Saturday, February 28, 2015

The Generation Wars

Multigenerational.  That is what we are as a country - as a world.  We are made up of varying generations.  Each generation seems to carry underlying ideals, values, opinions, and mindsets.  However, it seems that between generations we are seeing disconnects and sources of major disagreement.

As I sat in church this last Sunday, one of our pastors preached on the difference between being a multigenerational church and an intergenerational church.  He said multigenerational is multiple generations within the congregation.  Intergenerational means simply that these separate generations work together.  As I sat listening, I began to think of all the ways this sermon not only related to my church, but to the world we live in.  Sure, we’re multigenerational, but could we honestly consider ourselves intergenerational?

Personally, I don’t think we can.  I want you to think of the disrespect you hear for other generations almost everyday.  You’re driving behind someone slow and you think, “Come on grandpa, I don’t have all day.”  A few teenagers make a questionable decision and undoubtedly someone will mutter under their breath, “Stupid kids.”  We’ve lost respect for each other, and I believe the only way we can only regain it is if we take a step back and look from the other’s perspective.

Most of our generation falls into, or is just on the edge of, the Millennial generation, born between 1978-1995.  For those of us in our late teens through mid twenties, we don’t remember a time without technology.  We don’t remember a time without Internet access.  Some say we were the first generation raised by “helicopter parents”. 

To borrow from the sermon I listened to, “Our generation is messed up.”  Honestly, I think we really are.  We are hurting and dealing with some serious issues.  Our “normal” is campus shootings and terrorism.  Our normal is a constant war in the Middle East.  Our normal is cyber bullying and kids who commit suicide because of it.  Our normal is parents who tell us we’re the greatest, most talented humans on this earth, only to find out the “real world” doesn’t quite believe that.  Our normal is selfies, nude pictures of Kim Kardashian all over our news feeds, and boys who text “here” instead of coming to the door.   

And looking at us, the older generation is thinking “NO! That’s not normal! That’s not healthy!” But our generation doesn’t listen.  We think that we’re too good for those who came before us.  That the older generations are just stuck in their ways and “don’t know what’s it’s like”.  Instead, we turn to articles on Buzzfeed to tell us what “true love” is, what having a best friend looks like, or how to have a successful marriage.  We put more value into these articles, probably written by people our own age who also don’t have any clue what they’re doing, than we do our elders.  You know, the ones who might actually have a successful marriage?  

I think it’s time we sat down and learned to be quiet for a while, to stop spouting off our opinions left and right and listen.  It’s time we get off our ego-trains and realize that in our early twenties we probably don’t know all that much about the world.  But this issue has two angles.  We need the older generations to compromise as well.

To the generations that came before us, we need you and your wisdom.  Sure, we’ve been disrespectful to you and some of us have honestly believed that we were better and smarter than you.  And I understand if you’re tired of our generation and our attitude.  I apologize for all of us.  But after everything we’ve done, we also need your grace. 

We know that times were different when you were growing up, and we want to learn from you.  But we need you to understand that we couldn’t control the era we were born into, or what we grew up with.  We need your encouragement.  Many in my generation are trying to impress you, to be worthy enough to take your place someday.  Right now though, we’re wading through the muck of our generation without a lot of direction or encouragement from the generations before us.  Let us know when we do something right.  Give us a pat on the back.  Really, that’s all some of us need. 
So, to my generation I think it’s time we learned to listen.  I think it’s time we started valuing and respecting our elders.  Let’s talk to them instead of an online forum when we need advice.  They’ve done a lot of living that we could learn from.  And the older generations, extend a little grace.  Encourage us.  Show us that you’re people we can safely go to for advice.  Don’t laugh at us, or tell us how awful our generation is; listen to us too.  Give us your wisdom, and tell us your stories.  Because I think if we both made those small changes, we could change society from strictly multigenerational to intergenerational as well.    

No comments:

Post a Comment