The Great Generational Divide

By Brad Ransom

Perhaps the hymn writer said it best when he penned the familiar lyrics:

This world is not my home; I'm just a passing through;
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Unfortunately, these lyrics also depict how many church leaders feel when they look at the world around them. We don’t live in the same world we grew up in. The world is changing constantly and quickly. With every new generation, traditions, practices, and preferences change a little more. Our generation made changes previous generations didn’t like, and generations following us adopted things we don’t care for. Welcome to the great generational divide.

In light of generational thinking, people are asking questions about the church. If someone asked, “How do you build a church?” someone from the Builder generation (born before 1945) would have one answer. If you asked the same question of a Boomer (born between 1946-1964) you would likely hear a different answer. Asking the same question of a Generation Xer (born
between 1965-1976) and a Millennial (born between 1977-1995), will elicit different answers from each group.

None of the answers would necessarily be wrong, but all of the answers would be influenced by style, preferences, culture, worldview, and peer pressure. So, the answer to the question, “How do you build a church?” varies based on who you ask. Does that make some answers right and other answers wrong? I don’t think so, because practices in the church are based on many external factors such as culture, generational makeup, and sociological implications.

What is the best answer? How do you build a church? Most pastors and church planters are working hard to figure this out. Some important preliminary questions must be asked, including: What is my cultural context? Who am I trying to reach? What does the community around my church need? These and similar questions must be answered to determine how to build a church.

The one answer I can give you is that building a church is different in every context. This is why we can’t (and shouldn’t) try to build a church like some existing megachurch. Not only do we need to know our population, growth index, and other demographic information, we need to know our community—exactly who we are trying to reach.

Scripture illustrates this best. First Corinthians 9:19-23 says:

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

What was Paul saying? First, let me address what Paul isn’t saying. He isn’t saying the gospel isn’t important; in fact, he is saying the opposite. Second, he isn’t saying sin can be ignored. This isn’t a passage about sin, morals, or even right and wrong. It’s a passage about how to relate to people for the sake of the gospel. Third, he isn’t saying, it’s okay to say whatever you want, or that truth isn’t important.

Paul was willing to do anything within his power to relate to the world around him so he could reach them with the gospel.

So how do we apply this? First, we need to know those we are trying to reach. This determines our methods to reach them. That’s exactly what Paul was saying. When trying to reach Jews, he relied on his Jewish heritage and acted and talked like a Jew. He talked about patriarchs like Abraham, Moses, and David. He would talk about how Abraham was justified by faith, and his Jewish audience would understand what he meant. It would be relevant to them.

But he didn’t talk like this to non-Jews. They didn’t know (and probably didn’t care) about Abraham, Moses, and David. It didn’t matter to them that Abraham was justified by faith. That meant nothing to them. Paul related to them using something they understood, from an idol or pagan religious practice to athletics or cultural traditions. Paul probably learned this from Jesus Himself. When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, He related the gospel to living water. When He spoke to farmers, He used farming analogies and stories. What Paul and Jesus did is exactly what I’m talking about.

What does this mean for you and your church? It means you need to find out who you are trying to reach to reach them effectively. If the majority of people living in your community are Baby Boomers, outreach, advertising, and the service style should reflect that demographic. If Gen Xers are your target, gear your methods for them. If you are trying to reach Millennials, it will affect how you do things.

Some Gen Xers, Boomers, and Builders prefer a more traditional service. However, the majority of Gen Xers and Millennials (and the upcoming iGeneration) usually prefer contemporary style and casual dress. That’s not an indictment; it’s simply the truth regarding generational preferences. What’s the real difference between “How Great Thou Art” and “How Great Is Our God?” Musical preference. Both songs are biblically accurate. Both are excellent musically. Both are beautiful, but the truth is, most people prefer one song to the other. Perhaps this preference is personal—they grew up with one, and it’s more familiar. Maybe their preference is stylistic—they prefer 1885 over 2005. Maybe their preference is sacrificial. What do I mean by that? Maybe they realize the music of the people they are trying to reach is different from their own. Maybe they’re willing to sacrifice their own preferences to reach others.

The Apostle Paul easily could have said, “I have a message to proclaim. It’s the message of Jesus Christ. If you don’t know Christ or the background of the Jews, go get the Torah and read it. When you can talk my language, come back, and we’ll talk then.” No! He didn’t do that. But sometimes we do. We cling to our personal preferences and insist others conform to us.

I’m a Boomer. I was born in 1962. I think like a Boomer and act like a Boomer. I can’t help it. I am a Boomer. You may or may not be a Boomer. Just remember, not everyone is like you. I can’t force everyone to be a Boomer. I can’t force everyone to like the things I like. I don’t have to like what they like, but I do have to care about what they think and like, or I will never be able to reach them. Regardless of my likes and dislikes, I must put them aside to reach people who are not like me.

The primary thing we must remember is that everyone, of every generation, shares a universal need—to know Christ. We need to be willing to do whatever it takes to reach them. It may look and feel different than anything we’ve tried before, but that’s okay. The Apostle Paul, once steeped in the tradition of Jews, put his preferences aside to reach others, and we can too! We must not let the fear of change (or trying something new) keep us from reaching the next generation for Christ.

About the Writer: Brad Ransom is director of church planting for FWB North American Ministries: www.fwbnam.com.