Enter Jake (27) and Tom (28).
It’s come to my attention that this blog and my podcast are helping to identify a growing army of devoted Christians in their mid-20s to mid-40s who want to know the Lord and are dissatisfied with establishment-pop-celebrity-driven Christianity.
While the masses of this age group appear to be content with status quo Christianity, there’s an increasing tribe — to use Seth Godin’s term — that I’ve had the privilege to interact with regularly who are interested in the deeper journey.
This blesses me greatly because when I was in my 20s and early 30s, there was virtually no one who was older who could relate to my quest for more of the Lord.
This brings me to the story of Jake and Tom, both in their late-20s.
It was a conference weekend. We had an off-site meeting where some of the speakers got together to fellowship. Jake and Tom were present.
A conversation ensued among some of the speakers. I was being asked about knowing the Lord. In answering, I talked about the indwelling life of Christ and The Eternal Purpose of God.
Jake, who came to “carry the bags” of one of the speakers, began to throw in his opinion in a bold display of SYI.
He offered theories and interpreted what I was talking about through the simplistic grid of “make everybody a disciple.” What he said lacked depth, substance, or any real understanding of Jesus Christ or God’s Timeless Purpose in Him. In short, Jake didn’t grasp what I was talking about. And he didn’t bother to listen or ask questions.
Tom, on the other hand, was captivated by the conversation. He listened intently, and later said he was deeply impacted and wanted to know more. Here was a young man with a hungry heart who had keen insight into the present order of things and wasn’t satisfied with the party line or the typical canned Christian answers.
Tom was able to see through what was shallow, having an authentic quest for spiritual reality. He was after what was deeper and higher in Christ.
I was recently informed that my recent conference message, Rethinking Discipleship, has resonated strongly with the “Toms” of our time. And it’s being spread widely by that generation. I delivered the talk to a room full of Millennials and it’s now being shared by those who have hearts like Tom’s.
You can freely listen to the message below.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
May Tom’s tribe increase!
And if you are in the 20s to 40s generation — and/or you know those like Tom who are — feel free to share this talk with them.
I trust that it will further the revolution that’s happening in the body of Christ today concerning the deeper journey.
Oh, and if you are one of “Toms” in our time, and the message resonates, you may be interested in my new mentoring/connecting project which will provide a deeper journey into discipleship as well as connection with the other “Toms” of this generation, both male and female.
How to Simplify Your Life
My experience of church in the UK is that it is too often like a swimming pool: all the noise is in the shallow end. But God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him, and seeking is a life long task, To know Jesus Christ and the one who sent him, this is about learning from God directly. Appreciating that we need humility to learn from God through surprising channels, we must not be content with only pre-digested learning from someone else.