It seems the whole world has caught Millennial fever.
Everywhere I go, I hear about the Millennial generation and their
impact on our culture. Case in point: just a couple of weeks ago the cover of
my British Airways magazine asked, “How Millennial are You?” And I totally felt
compelled to read the article and find out.
Indeed, the Millennials are a trend-setting,
culture-molding, world-changing generation, a point I made in an earlier post
called, “Millennials and the Church.”
But what about the rest of us? Where do we fit it in the
grand scheme of things? This is an especially pertinent question as we consider the changes happening in the church, i.e. the erosion of Christendom, the decline of mainline denominations, and the rise of more non-institutional forms. I believe it is important to know who we are and where we have come from as the Body of Christ so we can prepare our collective future together.
To that end, over the next few weeks I will be doing a fun and hopefully insightful series on the generations, outlining what makes them tick, including some highlights of their spiritual makeup. I will dedicate a week to each of the generational cohorts –
Generation X, Baby Boomers, the Silent Generation, and the G.I. Generation – giving a brief snapshot of each one. I will wait until the end of the series to make some concluding remarks about the importance of intergenerational partnering in the church.
This week we
take a quick look at Generation X.
Generation X
Not sure if you’re part of Gen X? Here’s a quiz to help you.
Have you ever, in your lifetime:
- Declared your love for someone by creating a mixed tape?
- instructed someone not to "have a cow"?
- slow danced to REO Speedwagon’s, “I Can’t Fight This
Feeling”?
- Girls: used hairspray to create “the claw" with your
bangs
Guys: worn eyeliner and an earring because they
made you look “rad”?
- been asked the question, "Do you have VHS or
Betamax?"
- Do the names Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, and Mark
Goodman mean anything to you?
 |
| Madonna & her epic claw |
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are probably part of Generation X. Born between 1965 and 1980, Gen X is also known as the MTV generation and the “slacker” generation. They were the first generation to be tech-savvy, and the first to have computers.
Because Gen X grew up during the economically difficult 1980s,
many times both parents worked. In addition, many Gen Xers became victims of a
rising divorce rate. As a result, these “latch-key kids” (so called because
they came home from school to an empty house while their parents worked)
learned to take care of themselves.
Because of their independence and self-sufficiency,
Generation X tend to have a distrust of institutions and leaders, and this includes the
church. Whereas their Baby Boomer predecessors openly rebelled against their parents,
adult Xers exhibit more of a casual disdain for those in authority, probably
because they had learned early on that they could make it on their own.
A longitudinal study conducted between 1991-2011 by the
Barna Group made some interesting findings about the spiritual health of
Generation X:
- The number of people making a personal commitment to Jesus Christ rose 12% during the time period
- Bible reading rose 9%
- Christian volunteerism also rose 9%
- But the number of people who attend church was down 8% over the same time period.(1)
It is fascinating to me that church attendance is down among
Generation X while personal faith and commitment to Jesus Christ is at an all
time high. What gives? Could it be a reflection of the fact that Generation X is searching
for something beyond the traditional, institutional forms of church?
Stay tuned!
(By the way, this series on the generations is adapted from my upcoming book!)
(1) Barna Group, “Barna Describes Religious
Changes Among Busters, Boomers, and Elders Since 1991,” July 27, 2011.
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