GENERATION X

by Mark Detzler

According to a recent survey of 18 to 30 year-old Italians, the majority did not know why Jesus had been born, and did not think the question was even relevant to their lives.

In many other European countries this would hardly be suprising, but here in Italy it indicates a radical change. We are living in a time when the culture is being run by and for the "Generation X", those who are now between sixteen and thirty years old.

Here in Italy this generation has been the first to abandon established religion. This trend is even reflected in the naming of children. Our thirty-five year-old neighbour here in Rome is called Immaculate Conception. Children today are much more likely to be named Michael or Matthew.

The loss of confidence in formal religion by Generation X means that we are faced with immense opportunities and challenges: opportunity because the stigma of being part of a Protestant group is no longer as high, and so it is easier for people to join; challenge because we must present the Gospel to people who do not endorse Christian values. The Gospel is not so much opposed as drowned out by the media, materialsm and scandal.

To a generation that has lost its identity, the fatherhood of God is good news. To those drowning in a whirlpool of relativism, the absolutes of the Word of God mean hope. To those sickened by hypocrisy, honesty and transparency are a refreshing change.

As long as we do the things that God has called us to do and are the people that he has called us to be - we can be sure that this message of hope will infiltrate our generation in the same way that it has in the past.