"Back to the Future"

By Dr. Michael G. Loftis

Not long ago, while walking the hallway of a Christian college, I read the following unattributed quote on a professor’s door, “In changing times, the learners inherit the earth... while the learned find themselves well educated for a world that no longer exists.” Certainly those of us serving in world missions realize that we live in a different world today than the one in which most of us grew up. How then do we view the incoming generation of young people to whom we will eventually hand the reins of responsibility?

While many sound an alarm regarding the views and outlook of the current generation of post-modern youth now entering adulthood, it is important to point out several positive and even exciting traits of this “Generation Next” as they relate to world missions. From my reading and personal interaction with them, I offer several observations about "Generation Next”:

• Change defines the landscape of their lives and their entire lifespan making them comfortable and adaptable in a changing environment.
• They have a deep desire to live and work in small groups comprised of close friends.
• They are turned off by authoritarian leaders perceived to be hypocrites, and are deeply motivated to follow authentic servant leaders.
• They are skeptical and cynical of religious ritual and organizational programs and desire a personal experience with God.
• They desire coaches and mentors who will not just tell them how to live but show them and help them succeed.
• “Generation Next” youth do not merely view truth as proclamational but as personal, and care very much about the needs of people they know.
• “Generation Next” is willing to be bold and confrontational with their faith and personal testimonies in their desire to win others to Jesus.

Does this sound familiar? Many of these exact same traits describe the first disciples Jesus chose to be His followers two thousand years ago. The Jesus who walked into the world of those disciples, loved them, lived with them, called them “friends,” claimed to be the “truth,” and died and rose again to send them into all the world is still calling such disciples to follow Him. As we face a rising tide of non-Christian thinking in a world that has never met Christ, we do well to understand how to build disciples from that world in order to reach that world for Christ. We have often said that the power of the gospel is transcultural and transgenerational. Now we must prove whether we really believe that is true. As you read this issue, pray for ABWE to effectively win, befriend, disciple, and then take the next generation with us into all the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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