I’m back after a three-week Christmas break from posting and I want to pick up where I left off. My last post included the following:
One thing that has been put on the table concerns the shift from modernism to postmodernism, observing that the shift actually hasn’t happened yet but is in process. Also, that the shift from one to the other will be subtle and gradual.
I’m only a few days into thinking this through, but here is what I’ve come up with so far:
Phase 1: Modernism
Phase 2: Postmodern Modernism
Phase 3: Modern Postmodernism
Phase 4: Postmodernism
As I have thought further about this, it occurs to me that there is a need to consider different points of view or perspective. Speaking in general terms, let’s say that my generation, the boomers, is looking at postmodernism from the perspective of modernity, while the younger adult generation is looking at modernism from the perspective of postmodernity. There are pros and cons from each perspective.
The modern older generation is looking through eyes that have great experience and yet, of course, are influenced by an ownership of the corporate, upwardly mobil ethos of modernity. The postmodern younger generation is looking through eyes that are influenced by a suspicion of the corporate, upwardly mobil ethos of modernity. It seems to me that the boomer is driven by what he/she wants to achieve while the post-boomer is driven by what he/she wants to avoid.
Admittedly, this is a generalization, but if I’m even close to the truth I think there are implications as to why there is a generational divide in the church. That divide has at least two elements. Element 1 is that churches led by boomers are behind the cultural curve at this point and provide little opportunity for post-boomers to lead, though they lament the absence of post-boomers in the church. Element 2 is that churches led by post-boomers, mostly young church plants, are in sync with the cultural curve, but are failing to appreciate the ground breaking advancements that boomers brought to the church.
Consider this: several months ago I stopped by the offices of a few year old, post-boomer plant in southern California to pick up some training materials. This required a transfer of digital data to a hard drive I was carrying with me and the process took a half hour or so. As I waited, I sat on the outer edge of a staff meeting that was taking place. As I listened, I was taken back to staff meetings I had attended a generation ago and the ongoing dialogue sounded a lot like what I heard and was saying back then.
I thought to myself – been there, done that. What I realized is that, despite perhaps being out of touch as an aging boomer, I had lived the ministry life these young leaders were living and had thought many of the thoughts they were thinking. In short, we aren’t so different after all. It’s just that I have more mileage as an older model, hence, the paradox: the more experience you have, the more out of touch you might become.
So what? Boomers – please stop thinking that you know it all while these post-boomers don’t seem to know anything. And post-boomers, or postmoderns, don’t throw the baby boomers out with the bathwater.
