Reaching People Where They Are

In my professional life we have been in the process of examining learning styles of the new generation. As I have researched many educational systems and philosophies I keep coming up with several articles on generational differences in the church. The following article breaks down the groups that make up our society and church of today.

Reaching People Where They Are
by Roger Palms

If we believe that one method of presenting the Gospel is adequate for all listeners, we may miss out. Why? Because generations hear what we say in the context of their own culture. The Gospel doesn't change, but the way that people hear the Gospel does change.
The Holy Spirit knows the heart of each person in each generation. As faithful followers of Jesus Christ, we can be alert to how the Holy Spirit is reaching out to people where they are and not treat people as though they are the same as we are.

The characteristics of the generational categories are not firmly fixed. People are individuals, and the generations are on a continuum. But as we reach out to people and seek to bear fruit for Christ, we need to be aware of the ways that different generations learn and the cultural influences that they have when they hear the Gospel. Who are these generations?

Millennials --- born 1982 or later

Some 72 million young people comprise this age group. Millennials are the second-largest segment of society.

They respect their parents more than their parents know. They listen to their grandparents more than their grandparents realize. They are savvy to advertising hype, eager to pursue meaningful relationships, interested in what worked in the past. Millennials long for stability.
Who are they? They are Generation Y, the net generation, the echo boom, the bridgers --those who are coming of age in the new millennium. And they are open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
They are curious about concepts of sin and redemption. They experience little residual Christianity in their culture. Many are absolutely certain of only one thing: there are no absolutes.

Many Millennials get their religion from the Internet. They combine Eastern philosophies and New Age leftovers, an eclectic gathering of this and that. Yet Jesus is attractive to them.
Show them who Jesus Christ is.

Busters --- born 1965-1982

Busters are the first of a totally postmodern generation. The 65 million in this age group have been called the X Generation, the Boomer shadow, the nowhere generation, the "shy me?" generation. They don't like those labels.

They long to be respected, to be listened to, to be appreciated. They want to be treated individually, not as a collection or a group. They were latchkey kids, many from divorced and blended families. They watched MTV with its constantly changing images. Feeling is more important than content, process than function.

They would like to fix things, especially the things they think that the generation before them has broken. They want marriages that last. Children are important to them. "How did you stay married?" they ask. "How did you find God?" "What's it like to have inner peace?" they want to know.

They are spiritual, but for many of them anything spiritual will do. They are into "faiths" more than faith. They are looking for something to give them meaning and hope.
Point them to the One who can give that to them.

Boomers --- born 1946-1964

Boomers --- 77 million strong --- have influenced everything around them.
Boomers went through the era of Vietnam War, campus unrest, the "hippie" movement, free speech, free love, the Jesus movement. But they also got caught up in the greedy `80s. They are known as much for being the "me" generation as they are for being the change-theworld-with-a-cause generation.

They want to know how Christianity works, primarily how it works "for me in my life." They want to know, "Will God help me with my finances, my divorce, my children?"

We can speak to that if we will come alongside and hear them. Many Boomers are coming to the point in life where they wonder, "Is this all there is? Isn't there something more?" Boomers are exploring church again, old truths again, hearing again the message that they pushed away when they first rebelled against their parents' generation.

Offer them solid Bible content that they can apply to their lives and discuss with their peers.

Builders --- born 1930-1945

Also called the silent generation, 33 million Builders are sometimes considered the nongeneration. They weren't of age during the Great Depression or during World War II, but they weren't part of the Vietnam War and campus unrest either. They are in-between.
They want certainty; they have a sense of responsibility and duty. They want their lives to count for something.

More resolved than the generations that have followed them, Builders formed their philosophies and convictions during their student years and didn't change too much afterward. But their hearts still have that inner restlessness that God put there.

We can quote the Bible to Builders; they respect it as God's Truth. Yet many may think that they have heard it all before and even may have tried Christianity once --- but what they may have tried was church and rules without having encountered the living Christ as Savior and Lord.

Show them what it means to be right with God by God's definition, to move past faith in faith to faith in Christ.

Seniors --- born 1929 or earlier

Of the 25 million people in this generation, many Seniors came of age during the Great Depression and fought in World War II. They are loyal, conservative, hardworking, patriotic. If they know about Christianity, it may be more denominational than biblical, more like a club to be joined just as they join civic or community organizations.

Seniors may be struggling with illness, with financial limitations, with worries about children and grandchildren, and with loneliness because they have fewer friends still living. They also may be filled with fear: fear for physical safety on the streets, fear of the future, fear of death.

Tell them about the One who takes away all fear. Tell them the Good News of God's peace and security and the certainty of salvation in heaven.Are we ready to change? Our day is similar to the days of the first century. When Cornelius, a Gentile, needed to hear the Gospel, God broke the Apostle Peter out of his old way of thinking so that he could become the evangelist that God wanted him to be. And Peter was big enough to change (Acts 10:1-48).