In this new decade of the 1990s, there is a group of individuals who are emerging on the university campuses of America. Some have called them the “neo-modernists.” They are totally different than any of the generations which have preceded them.
If you were born in a year later than 1972 – if you are a child born to a set of “baby boomer” parents – if you have important questions about the future of world you live in – if you are concerned with defining the terms that will describe your world – if you are sincerely concerned with your environment – if you see the need to make some changes …
If you can say that you fulfill one or more of the above criteria, you qualify to be a part of a generation that will dramatically affect the shape of the world in which we live. This generation is characterized more by ideas and worldview than age, gender, race and class.
You may be one of these people. You may be a student who has recently entered college. You are liberal, but do not label yourself as such, because you are not really open to any and all opinion. Your goal is to be politically correct, to be culturally correct and to be relevant to the problems that your society faces.
In your desire to appear “politically correct” it will be important, however, not to miss any of the ideas that are beginning to come from outside of your subculture. You may be surprised that in the world outside the campus, there is a huge, new groundswell of patriotism, of faith in God, in love for family and for traditional values.
In the battle for ideas that is raging on your campus, you may find that it is important to stay in touch with what the rest of the country is thinking and feeling – to stay in touch with the “real world” – the non-liberal establishment which speaks a different language and has a whole different vocabulary of terms and idioms.
To keep in touch with the new move toward faith and patriotism, you may want to check out a few of the terms listed below. Chances are, they are either foreign to you, or you hold different definitions than the ones held by a growing number of people. If you really want to be open to new ideas, you might want to assimilate these words. You’re going to be hearing them a lot in the 1990s.
THE CHURCH
This is not a building or a non-profit organization. The “Church” is a difficult concept to understand, especially since there has been such a misrepresentation of the Church during the last few years in America.
You might have the idea that the Church is a group of Christians who meet on Sundays or sit around singing “kum-bay-yah” or some other irrelevant song. Or you might picture an evangelistic meeting featuring a “fire and brimstone” preacher. You might think that the Church is made up of politically irrelevant neanderthals who have nothing important to offer.
However, it is important to understand the whole picture here. What we are really talking about when we mention the “Church” is a group of people as diverse as the human race. The Church is an organic, living organism made up of people who share an experience of having caught a glimpse of the eternal God. They are not so much characterized by doctrine as they are by the love they have for Jesus Christ and for each other.
There is a purer expression of the Church emerging today. The message of this new Church is firing the imaginations of many young people the world over. These young people are realizing for the first time that they are a part of a supernaturally dynamic institution, alive with the Spirit of God. This new Church is a worldwide movement that is destined to influence the hearts and minds of the entire human race.
This new Church is the hottest thing going; it is not a last, desperate alternative. This Church is full of truly alive people united by a life-changing zeal and excitement. They are a masterpiece painted by God – a picture of faith and victory – a trophy won by God because of His great love for them and His exciting plan for their lives.
VISION
Vision is not what you can see with your own two natural eyes, but what God enables you to see when He allows you to see through His eyes.
You may have seen the bumpersticker that says: “Think Globally – Act Locally.” This is exactly how God operates. The first thing God wants you to see is Himself. This is really possible to do, although many miss the opportunity because they have concluded that it is impossible to know God personally, if He indeed exists.
The experience of catching a glimpse of God and seeing what He did for you through His Son, Jesus, will change your mind forever. After this experience you will never be the same – God will show you what He sees and give you a “vision” – a new way of looking at life in this world.
In a generation raised on MTV, comic books and VCRs, there are going to be those who will make a break from the distractions and irrelevance of natural sights in order to see the world through the eyes of God.
What will they see?
Their eyes will be opened to glorious sights beyond their imaginations. They are going to see, firsthand, how and where God is walking in the earth and what He is doing. Then they will get a supernatural ability to explain it to others in such a way that will make others want to focus and learn.
It will be as if a thousand Martin Luther Kings and a thousand Abraham Lincolns have suddenly appeared in one generation. They will captivate the hearts and minds of the human race, not so much by what they say, but through the pictures that they paint through their words. They will view from the mountain tops those things which others have only have glimpsed from the foothills.
The world is going to notice that there is something totally unique about this generation – something that sets them apart from all the men and women who have come before them. Having a vision from God will make all the difference.
CHAMPIONS
Just about everyone has a desire to be a winner. In cities such as Boston and Los Angeles, nothing can match the devotion of the basketball fans of the Celtics or the Lakers. In Cincinnati and Chicago, nothing matches the fanaticism of the baseball fans of the Reds, the Cubs or the White Sox. These teams are popular because in the minds of their fans they are champions.
