Dr. Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller, is going to be at St. Paul's Walnut Creek, March 26-27, talking about evangelism and GenXers.(More details will follow). Here's a sample of his thinking, from an interview last January in Christianity Today : "When you look at Baby Boomers and the generations before them, they all represent a culture of control. Generation X and Generation Y possess a strong reaction against the culture of control. This is another one of the reasons for [those generations] to walk away from the church. "
"I represent the older generation, and we used to think in terms of delegating ministry. That's the language of control. You can't delegate to somebody what God has already called and gifted them to do in the first place. Instead, we need to use the language of empowerment. We've got to learn the skills of doing that.
I go back to the Bible and its understanding of authority: the authority must be intrinsic. Having been with Jesus for three years, the disciples would say that he was full of grace and truth. That was the authority. Grace is generosity. Truth is authenticity. Your authority doesn't arise out of your position—your authority arises out of who you are. Gen Xers are very sensitive about that."
For the entire interview, click here.