Fall 2016

This Authentic,Lovely, IntriguingGeneration

by David H. Kim

My great hope for what they will accomplish

Twentysomethings are hard to pin down. No one mold explains what defines any generation. With that said, I see hope and change as two words characteristic of the current twentysomethings. Their optimism is amazing and energizing.

As millennials creatively use and develop technology to address so much of what they see as broken in this world, it is absolutely staggering to think about what they will be able to accomplish. Yet, my concerns grow when I look at the limitations of technology.

What technology will never be able to change is the disposition of the human heart in its potential for good and evil. With all the brokenness this generation has witnessed, will they be naïve about the nature of the human heart?

As with every generation, our deepest hopes for change have to be grounded not in human potential, but in divine grace that has been assured by the gospel of Jesus Christ. As simplistic as it may sound, the gospel alone has the profound power to change not only human hearts, but relationships, and larger societal structures and institutions that arise from these relationships.

In many respects, Jesus is the ultimate millennial. He defies all those who would try to label Him. He is the paragon of refusing to give up hope for change even in the midst of the gravest evil. Christ has a passion for change as evidenced by His willingness to suffer and die on a cross so we would have a hope that is certain. It is this hope anchored in Christ that will provide for this generation the most profound expression of all that is good, creative, authentic, and lovely about them.

I hope to live long enough to see the legacy of this intriguing generation and to see the world they will pass on to future generations.

Excerpted with permission from “20 and Something: Have the time of your life (and figure it all out too),” by David H. Kim (part of the FRAMES series), copyright 2013 by The Barna Group.

David H. Kim, age 43, is executive director for the Center for Faith & Work and pastor of Faith and Work for Redeemer Church in New York City. “Even though I am not a millennial, I too am very hopeful. I have worked with enough twentysomethings to know the tremendous possibility and visionary potential of this generation.”