The cry of the post-modern generation is always, "Why should I believe you?" As the church strives to reach out to the world, it is important that we understand the mindset of the generation today. Failure to do so will be catastrophic as the church will lose both its relevance and impact on our society. Changing mindsets calls for changing approaches. We face a generation that no longer accepts truth propositions because it is presented as such by someone in authority. The approach to both witnessing and bible study in respect of this new generation is therefore very different.
For the older generation when confronted with a truth statement such as "God is love", the older generation will tend to accept it as true even though he may not feel such. This lack of experiential verification or feeling is often dealt with by accepting that perhaps the person does not have enough faith to believe. The approach then is to build ones faith by the exercise of the will, the will to believe. The thought process is essentially "If I believe enough that God loves me, then I will feel his love." But essentially, feeling is subordinate to the assent to the truth, ie. it is true whether I feel it or not.
For the new and younger generation that is emerging, the fact that the truth proposition stems from someone in authority or seniority does not count for much. This is the generation of cynicism and the questioning of authority. What then does it take to convince a post-modern youth? The answer is - experiential verification. This is the thought process involved: "I accept truth based on something I can experience. If I cannot experience it, then it does not work and I will reject it as truth, no matter who tells me it is true."
To dismiss these traits as rebellious and un-Christian does not solve the problem. It only compounds it. To be relevant and to reach out to this generation, we must understand the prevailing mindset and deal with it. How then should we respond?
We must present a Christianity that works. We must present a God not just in words (concepts) but in power (reality). If we preach a God who loves us and to whom we can pray to, then we must ourselves be in an experiential loving and intercessory relationship with God. We must walk the talk. We cannot sell what we don’t have. If not, the youths of today will be quick to call our bluff. If we talk about victory over sin, we must be prepared to lead them into such an experience; and how can we do so if we have not gone there ourselves? Our worship must move from mere singing to touching the very presence of God. Our teaching must move from mere words to communicating the convicting voice of the Spirit. Our prayer meetings must move from mere petitions to prayers led by the Holy Spirit Himself who intercedes with moans and groans that words cannot express.
One of the crucial mistakes of conservative Christianity is the unhealthy suspicion and dismissal of spiritual experiences. The fear of abuse and suspicion of the unknown has resulted in all spiritual experiences being discredited as unsafe. The true Christian is lauded as one who believes even in the absence of any corresponding spiritual experience. This is not the Christianity of the bible. The presence and power of God was very real to the forefathers of Israel, prophets, the apostles and the early church. Yet in our anti-spiritual mindset, Christianity is often reduce to a concept, a creed, a moral philosophy will little spiritual reality. Such a Christianity is powerless and irrelevant in the face of the post-modern mindset.
If we as a church do not change to address the prevailing post-modern mindset, our churches will very soon go the way of the churches in Western Europe, where only the old attend to pass their days until they die.