"The Young People"

The above phrase is one which I have been hearing a lot lately.

I am currently still in Alaska, now up in Fairbanks for a few days. In short, Fairbanks is a town where the average age is significantly higher than anywhere else I have lived. Particularly, this can be seen at the church which my Grandmother attends. I am fairly certain that there were only four other individuals in this congregation that were not either actively planning for or in the midst of their retirement.

With this in mind, it makes sense that I would be hearing "the young people" quite often. Indeed, every conversation I had with one of my grandmother's friends labeled me as a member of this group. To clarify, this group is much broader than most of you are probably thinking. Whereas I once thought I was on the north end of this particular demographic, I have since learned that my fellow young persons range from teenagers to people in their early fifties. I am honored to be considered a worthy representative of such a diverse group. That was snarky. Please do not think I have an ego the size of Kentucky.

All of the above led to what one might consider a slightly off putting experience. I felt that, due to my age, I was not capable of entering into true fellowship with these individuals. This feeling made it extremely tempting to simply disengage, to come to the conclusion that I was there solely to visit with my Grandmother and as such I should not expect to be nourished spiritually.

This was a silly thought generated by the silly brain of a silly person.

I feel that too often the multi-generational nature of the community of Christ acts as a seemingly impassible barrier to the fullness of fellowship which we have available to us as members of God's family. Blame can be cast in all manner of directions, but just who is at fault for this division is not important. Granted, their are legitimate points which work to create division between multiple age groups. I did not live through the great depression, as my grandparents did. Our grandparents have not been immersed as deeply in a climate in which decades of conflict have created a very complex system of identities related to race, gender, and sexual identity. Whereas my grandmother feels deeply uncomfortable around computers, I have a similar reaction to hymnals. All this taken together creates a situation in which it is indeed difficult for followers of Christ of multiple generations to come together in fellowship.

These barriers to fellowship should indeed be recognized. However, I feel that there is a benefit to a multi-generational community which extends beyond any challenge presented by such a congregation. Such a group provides a persistent reminder that we are a part of a community which has existed for a multitude of years into the past and will continue to exist into the future. Too often, one generation becomes wrapped up in thinking that we are the truly chosen people of God, and that He will do more work through us than He has any other group. This is not, nor has ever been, in my opinion, the way in which God has worked since the coming of His son. We would put ourselves in great danger to think that we do not need the wisdom which has been given to those who have come before us in order to follow after God with all that we have.

It can indeed be difficult to interact with people from an older generation. For example, an older man across the coffee shop I am currently in just used the term "oriental", and I kind of want to hit him. However, as we are so often called to do in our relationships with God, we must be willing to look beyond our initial discomfort with and potential anger towards those who have come before us and see them as members of the same family which we belong to by way of Christ's sacrifice, not in an effort to justify or write off their behavior, but so that we might truly enter into fellowship and begin to shape and be shaped by each other. With this in mind, I will bear the burden of a "young person", with the hope that I can be encouraged by and in turn encourage those who have both come before and will come after me.

With His love and hopefully His grace,

Taylor