Engaging The Soul of Youth Culture 1

Mueller titles this chapter, "Reality Bytes: Snapshots of a Crying and Dying Culture." His goal in this chapter seems to display how off we can be about the culture of today's youth.

He states that we have caused many problems by our "inability or unwillingness to hear the nuances of their unique worldview and experience before attempting to answer their cries" (19). He goes on to say that because of our unwillingness to listen they have become a generation full of unmet needs that are "crying out to have their God-shaped emptiness filled" (23).

He goes on to note that people that do marketing have done a better job of speaking to today's kids than the church has done. The media has become the number 1 influence in kid's lives today and has been successful in "providing emerging generations with 'maps of reality' to guide them into adulthood" (27). He then says that, "popular culture give them purpose because it has listened to them" (27).

He points out that the problem with kids trying to fill their emptiness with various forms of media is that, "From a biblical perspective we know that unless media (or any other institution) points to redemption in Christ, it's only a rabbit chase" (28). He closes the chapter by emphasizing that if we want to provide spiritual wholeness, we must be willing to first listen.

A few of my own thoughts and a question:
1. Most adults do a terrible job of realizing the validity of what kids think and feel. Their place in life is often just viewed as a phase that will pass. If we continue to look at this stage of life as just a phase and not seek to meet the needs of each individual student, we will fail to connect with an entire generation. Many teens have been deeply wounded whether we want to realize it or not.
2. It is interesting that the church seems to fail to meet the God-shaped emptiness Mueller describes. I think often we seek to use the techniques of the media, but are not able to do it as well. This creates shallow empty experiences for the student. I hear many students who say that there is not much substance going on in their youth group. Plenty of fun, but the emptiness continues.
3. I think we have to teach kids how to think theologically about the media that is being presented to them. If we do not, it will continue to have quite a bit of control of their lives.

Q1: How do we expose older generations to the hurts of today's youth? How do we begin to allow them to see the validity of the pain teens can experience? Once this happens, we must be able to show how they can trust Jesus with these hurts.