Youth EE - Articles and Quotes

Articles and Quotes

On Understanding Generations

The reason specialty ministries within Evangelism Explosion, like Youth EE, exist and are effective is the realization that not only are there cultural differences around the world; there are also significant generational differences.

There has been a great deal of research and writing about the Baby Boomer and Generation-X crowd. Youth Pastors would serve their ministries well to learn the dynamics of the youth culture. Originally the EE Gospel Presentation was written at a time when Baby Boomers were very young. Most people held onto certain presuppositions and had a distinct predisposition towards Christianity that enabled EE to be effective. However, younger generations of people are growing up in a culture that views Christianity in a different way. It therefore would be reasonable that we carefully examine how we present the Gospel today versus 20 years ago. Youth EE attempts to do that. Although the basic Gospel, which is a timeless truth, has not changed from Adult EE, many sections and ways of making points of the Gospel have been revised. Indeed, the Gospel is universal, trans-cultural, that is, it is relevant to all people everywhere. However, the cultures in which EE is used to share the Gospel varies greatly. To be effective, Youth EE in any nation must carefully consider not only the cultural differences but the generational differences as well.

A good analogy between youth and adult EE might be the difference between a traditional and a contemporary service. Many people, and often those from an older generation and perspective, prefer the traditional approach to worship. On the other hand, the growth of contemporary services has been remarkable in many cultures. Although there are both strong and weaker examples of both kinds of worship, the point is, one speaks more effectively to some people and the other to another crowd. In the same way, the EE Gospel Presentation is a proven tool for effectively sharing the Gospel, and the Youth EE adaptation, like the contemporary service, speaks in a language that is more “user friendly” for many. Specifically, Youth EE is trying to address some of the issues of the contemporary culture.

If you were to compare Youth and Adult EE you would notice that the basic Gospel message is the same. However, the way of speaking, the transitional sentences, and many of the illustrations are different. Also, the “Man” and “God” sections are actually more complicated in the Youth version. These additions have tried to address certain questions and objections that the younger culture has.

Defining Different Generations

In my position as International Vice President for Youth EE I have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to understand the development of young people. There have been many books written on the subject of generational differences. The material below has been well summarized by one of the most notable authorities in generational studies and author of a recently published book, “Mind The Gap.” Buy Book The author is Rev. Graeme Codrington, who resides in South Africa. I should point out that Graeme is a Certified EE and Youth EE Teacher/Trainer. He is also a long time friend. His work is not intended for South African culture, but aimed at a worldwide audience. I've inserted several quotes from his book that I feel are helpful and relevant in understanding generational differences.

Generational theory is just one tool in a boxful that will help you understand how people around you act, and react, to life and events. You can't use it as a mechanism to label everybody. It’s not mechanistic. It’s more like a filter. It will give you the flavor of the people with whom you're living, working, playing.

Over the past 100 years, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, steam trains, ships, trams, cars and airplanes on the one hand, the telephone, radio, films, television and the Internet on the other, began to create global communities that shared global experiences.

It is possible to identify moments in the history of the twentieth century in different countries and cultures, where similar defining forces were brought to bear on families, communities and societies.

(With the rise of the so-called Boomer generation) it was a shock for the older generations who had expected their children to behave according to the same value systems with which they had grown up.

The institution that suffer the most from the generation gap are schools, churches, universities, armies, the workplace – anywhere where there’s a big age and attitude difference between the people teaching or giving lessons or orders and those receiving them.

The world does not need to be dictated to by significant American dates and changes, of course. Other countries need to work out significant dates and events in their own history.

Below is a chart that provides dates for the different generations. It should be noted that these rough dates may vary from country to country, and indeed may even vary within countries.

GI: Born 1900’s to 1920’s
Silent: Born 1920’s to 1940’s
Boomer: Born 1940’s to 1960’s
Xer: Born 1960’s to 1980’s
Millennial: Born 1980’s to 2000’s

GI Generation: The dominant characteristic of the GI generation is their civic mindedness. They formed the manpower component of the engine that beat the combined crisis of World War II and the Great Depression. GI’s are concerned that they dress appropriately and behave well.

Silent Generation: Arrived on earth during some of its darkest ever hours – World War II and the Great Depression. They lived through times that that were so depressing that it is hard for their materialistic Boomer children and spoiled, cushy-living Xer and Millennial grandchildren to imagine what they endured in their childhood and teens. The children had to toe the line, and welcome stability and consistency, and so they tended to be withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative and unadventurous. And it helps you to understand why the Silent generation is indeed so “silent.” They grew up in a time when children “should be seen and not heard.”

