element. Despite the 60 minutes segment I mentioned in the last post, these folks have a stronger sense of concern for the least, the last and the lost than my generation.
6. Ministry which provides life-giving community.


Can you think of anyting else?

iPods, Flipflops and CEOs

Phil Wright sent me a link to a really interesting video clip from last week's "60 Minutes" about issues of incorporating Millennials into the work place. He thought it might be helpful as we think about reaching this same generation for Christ and I think he is right. (It is also helpful to read some of the comments to the clip.) But it did bring several questions to my mind and I'd love your thoughts:
o Are the generalizations put forward by this segment true for all Millennials? One thing that struck me was that all of the young folks in this segment were upper middle class and highly education. What about the Millennials in our congregation who are working a couple of jobs, going to school, and managing a household?
o Are some of the “problems” mentioned here really problems? Dress? Flexibility? Priorities?
What are your thoughts?

Spiritual types of Young People

Despite the generation gap between Gen Xers and Millennials, they can be divided into seven different spiritual types. They are:
Eclipsed—These young people appear to have no interest in spiritual matters or religion. It isn’t that they haven’t had spiritual experiences but they are so busy with other things that they aren’t concerned with pursing spirituality or religion. The key to reaching this group is taking advantage of “moments of return”: funerals, baptisms, marriages.
Private—These young people are intentional about pursuing spirituality but they are have little use for outward display or public ritual. Many of these people are simply introverted. But they also tend to have had one of two different negative experiences: a boring, staid experience with little opportunity for social interaction or a service that lacks quiet mystery and opportunity for contemplation. What is needed to reach these young people are services that provide “a strong opportunity for contemplation and mystery in both preaching and ritual as well as a strong sense of welcome and hospitality that does not detract from the mystical aspects of ritual.”
Ecumenical—a growing number of young adults see no sense in the divisions within Christianity and that one group is as good as another. This is especially true among the unchurched young adults. However, among churched young adults there is a growing sense of certitude about their faith, traditions and doctrine and when these ecumenically-minded young adults run up against the others they are not accepted and even judged.
Evangelical—in this case, the author uses this term in a different way than I would define it. For him (or in Catholic circles?) this appears to be more an issue of style than content. These young people want to use all their senses in prayer and worship. They like vibrant Christian rock music, emotional preaching, and rigid commitment to the group. They are looking for something solid to grab on to and tend toward fundamentalism.
Sacramental—These young people find meaning in the sacraments of the church. Obviously, these tend to be “churched” young adults because that is where the sacraments are located. (Note we are not talking here about people who find God’s presence in everyday places and events but those which find great meaning in Holy Communion and Baptism as well as confession and corporate prayer.) This is a significant minority.
Prophetic—These young people prefer to go against the grain of the status quo. They see Jesus as an important example of how to live and how to treat others. They understand the model of Christ to be a model of service and have little interest in aspects of Christianity that move beyond that idea.
Communal—These are the extroverts. They want to pray but not alone! They are looking for fellowship groups, retreats and faith sharing.

Googling God

I've just started reading the book "Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s." I didn't realize when I ordered it off Amazon that it focuses on Roman Catholicism. However, it is an easy read and I think it brings up some interesting observations.

First, the author sets out to help us identify young adults. I love the subtitle of the chapter, "Would you know a young adult if you fell over one in the aisle?" Of course, it is easy enough to spot a young person, but one of the things the author points out is that they are a very diverse group. It is very hard to make assumptions about them individually based on their generation. However, there are also marked differences in the worldview of Gen Xers and Post-Millennials.

Okay, so let's begin by defining the generations. According to sociologists, Jackson W. Carroll and Wade Clark Roof: "a generation's identity is, to a considerable extent, a narrative construct as people age and look back upon and interpret their experiences." So what most defines the generations is the events that they lived through. Most of us know that about Baby Boomers. These are the folks born following WWII -- roughly from 1945 to 1964. The events that define their attitudes are Vietnam, Kent State, Watergate. No wonder we boomers are largely a rather skeptical bunch. Millennials were born following 1980 and the events which define them are 9/11, Columbine, the Indian Tsunami, Katrina, and Virginia Tech. Gen Xers on the other hand lack a strong identity. They did experience the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Iranian hostage situation, and Tianiman Square, but those were all distant events that didn't change their view of the world.

