By Miriam Ankerbrand, Group Events Coordinator
As part of my role at Joy El, I occasionally teach a class to our 4.12 students. This year’s topic was “Etiquette.” The majority of students in the room knew exactly what the definition of etiquette was. Then I threw out another word, “Tact.” I looked at a sea of bewildered faces. Not one hand ventured upward to define tact. Not one student could give a definition.
We proceeded with the lesson on etiquette and tact, and soon, the students were able to give examples of ways to use tact as we explored various scenarios. You could almost see little lightbulbs lighting up above their heads as they realized they knew what tact was after all.
In today’s world, a lot is said about millennials and generation Z. In fact, one of my favorite cartoons says, “The best way to cripple this current generation is to stick them in a locked room with a stick-shift car and a rotary phone and write the instructions for use in cursive.” Unfortunately, this rings true. Recently, I jotted a note to my teen daughter in cursive and she brought it to me asking me to interpret it!
Not only do our young people have problems understanding things of the past and things they’ve never seen or witnessed, but we older generations have our own difficulties. I, for one, am still trying to figure out things like “Skyping” and “Smartboards.” Yet the younger generations seem to know everything there is to know about the latest technology and devices.
Pondering all this made me wonder as we live in a world today that was unheard of just 30-40 years ago. Do our young people today understand the Bible? Do they realize it’s still pertinent today just as much as it was 2,000 years ago? How do they know the truth?
In Psalm 78:1-7, it tells us about teaching the things we have learned to other generations, “so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.” Our children today will not know about the truth of the Bible unless we teach them and share the knowledge we have learned by studying God’s Word. That’s why programs like Bible Adventure, the 4.12 Leadership Training Program and summer camp and retreats are so valuable. It gives the chance to be focused on God, to learn from His Word and have the opportunity to experience the life-change only Jesus can give.
My little class learned about tact, but I learned so much more that day as God revealed to me the value of a lesson learned.
Learn more about generational differences here
Here’s What You Need to Know About Millennials
8 Ways Generation Z Differs from Millennials
