Bob's Blog

In today's world, trends and movements come and go like LA sports fans. When a team in LA is hot, everyone is on board, but once it starts to cool off, LA fans look for what is next on the horizon. I watched a TV program that focused on how some young people (twenty-something) are now turning against such Millennial icons, like Facebook and text messaging. "It's almost like this game we play," commented this one student. "I mean be serious; do you really have that many friends?" The backlash is that many older Millennials (early to mid twenties) are looking for depth in their world. Some have closed their laptops for a few hours (they call it going "topless") just so that they can connect with people that are in the same room with them. Cell phones are turned off because there's this feeling that they've have lost the "know how" to communicate face to face, even to allow silence between friends to exist in a conversation. It's not so much a rebellion against shallowness but a desperate reaching out to connect in a deeper way with life, something that many twenty-somethings feel they have lost.

This brings us to a change I've noticed in talking with young Christians - the growing restlessness they feel with the Emergent movement. That stirring has to do more with the teachings of some of Emergent's leadership (as I do as well) than is does with the movement itself. Kevin DeYoung, a 30-year-old pastor at University Reformed Church in Lansing, Michigan, and Ted Kluck, author of three books and articles for ESPN and Sports Spectrum, have co-authored Why We're Not Emergent, a very entertaining and insightful book on the problems with the movement. What I like about the book, besides agreeing with many of their points on the dangers of Emergent, is that their perspective comes from the viewpoint of a younger generation (Kluck is 31). Instead of coming from the outside in to a generation of twenty-somethings, they see life from the same cultural level as Millennials, and they have some compelling arguments as to why Emergent does not satisfy the soul for this generation. It's a new and fresh read on a controversial topic that brings new insights for its readers, mainly because the two writers mesh their strengths together (DeYoung brings his pastoral/theological background while Kluck adds an "everyman" view) to make this a great book. They share some funny stories, as well as strong biblical thought for those looking for a fair critique on Emergent. Take a break from your laptop and pick up the book.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 10:58 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.