

I spent time with a good friend today, and we discussed an important topic. We all have the tendency to project our experience and struggles onto others, instead of just dealing with the issue within ourselves.
It is not my intention or understanding that this topic is self-projection. I dabbled in this area about four months ago on the blog and got some positive feedback, did more research and exploration. More and more, I find it to be bigger than just my experience. And the more I see and hear, the more of a burden it becomes and the deeper into it I push.
So, on to part two. I am 25 years old, with a distinct sense of calling to lead a church in the not-too-distant future. And not just the teaching/preaching/speaking part (whatever term you like best). But the whole visionary leadership, equipping and empowering, shepherding and encouraging part too.
In days past, I would be serving as a youth pastor right now. Then I might get the opportunity to be an associate pastor and “learn how to preach”. By the time I was in my mid-thirties, I would get a chance to take over an existing church, remaining there for 15 years or so. Later, I would take another church somewhere else for 15-20 years, and retire to teach or work for my denomination. That’s how it worked. You put in your time, and you got your chance.
But there’s a different world out there. Church planting is exploding and there are so many reasons for this that I could do a whole other blog series on it. But I want to pick two that are relevant to our discussion.
First, in many places, twenty-something leaders are being encouraged to bide their time. In another era, workers remained loyal to the same factory or company or institution for their whole career. However, sports are not the only place where free agency reigns. In the words of a wise friend in his 60s, his generation mortgaged their loyalty to a company and my generation is all about the lease. In my profession, ministers who are not given an opportunity to lead have the option to go plant a church – at my age and younger.
Second, as is true in other fields, the older generation is holding on for longer and longer. Retirees are re-entering the job market and working later than ever. This is also true in the church, where the average age of senior pastors increased five years to 51 within the last decade. Additionally, the older generation is holding on for longer and longer because of fear. They are afraid of changes. They are uncertain about the future and they do not understand the intentions and perspective of a younger generation. I am okay with fear, but I am intolerant of its presence as a primary motivating force for decisions and actions.
Let me be clear. I am not opposed to the older generation or their continued leadership within the church. I welcome it. Nevertheless, on a regular basis, there is a jamming of leadership space with older generations who cannot and will not pass the baton on to the younger generation. And in this present day, the two options left to a younger generation are to wait and continue to serve in their present place or leave that organization, company, or institution to launch something new where they will have a chance to lead.
And this is the place where the height of tension exists for me. Often, this departure from the establishment and traditional to the new establishment and the new traditional is often also a departure from a multi-generational context to a uni-generational context. And I think the church is supposed to be a multi-generational community. I believe children should be influenced by Social Security recipients. I believe twenty somethings should eat meals with mentors old enough to be their parents. I believe the “next generation” is in desperate need of the wisdom of the generations that have gone ahead of them. But the next generation cannot be treated as if they will just sit on the backburner until prime real estate opens up and they are returned for.
The struggle is that this cross-generational wisdom is not exchanged and this reciprocal mentoring does not take place by sitting in the same worship service. It is not exchanged by participating in the same programs. It is not exchanged by even working for the same organization or institution. It is exchanged in the context of real, authentic, transparent relationships.
Therefore, the challenge in our path is to explore solutions that are not programs. Solutions do not come from teaching a series of lessons, writing a book, or even a series of blogs. You don’t preach people into a new pattern of behavior. It takes a series of people seeking to intentionally form relationships that navigate this chasm and beginning to reverse the direction of traditional mentoring, creating the context for real reciprocal mentoring and exchange that is built on the foundation of authenticity, vulnerability, humility and trust.
I don’t want to be a free agent, but I also want to be mentored and prepared for my future calling. And I love my peers, but they are insufficient for this challenge. And I feel that I am left alone and abandoned to navigate this chasm. Its as if this generation gap is like a middle school dance with both groups sitting in chairs on either sides. No one wants to dance, and everyone is afraid that the punch will run out before our parents get here to pick us up.
-Savage
(Check back tomorrow for some of my thoughts on we can practically navigate this gap because anyone can point out what’s wrong. Very few actually stop talking and do something to change reality. I want to be a part of that latter group.)