The Generation Gap
 
I firmly believe that God's hand was guiding me to go to Lincoln Christian Church rather than Eastview (as I normally do) yesterday morning just to be able to tell this story... So join me as I figure out my thoughts on this generation gap thing...
 
I have come to the conclusion that I'm tired of ignoring this problem that exists in our churches nationwide.  And why in the world does it always seem to come from the root of MUSIC styles???  I just don't understand.  I sat down in church yesterday, unbeknownst to me, in front of whom I now regard as one of the rudest elderly ladies I have ever seen or heard.  Now as I write, don't get me wrong here...I completely respect the elderly even when they are rude, simply because they're older than me and much more experienced.  However, when it comes to complaints like the ones I heard in church yesterday, I'm not sure how to maintain that respect. 
 
The worship band was comprised of high schoolers (except for Chelsea singing) and they did a great job. The woman behind me apparently disagreed.  The entire time we were singing, she complained to her friend with phrases like "Oh dear Lord" or "I can't even understand what they're saying" or "UGGHHHH" and many other things I didn't hear and tried not to.  I was so distracted by her old lady smoker voice that was filled with griping comments.  Once when the worship band stood up again to lead in an song after prayer she said "oh, not them again!" and kept moaning and groaning about everything.  Once in awhile when she spewed out a rude remark I'd sort of glance back at her to let her know I could hear her.  At the end of the service there were 2 baptisms, and one of the members of the worship team just didn't know to kneel down to get out of the way (not a big deal, b/c you could still see around him).  So TWICE I heard this old lady murmur "STUPID IDIOT" and that's when I really got mad.  She was lucky she left during the closing song (b/c she didn't like it) because I really wanted to say a few things to her (not in a bad way, but to try to build a bridge somehow). 
 
Anyways, I have a serious problem when it comes to that kind of generation gap.  First of all, she should have chosen the earlier traditional service if she didn't prefer that type of music  Second, the church too often ignores this type of thing and just lets it go as "well she's just older, we'll just leave it alone and try to please the elderly as much as possible by keeping their traditions".  I do agree w/ keeping traditions that are Biblical, but I don't agree with doing things to please people.  There are no specifications on music styles in the Bible, but I do know there are specific scriptures telling us not to complain, to submit to our church authority & leaders, to respect the elderly, yet not to look down on those who are younger b/c they can set an example, etc.  There are numerous counts against her and I find her guilty as one of those who build up walls within the Church today. 
 
There are so many lessons to be learned from the older generations.  I believe wholeheartedly that they have a lot more wisdom than we do, and our younger generations have the potential to become more ignorant as the years go by if we do not consider the wisdom and leadership of those older than ourselves.  I think it's quite unbiblical to keep traditions and just please people for tradition's sake.  I also think it's unbiblical to try to mold the church to fit the postmodern culture if it happens to compromise the Bible as the authority of the Church.  Yesterday I saw no compromise happen.  But I did see this: a HUGE generation gap that somehow needs to be bridged so that no one is torn down, disrespected, or discouraged from using their gifts in the church and in the world.  I know this is nothing new, and that this problem has existed for quite some time, but it needs to have constant attention.  It was just brought to my attention yesterday and I wanted to share it so we can all pray about some way to bridge the gap...b/c I certainly don't know how!!!