Builders vs. Busters
In this video presentation by Reggie McNeal, which is a must watch when you have the time, he has a section at 14:00 in which he begins a dialog about the builders generation. This is the generation born after 1927. And in his dialog, he shares a conversation he had with this generation, Their thoughts were, “Everything was going to hell.”
But he captures something that has not always been obvious about the tension between the two generations: builders and busters. The builders build, and the busters bust it up. We’re seeing this before our eyes in the traditional vs the emerging church.
And Reggie shares,
“They’re mad. And they’re mad as hell, because the culture that they thought was screwed into place, nailed down, glued tight. They thought they had this sucker nailed. And now the whole place has come undone. The Huns just aren’t at the gate, their inside running the joint…And what builders are struggling with is loss, massive loss. They are grieving. And as you know anger is one part of the great grief cycle.. They come to church as the last place in America…and you start messing with that.”
I can imagine what deconstruction feels like but I’m on a different train.
He does offer a powerful alternative. He suggest shifting from loss to legacy. And the idea of this is for the builders to get back out there and participated in missional projects. Lead the way. Our generation is waiting for this to happen but we can’t make it happen. The builders need to make this step on their own.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
-
Daniel
-
Theologien
-
jonathanbrink
-
jonathanbrink
-
deaconandusher
-
Ben
