Friday, October 17, 2008

John the Baptist Generation

John the Baptist's story is very well known. He is viewed as the man who prepared the way for Jesus' ministry. In modern terms it was John The Baptist's job to do advance public relations for Jesus. He got the word out and told his disciples of the man who was to come. It is now 2000 years later and I believe very strongly that God needs to prepare another John the Baptist. He needs a group of people who will prepare the way for Jesus' second coming just as John did the first time.

My generation is that group.

It is very clear that teens and 20 somethings are the most publicized group in the United States and the world. Most media is geared toward us, politics are finally recognizing us, the work force will soon be run by many of us and most importantly... the church has begun to move with us.

Over the past few years the church has not only recognized youth culture, but they have begun to embrace it and in some ways allowed it to affect and change their church's vision. Many modern churches are now offering contemporary services to attract young adults as well as multiple small groups and youth/college age services. The media content in church has become much more trendy graphically, the music is a few decibels louder, the dress code is more "hip" and the messages are less focused on the working class adults and are being tailored to cater more to the church as a whole... which is starting to gain more and more young people.

We understand that the world and the church have put the spotlight on us, but now we need to embrace that. Our age group is being looked at to see what the future holds for the world. As Christians we need to provide the world with a hope of a bright future. With economic downfalls, more wars, less national focus on morals and radical religions getting more radical it is obvious that our time left on Earth is real short. It is our job to show the world the truth at a time when the truth is so hard to find. Jesus' return is imminent and Christian young people need to prepare the world for it. We need to be the John The Baptist and prepare the way for Christ. I would wager to say that our generation will be the last one to have this opportunity. We should consider ourselves blessed if we get to have families and grow up, but we certainly aren't missing out on anything if Jesus gets here before that. For the saved... the future is much better than anything this temporary place has to offer. We now need to live our lives completely abandoned and make every day count. We don't have enough days left to waste a single one...

Check out my previous blog on the end-times mission without fear if you havent read that one yet...