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Church's vision can guide the young | Brian Draper Christianity can help generation Y to reject the short-termism that has taken us to the verge of planetary catastropheIs God disappearingStranded somewhere between the moon-shots and the launch of the iPad, "generation X", as it became known, was caught between two worlds, and didn't know where to turn. Grunge was its visceral groan of a soundtrack. And the accompanying "culture of despair" (remember that?) was identified by some, such as the author of generation X himself, Douglas Coupland, as a spiritual issue.Back in 1994 – when most of us were yet to send an email, or text, or surf the internet – Coupland published his third novel, Life After God. Its jacket announced in neon yellow: "You are the first generation to be raised without religion." At the time, it felt like a revelation. "We are all living creatures with strong religious impulses, yet where do these impulses flow in a world of malls and TV, Kraft dinner and jets?" he asked.Fast-forward 16 years, and there's a lot more than just malls and TV to contend with, but the teenagers who are now wirelessed in to Second Life, Facebook and Twitter don't seem as vexed as Gen X; in fact, the ease with which they seem to live life after God is enough to make Coupland's soul-searching seem so last century.But does it matter, this idea – confirmed in the Church of England's report last week on The Faith of Generation Y – that Christianity is now "no more than a faint cultural memory" for many young people?Not necessarily. In fact, some of us believers have welcomed, in part, the passing of the old church guard ourselves. Back when Coupland suggested, in Generation X, that the world we were inheriting was like "a whole load of skid-marked underwear" – ravaged by war, threatened with ecological disaster, and offering no alternative but communism and capitalism – many young Christians felt suspicious of the institutions in which our parents put their trust, including, I'm afraid, the church.And yet we did, at least, have something to react against, and to recreate. Today, as more young people grow up without any contact with church or stories from Sunday school, they don't necessarily know what they're missing: from a better understanding of our Judeo-Christian cultural foundation, to genuine wisdom for life. What is a "good Samaritan", anyway?It does, of course, depend on where you look: in my (Church of England) church, which is full every week, most of the Sunday school classes are supported and often run by teenagers who get up early and give up their Sunday mornings to serve others. This fits neatly with the idea that our new generation of "Y-ers" is keen to make a meaningful, positive difference through who they are and what they do. These particular ones do it through church.Elsewhere, plenty of people still "do God" even if they prefer not to darken the church's oak door. We know that "religion" and "church" have negative connotations, sometimes for good reason and sometimes through lazy stereotyping. Yet the impulse, as Coupland suggests, remains. As Ecclesiastes says, "God has set eternity in the hearts of all people". And that's a good place to start, whether or not you know the creed.Perhaps gen Y has more important work to do right now, anyway, than wring its hands at the fading of organised religion. Let's be honest: today's young people really have to become part of the solution, instead of the problem, if they're to have a future; they are the first generation which has no choice but to reject the short-termism, greed and ecological indifference which has taken us to the verge of planetary catastrophe. Their lives must count like never before, and we must help them to fulfil their calling.And this, ironically, is where the church might come back in. It may be a "faint cultural memory" for some, but still it offers as an ideal the vivid cultural prospect of a radical, countercultural community of people ("salt of the earth", as Jesus suggested) who travel light, celebrate their differences, share wisdom between generations, care for the planet and its poor alike, are positively subversive, and connect meaningfully with a powerfully relevant story – of a cataclysmic disconnection between people, the planet and God, and of a counterintuitive path that leads us back to life. Where else could they find such a vision?It is the urgent task of Christians to embody more compellingly that vision before they expect others to do likewise. And to make theirs the sort of evocative space where the young may be welcomed, and inspired to greatness. How else can we expect them to give us the time of day – let alone the gifts that the very best of their generation have to offer: an energising presence, a future hope, and a will to become a force of change for good?ChristianityReligionActivismBrian Draperguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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