Millennial Kids in a Postmodern World

Did you know that this generation of kids, the Millenials (Kids born between 1980-1982 through around September 11th, 2001 give or take a year) find themselves right in the beginning of the "so what" era? This new era, the Postmodern era is a time when the collective response to the presentation of any long held, accepted truth will likely be "so what?". The Millenials and the Adapters (the name that some experts have given our babies and toddlers), a few of the
GenXers and even fewer of us very late Babyboomers, belong and are most comfortable in this new, Postmodern Era.

Here are a few interesting facts about Postmodern thinkers...

• Postmoderns believe there is no one big ultimate truth. They believe "My truth works for me, your truth works for you, I might believe your truth if you tell me how it works for you, and I can experience it" They don't just believe something is true because someone told them it is true. They want to experience something before they believe in it, the opposite of modern thinkers who believe first, then experience.
• Postmoderns are not so sure that the more knowledge you have the better, and they are a bit pessimistic about the future of the world they live in. Not surprising when you consider how fast bad news travels in the world today. We used to live in a 24 hour news cycle, now we live in a breaking news, minute by minute news cycle, or you can just get on the Internet and receive your news in a constant stream, intravenously.
• Postmoderns think that there are many ways to find "truth", not just by knowledge. They think that the less definable methods of discovering truth, like feelings, emotion and intuition are just as reliable and valid.
• Postmoderns find it harder to rigidly define what is real and what isn't. Old fogies from the modern era see reality in black and white, good and evil...(dare I say it...) Christian and unchristian...Postmoderns live in a world were things that are not real are made to look very, very real. Lets take a look at the very first James Bond movie compared to the current James Bond in theaters, or even to the last one on video. Which one looks more real? Things in the postmodern world that are not real can be made to look incredibly real, and we're not just talking about movies. Kids can pretend to be other kids while texting on cell phones, child predators can pretend to be other kids in a live chat room...and that is just the beginning of real and not real in the world of a postmodern kid.

So...where does this leave children's ministry and how do we help our kids choose to be followers of Jesus Christ? Sharing our own experiences as Christ followers in a genuine, authentic way with our kids is a huge start. When you come across a Q-card question in Kidmo that asks you to share a story or experience with your kids, you can give them a glimpse of the truth of Jesus Christ in your life. They can experience the love of Jesus in you, and your love of them.

Now THAT is real!

Watch for more to come on "Postmodern Children's Ministry", and please let me know what you think.

In His loving kindness,

Dana