(note: generation x is defined as people born between 1965-1980)

there are a generation of people who are silent right now. a generation once called “generation x” by some, “baby busters” by others.

a generation of people who faded away.

people i know and love dearly.

they still go to church. they love the church. they believe the church is important.

but they are just there.

we no longer see church as a place to prove who we are. we’re not trying to achieve anything. we realized that there’s no ladder to climb to reach a certain status, or to give us certain privileges. that it’s not about how many times you get to speak from the pulpit or solos you sing or accolades you receive from others in the church.

so much of who we were was wrapped up in that building. and then things happened. we begin to realize there was more to who we were, and even to God, than what was within those four walls.

we loved this place called the church, but we also realized that this place alone could not meet every need in our lives.

we needed a God who was bigger than the building.

and so we stepped away from leading. we stepped away from all the encouragement. the accolades. not always for the best of reasons. sometimes it was hurt. sometimes it was consequences of choices. sometimes it was just because we were lost.

but then we began to fade into the background.

we gravitated towards voices that were emerging, looking to “do church” in new ways. to approach God in new ways. but even then, we began to realize that no way is perfect, and that there truly is nothing new under the sun.

now we just exist. we “go to” church but we struggle to find our place within it. we’re reluctant to accept leadership because we know that it sometimes drains life more than it gives. we don’t want to carry the weight of the church on our shoulders. we don’t want to be the “savior” to come in and implement that one idea, that one program that will propel the church to greatness.

we hold all ideas with open hands, realizing that there is no such thing as that one message, that one book (other than the Bible), than one idea that helps us get it all right.

we truly are a generation of Solomons, realizing that there is nothing new under the sun. we’ve seen it all, we’ve done it all, we’ve heard it all.

our stories are filled with memories of great moments with God and service, and we wonder if that’s all we have left—memories.

but i don’t believe so. i don’t know how or what it would look like, but something tells me God isn’t done with us yet.

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