Society’s anger has
come to a rolling boil around the world. In England a majority, albeit a small
majority, said that things are out of control, people are not being heard. They
conclude it is time to take things out of the hands of the ruling establishments
and bring control back into the hands of the nation’s people. Thus they voted
for Brexit. In the United States the current political stage seems to reflect
disgust with the status quo and a desire to see old political regimes replaced
by one that is responsive to the citizenry. Thus the voters have created
political turmoil leading up to November’s national election. The citizenship appears
to seek solutions to national problems rather than promote political careers
and perpetuate the paralyses of political one-upmanship. Globally, people do
not like things as they are and they do not like the direction in which things
are heading. An over simplistic summary as to how people are reacting could be:
our predecessors have made a mess of things, are not addressing the issues
properly, and we need to take back control and fix this mess.
This societal frustration seems to be a
cyclical one. Decades ago the Boomers of the 60’s were sure they needed to
clean up the mess of the previous generations. So they protested, petitioned,
and screamed, “Power to the people.” Those same “screamers” are now the ruling
members of the political status quo displaying ineptness in addressing the
pressing crises of our time. Now millennials raise their voices in protest as
they view issues being mishandled by a political establishment who previously
raised their voices for change only to perpetuate the ineffectiveness they
protested.
Alvin Toffler (American writer and
futurist who died June 27, 2016) wrote in an essay, Learning for Tomorrow, “The secret message communicated to most
young people today by the society around them is that they are not needed, that
the society will run itself quite nicely until they — at some distant point in
the future — will take over the reins. Yet the fact is that the society is not
running itself nicely and,
indeed, there may be little of value left for them to take over in the future,
unless we re-conceptualize the roll of youth in the social order. Not because
young people will necessarily tear down the social order, but because the rest
of us need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that young people can
bring to bear down on our difficulties. For society to attempt to solve its
desperate problems without the full participation of even very young people is
imbecile.” It seems that youth often becomes frustrated with things as they
are, protest the present failures, and propel their ideas and energy toward new
solutions. Such involvement by youth is needed and should be encouraged rather
that mocked or resisted.
One such “youth” is seen in the ancient
Book of Job (chapter 32). Elihu was a young man who becomes frustrated with ineffective
answers that Job’s older friends were providing to the issues of life. He was
angry “because they had found no answer, and yet condemned Job” (32:3). He
launches into a soliloquy trying to do what Job’s older friends had not done –
“convinced Job or answered his words” (32:12). We find later in the story that Elihu’s
passion and good intention, while not fully on target, were not condemned by
God as were Job’s three older friends (42:7-8). In fact, many Bible teachers
feel he was used to set the stage for God’s corrective address in chapters
38-41. He did not know everything about life, nor what was happening in Job’s
life, nor understand what God was doing, yet he walked into the perplexities of
life and offered to be involved and to offer solutions.
I have the privilege of working with many
young adults in a variety of settings. I serve on the campus of Lancaster Bible
College where students are investigating the meaning of life that reaches
beyond material and temporal explanations. They are seeking to discover people’s
immediate and ultimate purposes. They wrestle and debate many cultural issues
in both national and international settings that reflect spiritual and social
dysfunctions. They have compassion and concern for people and the planet that moves
beyond the theoretical to the practical. Their consternation is expressed as
they encounter a cynical culture too often self-absorbed to the point of
indifference with things as they are and ignoring things as they could be. I
see energy. I see the same spirit in young adults in Christian communities
where I minister whether they are churches or non-profit organizations. I too
see this engagement in young adults that are operating in many other contexts
in addition to the Christian communities I described.
Older generations sadly are focusing upon
“youth” who live lives counter to those I have described. Those that catch the
sound bites of the media are often those associated with bad news, and it is
assumed they are the majority of this generation of young people. They are not.
As Toffler said we “need all the energy, brains, imagination and talent that
young people can bring to bear down on our difficulties.” We need young people
who have the courage of Elihu who, when frustrated with things as they were,
stepped into a place where elders had failed and became engaged. May those who
are older welcome the involvement of the younger and serve alongside them.