Boomers: Arrived at the end of World War II, in numbers that the world struggled to handle. They arrived with a bang and have been noisy, attention demanding (and receiving) ever since. Every single stage of their life has been era-defining and trend-setting. The heady combination of “permissiveness”, laced with the arrival of the Pill (contraceptive) led to what some describe as THE decade of the twentieth century, The Swinging Sixties, famous for drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll. A sexual revolution..As Boomers grew into their thirties and forties they became moralistic, principled and domineering and in the 1980’s they began to transform themselves from the flower-power hippies generation into a solid, middle class, materialistic, self-absorbed set of mid-lifers. Today Boomers occupy the political, governmental and big business hot seats of the world. Ironically, these anti-establishment rebels are now seeking to uphold all of the rules they were so intent on breaking in their youth. Finally, they’ve moved the goal posts for old age, refusing to grow old gracefully.

Xers: If the Baby Boomers arrived with a bang, then the Xers made their entrance with a whimper. This misunderstood, grungy, loner generation, defined more by what it is not than by what it is, had the extraordinary misfortune to time its appearance just as the economic boom years were flattening and the high-spirited revelry of the 1960’s began to unravel in the 70’s. They are described as “whiners” in stark contrast to the “winner” Boomers. This “lost generation” wears their baggy jeans slung low down on their hips and slaps baseball caps on backwards, onto their often-shaved heads. They can't get out of bed in the morning and struggle to find work, or life, exciting and challenging. Xers, who increasingly rub up against the domineering “know-it-all” attitude of the team-focused, “let’s make sure we’re all on the same page” Boomers, accuse them of being moralistic and hypocritical. Xers do not work for money. They work to fund the kind of lifestyle they want; usually a non-materialistic one, and they need to enjoy the work they're doing. They're skeptical of corporations, realizing that long term commitment is unlikely to pay the dividends it did to their parents and grandparents. But it’s not all doom and gloom for the Xers. Their value systems, honed in their tough childhoods, will see them end up with a better work/life balance than their parents and grandparents did. Indeed, they are already the subjects of envy by older generations. Lastly, this is the generation that invented extreme sports, such as bungee jumping. They often find that they have too much information in their lives…overloaded and bombarded with the stuff…work so fast and absorb so much that life ends up being boring if they can't keep up with the pace.

Millennials: The contrast between these and Xer’s could not be greater. It serves as a stark example of the generational swing – what happens to one generation is often vehemently rejected by the next one. Babies and kids were an irritant to workaholic Boomer moms and dads. But all that changed as the 1990’s drew on with babies suddenly becoming status symbols. The current reappraisal of family values began in the early 1990’s…Now the wild Boomers are being advised in a plethora of childcare books to tame the former indulgence and practice a stricter approach. Children are growing up quickly today as the world spins faster and faster to the high-tech tune. Marketers and advertisers have their sights set firmly on the Millennials before they're even ten years old. In a postmodern world pop stars and catwalk models have become the new societal role models who tell them how to dress and behave. In addition to an overactive entertainment industry, today’s children are growing up in a world of computers and other information technologies. The strong positive signal already emerging from this generation is that they are wise, if not wiser, than any other generation at the same age. While it’s too early to identify definitive Millennial traits and characteristics, some are emerging that show they are confident and energetic, passionately tolerant, and are extremely concerned about community and the environment. Eric Chester suggests twelve words to define this generation: impatient, desensitized, disengaged, skeptical, disrespectful, bluntly expressive, adaptable, innovative, efficient, resilient, tolerant and committed.

One final “group”: Not everyone fits exactly into these categories, having been raised between the significant dates and trends of the listed generations. They have been termed “Cuspers” and have characteristics that range between two adjacent generations.

Some may argue that in their country these difference among age groups do not exist, or they are substantially different. We agree that differences may exist, we have yet to discover a culture where there are not significant differences among youth in the ways they think, speak and act. (Youth EE is currently training people in 75 nations) We often hear “EE won't work here.” We know that this often comes out of not understanding EE. In the same way, people who say, “This does not happen in our culture” often do not understand or are not in touch with the youth culture where they live.

Regardless of the current cultural situation among young people, in different countries, there is a strong and growing paradigm shift toward globalization. Because of technologies young people are increasingly receiving exposure to the rest of the world, and are interested in what their peers think, dress, prefer, speak and act. Not only television, radio, music, magazines, faxes and newspapers, but more far-reaching the Internet and World Wide web are sources of information whereby young people are turning to and being effected.

Submitted by Rick Bond, Vice President/Youth EE
August 2004

rbond@eeinternational.org

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