The devotion of some sports enthusiasts cannot be quenched even when their team finishes last. They get a sense of satisfaction from identifying with heroes who are capable of performing great feats of athletic skill and sharing in their moments of triumph and defeat.
But there is a new breed of champions who are coming on the scene. They are not sports figures, but they will shake the world through great exploits done for the specific purpose of pointing people toward God. The main work of this generation will be to get the hearts and minds of the human race onto the issues that are really important.
On the university campuses of America, there are many who are spending much time becoming politically correct, while neglecting some of the most important issues that they face as human beings. Questions such as: “How did I get here?” – “Why am I here?” – and “Where am I going from here?” used to be the main questions that college students pondered. Today, it seems that it is more important to know what we are against – than to explain who we are.
Instead of learning all about what they are against, champions spend their time thinking about what they can do to change the world. Instead of learning how to conform to ideas that have already been decided, they are taking some risks with new ideas. Remember, some of the greatest winners of history were nonconformists to the established mode of thinking of their day. Their ideas were not initially accepted. But that is what made them great!
This is the mark of a champion. They exercise their minds and their bodies beyond those who hold to the status quo. Champions dare to develop their muscles, even though it might cause them pain, and even though they may have to struggle in their attempt to become great.
PROPHETIC
You are going to be hearing a lot about the “prophetic” and about “prophets” in the 1990s. When the word “prophet” is mentioned, you may have in your mind a picture of an old man with a long white beard and a robe, pointing a crooked finger and spelling out certain disaster or some dark fate that is about to fall on some unfortunate soul.
There is a negative image in the minds of many people when the word “prophet” or “visionary” is mentioned. This very issue, in fact, is now being hashed out by a small group of people within the Church, but the ideas that are being produced in this discussion are about to explode onto the scene and affect the whole world.
It has always been this way. Slavery, for instance, a curse which is as old as the human race, was dealt a death blow by the 19th century Church in England and America. Men and women such as William Wilberforce, William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Beecher Stowe had the courage to stand against this social evil and speak “prophetically” against the subjugation of the African slaves.
Once it was firmly established through debate within the Church that slavery needed to be eradicated, some swift events took place and human beings were liberated from bondage. But not all Christians of that time were enlightened enough to understand that slavery was inherently evil and needed to be done away with immediately.
The same is true of the Church today. There are some very unenlightened people who claim to be Christians. But there are some who truly have a relationship with God and are able to hear His voice. “Hearing God’s voice” doesn’t mean hearing audible words necessarily, but there have always been men and women who have listened to a still, small voice in their hearts and went against the flow when everyone around them was moving in the wrong direction.
One such woman was Anne Hutchinson, who lived in 17th century Boston. While most of the political leaders of her day dictated the “correct” mode of teaching, belief and behavior to the people, Anne Hutchinson listened to her conscience and to what she felt God had spoken to her heart. From Anne Hutchinson came the concepts of tolerance, religious freedom and freedom of speech – ideas that have not yet stopped permeating the world.
A true prophet will always ask God for insight into the relevant issues of the day. They will have answers and relevant words to say about the problems of drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, materialism, false religion, crime and poverty. They will know the truth and speak the truth. With great authority they will blow away the errors of thinking that are holding many people in bondage.
They will speak with zeal and boldness against error, while at the same time demonstrating that they truly care about the people whose ideas they are opposing.
DESTINY
Destiny is one of the most powerful ideas that you could ever fathom. It is something that needs to be caught rather than taught. Having a sense of destiny is so counter-cultural to our materialistic, cause and effect-minded society, that to believe this way is to cut across the grain of seemingly rational thinking.
What does it mean to have a destiny?
Simply put – to have a destiny means that God has a plan to fulfill with your life. It is as if God had a blueprint and the days of your life are like bricks that are being built into a beautiful building.
Many people have believed the soap opera The Days of Our Lives which tells us that time is “like sands in the hour glass” gradually running down, meaninglessly wasting away. But the Bible teaches us that the days of our lives are ordained by God. Each one of them has wonderful surprises with great things in store if we would walk closely with God.
What will the future bring?
The coming years will be characterized by a growing Church with a vision from God. True champions will speak prophetic truths so alive with power that they will change the destiny of the human race. If you want to be correct in all of your thinking, then you will get an understanding of these ideas.
These are important ideas. These five little words will affect every area of human experience in this decade. There will be a universal discussion taking place among the nations. In order to take part in this discussion, you will need to have the correct understanding of the issues at hand – or be deemed irrelevant and incorrect, not just in campus issues, but in relating to ideas that are sweeping the entire earth.