Now that we have defined them, the author points out characteristics that studies have shown apply to the Gen Xers and the Millennials:

Gen X
• Share skepticism for institutions and authority figures with the Boomers although they tend to be more apathetic than Boomers about this skepticism.
• Seek communal and nurturing relationships
• Don’t have a deep need for intellectual certitude
• Experience is at the crux of how they make meaning of the world
• Want a religion that challenges them spiritual to become more involved in the lives of others
• Tenets of faith are tested through critical reasoning and every tenet is put to the test
• Articulate spiritual experiences well but have a harder time articulating facts surrounding their traditions

Millennials
• The world is full of uncertainty so they seek things they can depend on, things that have stood the test of time, things they regard as true, and things that are greater than themselves
• Share a lot in common with Pre-Boomers (the Greatest Generation)
• Long for certitude and a God who orders everything and makes sense of the world
• “the most watched over generation in history”
• Accept authority figures as trustworthy and believe rules are good
• Respond to preaching that instructs because they want quick answers
• Need relief from the saturation of the media
• Need a place of quiet mystery and reflection
• But they will participate in communal activities that discuss individual salvation and with strong symbols of religiosity
• Tenets of faith are tested by whether or not a person can measure up to them
• Believe in absolute truth
• Can articulate their beliefs but have no idea why they believe it
• Need (and open to) mentoring by older more experienced adults

Both
• Appreciate the mystical sense of the Divine
• Seek a theology that is contemplative and demanding

How embarrasing!!!

What can possibly seem so incongrious as a blog discussing hospitality and openess to everyone that only allow "registered users" to post! I honestly don't know how the defaults got messed up on my blogs. I've corrected the problem on all of them and now anyone can post a comment. You don't have to be a registered user and you can post anonymously.

So please, feel free to comment!

Worship Evangelism -- Chapter 4 -- Worship Evangelism: The Reasons

I confess I have found this chapter rather tedious. The reason? The thrust of the chapter is to convince people that worship should be open to everyone: both seekers and believers alike. My firm belief in the beauty and power of God's prevenient grace (the grace at work in our lives even before we believe)makes the idea of different events for seekers and believers seem ridiculous. However, she does share some thoughts on defining worship and evangelism in some helpful ways.

Worshippers, don't just enjoy God's wonderful presence for yourselves. Call others to join you there through faith in Christ. And those of you who want to see the world come to Christ, don't just call men and women to believe, call them to worship. --Gerrit Gustafson

We need to be creating an atmosphere of unparalleled welcome and acceptance in our places of worship. It should not matter what kind of religious credentials people have, what their income is, how they look, or where they spent Saturday night. God meets people where they are. And that means our churches should be public, not private, space.

In worship that witnesses, God's truth and the uniqueness of Christ are communicated primarily through the worshippers and the acts of worship and only secondarily through the sermon . . . .

And if that is true (and I believe it is true), how would our worship services differ from their current format?

What is worship evangelism? Gerrit Gusafson defines it in two profound but simple phrases: "wholehearted worshipers calling the whole world to the whole hearted worship of God . . .[and] the fusion of the power of God's presence with the power of the gospel."

Please help me by praying for a core group of wholehearted worshippers to help start this new service.

Missional Versus Attractional

In my shared items list, you will find two articles discussing ways of measuring the effectiveness of a church. Most of the article is more appropriate to applying to Trinty as a whole than just to a single ministry (or worship service) within it. But I was struck by one of his comments that I think speaks to the overall goal in all that we do.

There ought to be a visible impact crater around every congregation. The community around the building, and the people around the people of the congregation ought to be different and getting better in measurable ways because you are who you are and where you are.

What kind of crater is Trinty currently making in our community? And what kind of crater should a new service make?

The "C" Bomb

Check out the above article from The Ooze to read more of this article. But these lines seem to summarize the article for me:

We have the A-bomb, the F-bomb, and whether we like it or not, we now have the “C-bomb.” The term “C-bomb” refers to Christians, Christianity and the Church. This is not my opinion. It is an empirically verifiable fact, as evidenced by the research conducted over the past several years by the Barna Group. . . .The reality is the C-bomb is not being stored in some underground bunker. The C-bomb has detonated in our midst! What shall we do? Walk around in stunned silence? Continue to deny that we are the walking wounded as others avoid us? Are we going to pick up the pieces and rebuild a remnant of the memory of more of the same? something that doesn’t produce the results that bring glory to our Lord and Savior by focusing on more of the same or will be become capable of coming together in a new revolution of hope:
“A revolution of hope is not just a matter of reading a book or hearing an inspiring sermon. True, a book or sermon or personal encounter may be a vehicle through which hope wins our hearts. But a revolution of hope makes radical demands of us. It requires us to learn new skills and habits and capacities: the skills of a new way of thinking, the capacities of a new way of living….it is a new way of life that changes everything.” – Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change – Jesus, Global Crises and a Revolution of Hope. Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN Copyright © 2007 by Brian D. McLaren. P. 283.

As we prepare for this new service, what changes do we need to make in our lives, in how we "do" both church and worship to defuse the C-Bomb in our midst?

