The Generational Gap

I recently attended a service at my church that is geared towards the older members. One of the topics that they discussed during my time there was the generational gap between Christians closer to my age and Christians closer to their age. I was amazed to find that there are people ages 60 and up that blame themselves for this gap. They explained that it is their fault for not making it known to younger Christians that they know what the younger Christians are going through. Often times, after all, they have been through the exact same thing.

I don't subscribe to this school of thought. I believe that the gap is the fault of my generation. We have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed by our Schools and faulty teaching of many churches. We have been taught that the "old fashioned" way of doing things is the wrong way. We have taken on a post-modernish view of Christianity in which any way you feel like doing it is fine.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that you can worship God however you see fit, as long as it's within the parameters laid out in His holy word. However, at some point in my generations quest for tolerance from the older generations, we've ceased to tolerate them. We want them to accept our praise and worship music, yet we have deemed their hymns "too boring" for our church services. We've deemed their social and spiritual issues "too irrelevant" for our sermons.

What both sides of this argument must understand is that our Worship is not about the style. It's about the content. We as young people must understand why the older crowd loves the hymns like the do. Have we ever stopped long enough to read the beautiful words of Amazing Grace or How Great Thou Art? No, because all we are concerned about is feeding our unquenchable appetite for stimulation.

We need to get back to the root of Christianity. We need to start practicing our faith as the Bible tells us to do so. Our faith is not about singing the catchiest tunes or preaching the wittiest sermons. It's about glorifying God. It's fine to find the way to glorify Him that best suits your wants and desires, but make sure you are doing it in a way that pleases Him according to His holy word. Most importantly, don't fault the other guy for doing it his way.