The New Wisdom Seekers
Today’s prevailing idea of wisdom is individualistic. Your have power inside you. Bringing your authentic self to reality is the way to release that power. Don’t let anyone tell you what is right. Your truth is all you need.
I have daily conversations with people who have rejected this idea. They’re asking what wisdom meant before everybody started repeating, “Follow your heart!”
The new wisdom seekers I talk to are artists and musicians, people from various ethnic backgrounds, former Buddhists, Satanists, and atheists, people coming from many marriages and people who never married, people who have left the LGBT community, recovering addicts, medical professionals, philosophers, and welders. They’re all saying, “There’s something real that’s bigger than I am. My inner world doesn’t line up with this reality. Is anyone willing to talk about this?”
The sexual revolution betrayed the new wisdom seekers. They’re not listening to its promises anymore. And they’re younger than thirty. To be sure, they are against judging others — primarily because they don’t want to be judged. But they see real boundaries built into sexuality, and they’re not patient when they’re judged as “bigots.”
They are asking whether wisdom gives healing. Many fear that they have no way back to God — even while they believe in Jesus. Often, they’re clinging to him with white-knuckled terror. They’ve had an inner experience of Jesus that churches said would solve all their problems, but their problems remain. So, while they know Jesus is real and they want to follow him, churches won’t talk about anything so controversial as doctrine.
(Doctrine, it’s worth mentioning, is what we’re talking about when we ask what following Jesus looks like. Practices grow in the soil of beliefs.)
The new wisdom seekers respond when a Christian has more to offer than a condescending smile. They’re smart. They lucidly articulate the ethical and theological issues they see — if we take the time to listen closely to the language they choose without quibbling. They also have no problem with respectful disagreement. They’re good at working through tension.
With church-goers like these, it is a tremendously exciting time to be a pastor.
