Passion, Obsession, and Sleep

I read an article yesterday about how the perceived generation gap right now is the widest it has been since the 1960s. Approximately 80% of people believe there is a major point of view difference between young and old. Some of the differences are obvious: 87% of adults 18-30 text on their cell phones, compared to 11% for those over 65. We all kinda knew that one, I think. More interesting are statements like these: "About two-thirds of people 65 and older said religion is very important to them, compared with just... 44 percent of people 18 to 29."

To me, the most interesting statement of all was this:

Still, [Paul Taylor] noted that the generation gap in 2009 seems to be more tepid in nature than it was in the 1960s, when younger people built a defiant counterculture in opposing the Vietnam War and demanding equal rights for women and minorities. 'Today, it's more of a general outlook, a different point of view, a general set of moral values,' Taylor said.

That statement stopped me. Are we tepid? Are young adults, ages 18-30, content to simply have a different general outlook than those who are making laws and policies and running this country? Why aren't we trying to change the world?

I've blogged before about how young people have passion and need older folks to help them learn wisdom and discernment to channel that passion. Many amazing things have been accomplished by movements of passionate young people in the past. What about today?

I remember being taught once back in my hard-core Baptist days, that the churches in Revelation were actually allegories for various time periods in the church. Thus, Philadelphia (the open door) was the 18th-19th centuries, when missionaries were spreading across the entire world. The 20th century marked the beginning of the Laodicean church. I have no idea if there is anything remotely right in such an interpretation of Revelation, but it struck me and stayed with me. In our "politically correct" world, have we become lukewarm? Do we think we are rich, when in reality we are blind and naked?

My pastor recently mentioned that he has been doing a lot of reading about young people and that my generation feels "abandoned" by their elders. They feel that their parents should have been there, but they weren't. I imagine the percentage of young adults who have been abused by a parent or important adult figure is shockingly high. We can certainly all name at least one friend who has been abused physically, verbally, or sexually. There is an entire generation of girls who have no self-worth, and who feel that long-term relationships are too hard and doomed to failure. Thus, the "hook-up" is rampant. Mine is a generation of cynics.

If I truly believe that I have been abandoned by my elders, I am likely to believe that God either doesn't exist or doesn't care. If I don't believe in God, and I really could care less about the morals and values guiding the parents who failed to care for me as I perceive they should, then why on earth would I try to change anything? What's the point? In some ways, it makes me think of the movie Children of Men.

I'm beginning to wonder if I have misjudged us. My generation is self-focused and obsessive, but are we passionate? We're willing to drink endless Monster energy drinks so we can play World of Warcraft without stopping for 24 or 36 or 48 hours. We know every joke ever made or who slept with whom on our favorite television shows. We send hundreds of text messages every day. We are overwhelmed by the voices telling us to be the best in sports, the best in academics, and to have the hottest boyfriend/girlfriend all at the same time. We drive ourselves to depression in increasing numbers trying to live up to these expectations. (About 11% of 17 year olds report suffering a "Major Depressive Episode" in the previous year!)

Perhaps the largest generation gap right now is a belief that things will change. I wonder if we haven't returned to the old saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!" Or maybe it is simply, "Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless." Maybe we aren't tepid, but rather, hopeless. Or maybe we are simply sleeping. Maybe we have been battered into the slumber of utter exhaustion. And we are waiting.

Wake, wake, oh, sleeper. He is coming. He is alive, this Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of David, the slain Lamb. He was born to be a King. He's alive, the Jewish man. He's alive. Prepare the way. People get ready. - "People Get Ready" by Misty Edwards