It’s a different world out there....

Last weekend we spent out of town, visiting friends in Niagara Region where we entered ministry 14 years ago.  Seeing kids grown up, becoming young adults, is both interesting and challenging.  We want to see the next generation walk with Christ, and the question that is on my mind are we prepared to mentor this next generation?  They live in a totally different world.  A book I recently read by Leonard Sweet, ‘Viral: how social networking is poised to ignite revival,’made me consider new realities.  A few metaphors I would use are borrowed from his book.

Consider this, cell phones have replaced the automobile as the major way young people create their own identity separate from parents and outside the control of adult dictation.  Digital culture does not think “drive first”; it thinks TGIF (and if you did not recognize acronym – you are an ‘immigrant’ to the digital culture!  à TGIF stands for Twitter, Google, iPhone/Pad, Facebook J).  When we, older folks, grew up, we were eager to get a driver’s license.  One parent was pressuring a teen recently to take a driving test, and the objection was “But Dad, you get fined or arrested for texting while driving!”

Consider two terms used “Gutenbergers” (people of the book era) vs “Googlers” (people of the internet).  Where do you fit in?  Internet was invented in 1994.  My four boys have grown up with internet browsing.  I had to learn that language in my 20s.  So I am an immigrant in the Googler world. Youth under 20 are ‘natives’ to the internet and digital era. If you need to get diagnosed where you fit in, just consider these few questions:

Have you written a cheque to pay a bill in the past two month, or do it online?

Have you mastered enough acronyms for quick and efficient texting?

Have you used a postage stamp in the past two month?

Are you still listed in the phone book in the past 3 years?

Have you looked up a number, an address in Yellow Pages in the past year?

The world has changed.  In 2011 ford revealed their new models first on the Facebook, not the autoshow! If Facebook were be a nation, it would be 3^rd in the world Today 80% of world population has a cell-phone! the handheld device we call “smart-phone’ can double as your wallet, credit card, keys, bank, remote control, airline ticket, video-conferencing centre, photo-camera, office, Bible, library...

How can we, adults, connect and disciple juniors, who live in a different world?  Can we find points of contact to share wisdom, to give guidance and direction? If Jesus would be here today, would he tweet, facebook, send a text?

This new proliferation of social media and technology is connecting the world like never before.  The knowledge is increasing.  Access to the sermons, worship services is at the fingertips of anyone who cares to search.  Could it be that God is orchestrating final movements to communicate the Gospel?  The current generation is driven by a god-given desire to know others and to be known by others.  Can revival be far behind?