Who are they?
Sharing Jesus in a post-modern world is indeed frustrating! We used to ascribe failures to different causes without realizing that this is a time in which men show no interest to orthodox Christian faith. But this doesn't mean that people are not spiritual. The rise of New Age Movement and other new religions prove that people are searching for all kinds of gods except Christ. Why this happens? One reason is that people simply perceive Christianity as irrelevant. To reach people we must be relevant, we need to understand our times and people (1 Chron 12:32), particularly the next generation. Unless we understand them and respond to their needs, a whole generation will be wiped out from our churches!
Who are the Generation neXt?
"The spotlight is on the Boomers and we're basically ignored!" This common feeling is shared by many youngsters today. Who are they? A bunch of guys who wear their baseball caps backwards, putting rings through their noses. Well, not that simple!. Sociologists label those who were born between 1965 and 1983 as the Busters, Generation X, or Xers, they are the second largest generation next to the Boomers. The Xers are totally different from the Boomers -- their parents, because they are raised in a different social context. In his book Life after God (1994), Douglas Coupland defined them as "the first generation brought up without God." Unfortunately, the Xers are badly portrayed in the media as being worthless, purposeless, and apathy. They are targets of jokes, complaints and slanderous comments.
Being different doesn't mean that the Xers are inherently bad! They are different because the world they grew up are distinct. As Neil Howe and Bill Strauss say in their book 13th Gen that the Xers have experienced "the betrayed expectations of a youth world that went from sweet to sour as they approached it." Increasing cost for higher education, unemployment, deteriorating environment, street violence, broken homes, AIDS... All these they inherited from the Boomers, that's why the Xers harbour a lot of resentment to their parents. And the Xers often express their anguish in the following terms.
I am Wounded.
In United States, close to 50% of Xers come from divorced and dysfunction families between 1965-1977. They felt abandoned and rejected, lacking of role model, with impaired social and communication skills due to poor parental relationship. According to a longitudinal study of people born in late 60's released by The National Survey of Children, 26% will receive psychological treatment for emotional or behavioral problems by the time they reached adulthood. Those who came from divorced home was twice as high [41%] as it was among those parents had not [22%].
I feel Alone.
Feeling alone is different from lonely. Loneliness is a state of emptiness, not being able to connect with people around. Aloneness is the feeling of being surrounded by people, not being able to trust anyone. In aloneness one's life is full of activities but without the aid of family or friends.
I don't Trust.
The Xers are pessimistic about people and the world. They are less confident in people and institutions. It's often hard to get closer to them. They will hold you off at arm distance. It encompasses a basic distrust of people and a fear of being hurt which stems from abandonment by parents. Neither do they believe in absolute truth, rather they hold that everything is relative. They worry about the stability of jobs, relationships and future.
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