I confess. Some days when I see how the younger ones live – so much to eat, see, and do – I feel a tad jealous. They know places, faces, brands, and tastes that I don’t. They have the means, imagination, and self confidence to pursue causes, change jobs, or just bum around while seeking enlightenment of some form.

They are known as the Entitlement Generation¹. They believe they deserve it and they want it now.

It seems that the options before me are:
- join the merry game with them.
- lament their grievous departure from good old thrift, hard work, and loyalty.
- look deeper and see what is going on from God’s point of view.

Let me share what I have gleaned thus far from the third option. Firstly, in seeking to understand the younger set, I realized I had to combat a persistent streak of self righteousness. Comparatively, they can seem like such spoilt brats. This was disabling to my ability to see with compassion and thus perceive with wisdom and apply godly appraisal. It is always easier to have everyone be like us or else to “live and let live.” The spirit of truth does not encourage either way; and so, the hard work of checking my soul and working my mind was needed.

The pursuit of pleasure does not in itself qualify as sin. Scripture does not condemn it as such, although the august declaration by the ultimate hedonist, Solomon, summed up the view: it is folly. King Solomon was wont to set the pursuit of pleasure as his life goal – even doing so through religious activities – only to conclude that all of it had been a futile waste of time. Nothing is gained unless it is first and foremost Godward. Thus, all pleasure, even the pleasure of “worship” is futile. This is from someone who knew power, wealth, and sex up close. He did not even just have a gala time, his was all out big time, big name, best effects dine, wine, dance, and even worship.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc 12:13). This means that hedonism of any stripe² is definitely not Godward and it distorts us, taking us away from the “duty of man.”

Is the wanton pursuit of pleasure today more sinful? I do not believe any generation is inherently more or less sinful. Rather, each generation or culture expresses the sinful bent differently because of a confluence of opportunity, ability, and personality. For example, the thought of divorce (or separation) no doubt crossed many good pious minds three decades ago. But the social climate may make it very hard and the person may not have the personality to pursue it.

Rather, as Jesus put it, “What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’” (Mt 15:11). Sin is an intrinsic bent. The question is when will it surface and how? So we, as the older generation, must be careful not to end up on the pharisaical end of things with our “tsk tsk” while being blinded by our own sinful manifestations.

But something is defnitely happening and here are some signs:

Some time ago, I was sitting in a huge cavernous hall where thousands have gathered for a worship service. I have great respect for what that church was seeking to do. But just as the lasers beamed and the multiple videos flickered, I was struck: how much energy are we expending in order to engage ourselves in worship? I could almost see my carbon footprints all the way home. 

On another occasion, a youth lamented that they could not get more volunteers for another one of these large meetings. He went on to insist that they should have used some hyped up effects to recruit the volunteers. 

Both of these left me wondering if we are fast becoming incapable of convictions and corresponding action without being cajoled and “moved” by means of the loud, fast, and enjoyable. No one will get involved if they are not going to be amused or entertained. Joy becomes neither a gift nor discovery but a wager.

So asking hard questions, in depth study, and taking a stand that may upset your peers are all becoming unpopular with the young today. “Let’s have a jolly good time” is the mantra.

How did we get here and should we get out?

The Bible tells us that the starting place for digression is found in the denial of our place, viz. God. In the Garden of Eden, when man and woman wrongly assumed that they could outsmart God or second guess Him, they tore down the walls of restraint and opened up a path of self determination that would always bring mixed results. Throughout the history of man, we see this pattern play out: our best and most noble ideas are tainted or else hijacked by darker purposes.

To paraphrase Thomas Merton: We were designed to will what God wills, to choose what God chooses, and to love what God loves. Sin is to will, choose, and love what God wouldn’t will, choose or love.

Merton hits hard at the core of things: we have a choice. This is our highest gift and ability. Alas, today, our power to choose is spent on deciding the flavor of coffee rather than the substance of nutrition.

It is always hard to swim against the tide and it is too bad we cannot get lifted out of the water to a safe place to spawn comfortably and reproduce after our own kind. However, Kierkegaard has warned us that unthinking compliance is suicide. Yet compliance is far easier as it helps us feel belonged and “normal.”

But what is normal?

When we look at our societies and our lives without a frame of reference, we are left with the current data to figure out. The Bible was given to provide us a framework to screen our current realities with. But one wonders how well we do today, in light of the many conspiring factors that work against it: the suspicion of authority, the rise of the mighty individual (greatly aided by the Internet), the break down of traditional institutions of safety, respect, and trust, in relation to family, church, and even academia. The young people today are the most powerful yet of their generation to date. Of course, they have been greatly enabled by parents, many who have worked hard to get to the good life and simply downloaded all the benefits therein on their progeny.

From parents to pastors, those of us in leadership do well to ponder long and hard at what anchors we use to navigate such tumultuous waters. It is time to dig deeper into the roots and find if they are truly secure. It is time to ask what are we communicating, in the way we pursue, plan, and program. The messages of our lives are being picked up and distilled more than our words. I fear that we have helped make them both cynical as well as flaccid because we seek pleasure as reward for our hard work. Watching us, our children, being handed more to begin with, in turn smart to the reality that they want to enjoy, and do it sooner and with less pain of hard work.

Then we must consider how we may have overdone our bid to relate. We do not all have the skills and bandwidth to deal with the substance plus the presentation. In the end, it is often the substance that gets lost in translation from old school to new. This was Nouwen’s warning to us about the temptation of relevance. When we become relevant enough, our lives and messages are irrelevant for they have lost their leadership and prophetic edge.

I believe the generation to come is a gift to us to call forth the best in us as we love them and guide them to find sound anchors and suitable expressions of faith, hope, and love. But we cannot do that until we first heed Solomon’s warning that our lives must be lived Godward. From how we start our day, to what goes on in our calendars, and what our pockets are emptied for, it is good to ask if it is God oriented and pleasing. Remembering both the truth that we are creatures under God and that we are on a journey of restoration to fullness, we can develop an inner radar to guide us. We do not jump at the first bargain, take the immediate advantage, or pick the way of least resistance. We begin imperfectly, but authentically – to model what it means to steer away from the common tide.

Our goal in life as the redeemed and restored is to focus on the God who has saved, and is daily saving us, and cooperate with His work for our greatest good and the highest pleasure that lies in it.

Notes:
1. Referring to those age five to twenty who live in affluent societies.

2. Philosophy describes various types of hedonism. They all include the pursuit of pleasure as the highest satisfaction – whether for self, collective or even for moral reasons. Pastor John Piper has used the term “Christian hedonism” to creatively suggest that God has designed us for pleasure which is to be found in God.

Rev Jenni Ho Huan loves to work through the faith-life nexus. She is passionate about authenticity and community, and seeks to live by God’s vision of life. Currently one of four pastors in a church plant in Singapore ( www.birhinganewchurch.com), Jenni also writes and mentors. She has written When God Shapes a W.I.F.E (Armour) and Simple Tips for Happy Kids (WriteEditions) and blogs on jennihh.blogspot.com.

The New International Version of the Bible has been referenced.