I have decided to talk about a specific part of the youth culture in France, and that is widely spread throughout the country, which is the part of the population that have been raised with a Christian – and more particularly catholic – background, and that rejected it plainly as time went by.
Description of the culture:
It is a culture who rejected religion as whole because of its lack of authenticity. It is seen as a set of rules with no real purpose. Religion is not relevant anymore, if it ever was. Because of the oppressive nature of the moral rules that were set on them, many people stray to the opposite and basically will search for their own truth and what feels good and right, in a very postmodern way.
Important values for this group of people are authenticity, sharing, openness to others points of view and reflections, and socializing (bars, hanging out at a friends place, concerts, festivals...)
A motto that could come out of it is “I am free from moral constraints, I can do what I think is right.”
Expression of the gospel in this culture.
I'll be studying a mix of the synthetic and of the transcendental models, the open conversation and search for authenticity makes this adequate.
I'm guessing a theology that would come out of it would be focused more on God's love and grace that does not depend on our sinful natures and the ongoing process of conversation and exchange in the authentic search for God.
How can the church address this issue?
I am not sure the church in itself can address this group of people as it is rejected as a whole. New ways of thinking and doing things have to be created. I believe it is to be a personal ministry of sharing and exchanging ideas. The very “sponsorship” of a church would take out all credibility and authenticity to it. The main way of contextualizing theology, in this case would be to hang out and share with an open mind and an open ear.
1 comment:
Simon - here are some comments on your outline (your blog wasn't working yesterday)
-- the target group sounds good. I would say you need to explain "authenticity" or some other aspect of culture from the perspective of barker/cobb in order to help you narrow what you are arguing for. Then go and show how you see this happening in your culture.
part 2 looks good - an interesting mix of models -- make sure that it connects logically to part 1.
part 3 -- i agree with your assestment -- what are the practices and possible ways of going about responding to this generation? How can authenticity be practiced outside the church, and building on part two how do you see your models and the gospel deals with 'authenticity'
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