"Your sons and daughters shall prophesy..."

It has been my belief since I was in high school that it is in fact the youth of the church who have the best handle on what the church needs and what it needs to be doing in order to best live out its mission. Teenagers have those two lovely qualities- which their parents and teachers may find frustrating, but which I think the church ought to acknowledge as useful- of believing that they know best and being willing to challenge you on it. Now, having been a teenager myself when I came up with this idea, I recognize that my word might not be precisely reliable. But  this is a belief that I have seen lived out in countless youth since then, and, now finding myself part of the young adult cohort, I gladly include them in the group of potential movers and shakers.

Each generation has to rethink how the church works and how it can be effective. The last generation gave us the return of the small group. Not the sterile Sunday School class, but the messy, walking with each other and living as a part of each others' lives small group. The effect on the church as a community has been enormous.

This generation, at least in part, has been lucky enough to grow up in churches where community is emphasized, where people are encouraged to be open and live life with one another. Now, as we begin to step up and share in the leadership and direction of the church, we have to build on that foundation.

This past week I attended my first-ever church council meeting. As I am still new at the church and to my position, most of my time was spent trying to catch up as each group presented its recent activities and its plans for the upcoming months, but I was struck by one in particular. A friend of mine gave the report on the young adult group that meets every Tuesday, which I have been unable to attend thus far. As he talked about the plans the group was making, he quoted another group member as saying that while the discussions that have been happening have been insightful, she felt that the group was becoming "too cerebral;" and therein lies the key not only to this generation but also to our insight on the church's relationship with the world.

I want to share here a quote from an incredible book on the church's relationship with this generation. It's called Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation, by Sarah Cunningham, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is, knows, or cares about a young adult. Sarah writes:

"Don't get us wrong, Church. We value these theological questions. We really do... Frankly, we admire thinkers within the church for wrestling their own generation's questions to the ground. However, we must note: their hang-ups are not our hang-ups. We twenty-something Christians can't focus too much energy on analyzing intricate church doctrines because, quite honestly, our peers aren't even close enough to the church to know what the doctrines in question are. Unlike some previous generations, our peers are not delaying their salvation based on unresolved questions about Creationism. More times than not, they are delaying their salvation based on unresolved questions, anger, or misperceptions about the church itself."

That, my friends, is the charge of this generation to the church at large. We have spent a long time working within ourselves to try to create a space where we can encourage and admonish one another. This is fantastic. And yes, we acknowledge that the church has done incredible work in sending the Gospel out into the nations (I grew up giving to the Lottie Moon offering every year, too!). But we are asking the church to remember that mission is not something you go on; mission is something you live. We are asking you to get your hands dirty right where you are. Serve somewhere. Stand up for something. And at the end of the day, be glad that you have a community to come back to, to commiserate and rejoice with, and to send you back out again.