Generational Trend

Another re-blog from Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC: GREAT STUFF!

~lc

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I see a generational trend that I want to address.It seems to me that emerging generations don't want watered-down, dumbed-down, or soft-sell versions of the truth. I think they want to be challenged and confronted. I'm not talking about Bible thumping. We need to do it persuasively and thoughtfully and prayerfully. But I have this growing sense that the people I pastor want me to get in their face more often. To be perfectly honest, I think I was a preaching wimp early on in ministry. I was afraid of tough topics or controversial topics. I wanted to preach things that pleased everyone. But as the years have passed, I have realized that you aren't doing anybody any favors if you don't talk about tough stuff. Even if people disagree with you. At least you force them to think. Any maybe it's an opportunity to learn how to agree to disagree but still love each other. In too many instances, the church is answering questions no one is asking. We dance around the things people really think about and care about.I think emerging generations want us to make them think, challenge them to change, and confront their sin. That's my sixth sense. And whether they want us to or not, that is part of our calling. I'm afraid that there is a strong temptation among younger preachers to just scratch where people itch. But Paul warns Timothy against that (II Timothy 4:3). Does that resonate with anybody? A few ideas if you want to start talking about what people are actually thinking about. One of our open-source series is The Elephant in the Church. All of the graphics and videos are free. Love to see some churches take on the obvious truths that everyone ignores. And don't just use ours. Come up with your own. You may have very different elephants running around your church than NCC. Here's another idea. My friend Michael Kelly at Threads has done a great job with his new study The Tough Sayings of Jesus II. If you're anything like me, you tend to read faster when you come to the parts of the Bible you don't understand or aren't obeying. Maybe that is where we need to slow down!