Previous | Next 

Builders, Boomers and Busters

Elmer Thiessen

“Relevancy: Listening to the builders, boomers and busters.” This heading was found on the front cover of the April 14 issue of the Herald – part of an excellent series on the church. This heading referred to an article by Bill McRae, “Serving our Generation”, which begins with a plea for the Christian church to adapt to the rapidly changing times of the 21st century. David is held up as a model of someone who “served God’s purpose in his own generation” (Acts 13:36). The men of Issachar, too, “understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). The core of this article is an analysis of the varying characteristics of builders, boomers and busters, with the aim of helping the church serve the present generation.

Analyses of the various generations of our time abound, as do the calls for relevancy. I am becoming increasingly concerned about these analyses and calls.

Description. For one thing, such calls represent a preoccupation with the findings of the social sciences. Much time is spent describing the characteristics of Generation X and Y and whatever the next generation will be called. Preoccupation with the social sciences leaves us at the mercy of social scientists, who are very much the experts of our time. But they can get things wrong, and there are biases that can distort their findings. Most importantly, though, we need to be careful not to become too preoccupied with understanding our times. Prescription (knowing what we should do) is more important than description (knowing what is).

People. I also worry about our tendency to categorize, to put labels on groups of people. Such categories divide people. They also overlook the important fact that human nature really does remain the same over time. The basic human needs of builders, boomers and busters are all the same. We all need love. We all need a solution to our common problem of sin. We all need Jesus. We all need some discipline. We must be very careful not to exaggerate the differences between generations.

I have been teaching at universities and colleges for over 30 years. I have become familiar with each new generation entering higher education, and I can testify that roughly students have remained the same. Yes, I am aware of some differences. If anything, students are becoming more self-centred and promiscuous in the last while. But, even here, we know that human nature has always been sinful, and that self-centredness and promiscuity are as old as humanity.

Relevance. Trying to be relevant can be carried to an extreme. Frequent reference is made to Paul’s model of becoming “all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). But what exactly does this mean? Surely it does not mean that in a class of self-centred and promiscuous students I should become self-centred and promiscuous in order to win these students for Christ. Surely it does not even mean that I should change my approach (my “methodology” as McRae maintains) in order to somehow identify with these students more closely. Yet that is the impression I sometimes get when I hear calls to be relevant to the next generation. We are told to adjust what we do and say to the generation we are serving, but how far can we take this?

I teach courses in ethics at a secular college. What does it mean for me to be relevant to a generation of students who are very self-centred and promiscuous? Do I water down my defence of absolute moral values? Not at all. For me, understanding today’s student means that I must be even clearer in defending the values of generosity and sexual faithfulness in marriage than in times when those values were largely accepted. My students often don’t like this emphasis of mine. I recall a lecture where I was defending the possibility of absolutes in the area of sexual ethics. One girl responded, loudly, so all could hear, “You have just spoiled my weekend.” Sadly, this girl never returned to class. You lose some. On the other hand, I get students who come to me after the course and inform me that at first they thought I was crazy, but by the end they have come to see that there must be some ethical absolutes after all. That is what it means to understand and serve the next generation. Instead, too often in the church we are adjusting what we do and say (method and content) in accordance with the characteristics of the next generation based on the “expertise” of the sociologist; as a result, “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst” (Amos 8:13).

Preference. Thus far, I have spoken generally about the problem inherent in letting “description” govern “prescription”. Let me now apply this specifically to some of the features often thought to characterize the various generations in the church. Bill McRae suggests that each characteristic of the three segments of our generation is just a “preference” and that “none of these characteristics is wrong.”

This is nonsense – derived from a preoccupation with sociological description. We need to courageously engage in ethical and spiritual evaluation of the dominant characteristics of each generation.

Take, for example, the “preferences” in worship. Builders like reverence. Perhaps they are too concerned about reverence! We need to evaluate their preference in the light of biblical teaching. Perhaps the builder preference for reverence is based on an overemphasis on the transcendence of God. Similarly, the buster preference for energy in worship might be based on self-absorption and a preoccupation with experience and feeling. Perhaps busters need more of an emphasis on the transcendence of God. We are not just dealing with personal tastes here. Generational tendencies need to be critically evaluated in the light of God’s holy Word.

Similarly, “Boomers are motivated to ministry by the sense of personal fulfillment and achievement that the ministry gives them.” Again, while this might be factually true, it still needs to be evaluated. Does not this kind of motivation sound terribly self-centred? Is not the builders’ strong sense of “duty” preferable and more biblical than the boomer motivation?

Busters support causes, we are told. Is there not a danger of falling prey to fanaticism with this kind of preoccupation? Is there not a danger of pragmatic relativism in the boomers’ preference for “how to” sermons? The critical questions could go on and on. The central point I am making is that we cannot simply accept generational characteristics as givens, and we should not blindly adjust church programs in the light of these generational characteristics. Some of these characteristics are wrong. The Bible specifically warns about catering to the fancies and fads of a fickle people (2 Timothy 4:3).

Methodology. McRae also suggests that, while the message does not change, the methodology can change and in fact must be adjusted to the characteristics of each generation. But even this will not do. Methodologies are not neutral. The methods we use to reach each generation, too, are subject to the principles and precepts of God’s Word. Method, message and motive must all be evaluated from a moral perspective, as Paul clearly teaches (1 Thessalonians 2:1-6).

So does this mean that there is nothing to be said for trying to understand our times and to serve our generation? Of course not! Ignorance and irrelevance are not virtues. We need to understand the somewhat unique characteristics of the next generation (though we must be careful not to exaggerate this uniqueness). And we need to try to serve the next generation, not by blindly adjusting church programs in accordance with their preferences, but in terms of their real needs. Biblical principles and precepts must remain the determinants of what we do in church. Christ must remain the head of the church.

Elmer J. Thiessen is a member of Crestwood MB Church in Medicine Hat, Alta., and is a philosophy instructor at Medicine Hat College.

Previous | Next 

Last modified September 18, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
Masthead and usage information.