Furthermore, is the C-Bomb as much of a threat in the Bible Belt of the U.S. as other areas? Do we still have some authority with folks?

Worship Evangelism -- Chapter 3 Yesterday's Gone -- Challenges!

Challenge One -- Getting out of the way

A lot of business must be going on between people and God that we don't produce or control. We are responsible to create the worship environment, and beyond that to give people permission to interact with God according to His work in their own hearts. Chuck Smith, Jr.

Challenge Two -- Keeping a Biblical Worldview

The world represented in Scripture is an open and dynamic world, far removed from the distorted, closed system of the Enlightenment. But it is also a world that is rooted in theological fact.

Worship Evangelism -- Chapter 3 Yesterday's Gone

It is time to seize the moment and give people good reasons for coming back to church. It is time to offer real worship experiences in the dynamic, life-altering package of spirit and truth. It is time to get out of the way and allow people to make whole-person contact with the God behind all the wonder and mystery. Third-millennial America is hungry for what the church has to offer; we just need to make sure we are offering it.

It somehow seemed appropriate to begin the summary of this chapter with her final paragraph which challenges us to reflect on: What is the purpose of the church and worship? What are the needs of Third-millennial America? How can we both address these needs and get out of the way? What constitutes a "dynamic, life-altering package of spirit and truth"?

This chapter begins by challenging our assumptions about the un-churched. In the early days of seeker services, the assumption was that people weren't interested in God, or mystery, or symbols, or tradition. And while that may have been true in the 80s (and I think she maintains it never was true), it is not true today. So in response to that assumption, she makes the following points:
1. People today are very interested in "spirituality" but this tends to be an individualized pursuit disconnected from what they consider "religion." (Tony Akers has a wonderful description of the difference between spirituality and discipleship on his blog -- Check it out!)
2. The un-churched are skeptical of the church -- especially the evangelical church.
3. As the title of a recent book reminds us: "They like Jesus but not the Church." They like Christ but not Christians. Actually this isn't quite right. They like the idea of Jesus and they like his teachings, but they aren't too sure we (Christians) live as Jesus taught.

[George] Barna asserts, "The unchurched don't have a problem with God so much as they have a problem with God's religious franchises--the church." In other words, it is us, God's representatives, who are the main barriers to seekers' church attendance. We are the problem, not God or even the idea of God.

Most [unchurched], however want to do more than just "investigate the claims of Christ"; they want to meet Christ in us and the Christ in our services.

4. Atheism is out. (Now she wrote this before the recent onslaught of books by atheists or the filming of the Golden Compass, but honestly I still think they are hollering so loudly because they are losing the battle.) One of the reasons, atheism is losing ground is that whenever times are risky and anxious, people discover they NEED to believe in something beyond them.

In the book Megatrends 2000, (written obviously before the year 2000!) the authors predicted, "When people are buffeted by change,the need for spiritual belief intensifies . . . .The worship of science and the rational to a great extent has been thrown over for a religious revival that specifically values the emotional and the nonrational. We have watched the ideal of progress give way to the return of faith. As the symbolic year 2000 approaches humanity is not abandoning science, but through religious revival, we are reaffirming the spiritual in what is now a more balanced quest to better our lives and those of our neighbor."

5. Spirituality in the 90s (and now in the new millennium) is somewhat of a all you can eat cafeteria affair. People read books, surf the internet, and talk to their friends, then they pick and choose what they want to believe.

Jim Peterson notes this kind of feast is "especially attractive to America's unchurched generation." He claims, "Many are finding they cannot live on secularization and have begun to search for a religious experience that neither established religions nor science has been able to provide."

6. They want to EXPERIENCE God--not just talk about God!

If you talk religion to us, we expect to receive a spiritual experience of the living God. We want, as a generation, to move beyond philosophical discussions of religions to the actual experience of God in our lives.

What is interesting about the quote above is that it comes from a Baby Boomer!
7. We are dealing with a new world view. The assumptions of the Enlightenment are being questioned and found lacking. Science no longer seems to hold the answer to our problems. We are distrustful of institutions to solve our problems. And maybe we are finally coming to realize that we can't save ourselves let alone our world. And even what we know from science has changed and opens up the possibility that there is something else at work in the world.

The old idea of an unchanged and static universe has been replaced by the notion of a dynamic and expanding universe, a universe that had to have a beginning, will have an ending, and more than likely has a creator. Robert Webber

For science may never answer why the generative laws are what they are--nor how they were created. Newsweek

8. Have I mentioned that the unchurch want an experience of God not just talk of God?! George Barna again! says:

Countless Americans have rejected Christianity because they wanted to grow in spirituality, but were taught about spirituality.