Sunday, 29 March 2009

• Is There More to Our Generation of Evangelicals Than Just Angst?

  by Goose of Faith & Geekery
  

  Mark Driscoll has built a whole church and a national following largely upon being hipper than the rest of his fellow Evangelicals - and also on a healthy dose of John Calvin. I happened to catch his recent appearance on the now-defunct D. L. Hughley Breaks the News on CNN, where Driscoll yukked it up with the host about how judgmental and small minded all those other Evangelical hosers are.

  Now I obviously don’t hang out with Mr. Driscoll personally, although I did once walk past him on the doorstep of a hotel in Saint Paul, MN. He looked like he could eat a live duck. Many of my closest friends clutch him to their bosom pretty tightly (philosophically, not physically). And obviously, his ministry in Seattle is bringing people to Christ. This isn’t a Mark Driscoll hit job; he’s just one of most visible faces of a huge number of superfluously angsty Evangelical young persons.

  A fly on a wall ensconcing discussions amongst many young Evangelicals today has a pretty hefty chance to overhear hearty denunciations.

  We’re not doing enough to look like the culture, to speak like the culture speaks, to get of our Christian bubble, and… to have the right kind of java in the church coffee shop!

  Or…

  Evangelicals have become too sold out to a political party! We should be in the community instead of putting our faith in Washington!

  Or perhaps…

  Why are we always talking about rules? We need to love on folks.

  Now, clearly an insect wouldn’t have the linguistic prowess to understand what he was hearing, and who knows if flies even have ears. The point is moot.

  Our generation, particularly the portion of us just now burgeoning into our 20s, is very skillful at finding problems. We, at times rightfully, decry outdated talking points, non-coolness in presentation, even that old blackguard James Dobson (I had to get a Doctor Dobson reference in here somehow).

  A radio titan is a good segue too, because what actually got me thinking along these lines recently were my venerable and munificent fellow FG writers Mike and Aaron’s recent posts. Mike talked about how disappointed he was with Fireproof being chosen as inspirational movie of the year, and Aaron spoke about whether or nay a Christian film industry was necessary at all. While I agree with much of what they both said and am in awe of both of them as beings, I think some of the sentiments they espoused can be / are being employed in this wider angst-fest. The debate over whether or nay there should be a certain labeling for a Christian film is legitimate, but there’s just so much time being invested shallywacking these other Christians who are (at times mightily imperfectly) trying to make a positive impact through film.

  Many young Christians are simply embarrassed over the legacy that Evangelicals have in our culture. Obviously there have been mistakes, and we do need to learn the lessons of the past. But I do have some good news! I just saved a bunch on my — No, wait…even better. God doesn’t need you to do his PR for him! We can spend less time worrying about what people think of us, less time trying to distance ourselves from our past, and more time worrying about what we believe and how to reach people for Christ. Understandably though, angst can be a lot easier than action.

  Is the only skill of our generation of believers going to be found in whining about problems with other believers? If the answer is yes, then we might as well go and eat a live duck like Mr. Driscoll appeared he was prepared to do on the hotel stoop. Or will we dare to use our intellect, increased technological sophistication and creativity to go out there and do better?

  There’s plunty of pluck in people our age, and plenty of passion for Christ. We can do this. But might we also cut down on the friendly fire? Busting up Christians we don’t think are doing a good enough job presenting the message doesn’t accomplish much. But going out there with zest, faith, and wisdom gained from lessons learned… now that might just accomplish everything.

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