There is a new generation coming up– the so-called Entitlement Generation, the upstarts at the office who put their feet on their desks, voice their opinions frequently and loudly at meetings, and always volunteer – nay, expect – to take charge of the most interesting projects. They are smart, brash, even arrogant, and endowed with a commanding sense of entitlement. And since a new crop is graduating from Boston’s high-powered colleges and universities every year, chances are, one may be heading to your office soon.
Jean Twenge, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, says that this includes virtually everyone born after 1970. According to Twenge, these young people were raised on a daily regimen of praise and flattery from their baby boomer parents and from teachers who embraced a self-esteem-boosting curriculum that included activities like the Magic Circle game. Never heard of it? In this game, one child a day is given a badge that says “I’m great.” The other children then take turns praising the “great” child, and eventually these compliments are written up and given to the child for posterity. This constant reinforcement, argues Twenge, is largely responsible for those young co-workers who drive you nuts.
Read about it here.
[From me]
We can whine and complain about the way the next generation acts or we can find ways to minister to them. What do you think this kind of thinking means for the church? I mentioned on several occasions that I’m concerned greatly about the next generation. I we don’t find ways to reach their hearts we will have a Judges 2:10 generation that grows up and knows nothing about God.
What do you think?
Judging by Evangelical history, I would predict that the evangelical church will change to meet the next generation, and the next generation will change the church once they enter. By “changing”, I doesn’t mean just appearing to be “hipper” (having hipper music and hipper rhetoric), I mean actual changes in dogma, and how the Bible is reinterpreted to redefine the boundary between the church and “the world”.
I think this change will come about as congregations that change in a favorable way begin to overshadow those congregations who don’t. Possibly the megachurch trend will continue to enjoy success.
On the other end of the Protestant spectrum, I think contemplative orders, perhaps like MIT’s, might have an advantage with the new generation who may become increasingly disenchanted with the rat race (consumerism and commercialism). Their lives have been so success-oriented that they may flee the cargo cults and actively seek a more spiritual outlook, and a simpler way of life.
I think the Catholic church will decline in the US, based on the Vatican’s sluggishness in responding to social changes.
Finally, as we have discussed in a previous thread, I think the democratic spread of ideas and knowledge over the internet will continue to have an enormous impact on attitudes toward religion and will continue to shape the fundamentalist clash with scientific knowledge.
We already have that Judges 2 generation among us, Kevin.
I have no problem with the “self-esteem” until we make it our religion–which far too many have done.
As my favorite theologian, Dr Phil McGraw (LOL) often says: “NO” is a complete sentence.
Maybe we need to rediscover such short sentences.
Speaking as someone who deals with this sense of entitlement among college students every single day, I have no idea how the church should or will respond. It’s unbelievable the things they expect – along the lines of “I paid tuition, so I deserve an ‘A’ in this course.” (I’ve taken to explaining that all they’ve paid for is the opportunity to compete for an A.) I’m not that much older than they are, but we were raised to be respectful and to not think that the world owes us anything.
My hope is that the church would not just try to feed this generation a steady diet of on-demand entertainment. That’s not what they need.
Frankly, I’m not so worried about the church. If the church has been able to survive the baby boomers and the shopping mall approach to the Christian faith, then I’m pretty sure the Holy Ghost will continue to draw people.
“On-demand entertainment”—May I borrow that phrase?
The church, and the world need to get out of the “on-demand entertainment” business.
The sooner, the better.