Granted, I have been accused of taking too many style tips from Ryan Seacrest. But after reading the two part critique of image conscious "Gen X" pastors, I'm curious to know how many 23-38 year old pastors Andy regularly converses with. First of all the use of the term "Gen X" is a major tell. But whatever, I digress. I am a pastor in this age bracket and I know a number of others. In general, I have found this group to be incredibly transparent, almost to a fault, as they lead their own communities of faith. The majority of the pastors I know in this age bracket would almost certainly disagree with this statement as well:

Not many of us are senior pastors, denominational leaders, authors, magazine editors, spiritual directors, or seminary professors. But we are longing to be in those positions, to make a name for ourselves...

Most of us are simply longing to lead a life authentically following Jesus and encouraging others to do so as well. We are sick of climbing corporate (even religious corporate) ladders and we are sick of marketing! The desire to "grow a church," and "attract the masses" doesn't seem to bear as much weight as the passion for authenticity. (Most of us are tired of the consumeristic expectation and attitude that comes in the door with the very few people who actually respond to flashy church marketing anyway). We might spend a little effort developing an effective logo, metaphor, and online space in order to give people an understanding of who we are, but this online presence (at least in many cases) often substitutes for the high rent and mortages that many church pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into for facilities and offices. So, honestly, from a stewardship standpoint, is that so bad?

The level of mistrust of pastors and institutions that exists in the generations of people we are trying to share Jesus with is almost as high as their disgust for image heavy inauthenticity. These people can smell "fake" a mile away. We all know it. A truly honest wrestling with the example, life and teaching of Jesus will gain more respect than a production heavy "here-is-what-you-must-believe-to-stay-out-of-hell" message.

Yeah, so we wear too much product in our hair sometimes. At least we got away from the penchant for perfectly pressed slacks and Hawaian shirts that the boomers seem so fond of. Unfair characterization you say? Okay, Okay, agreed.

-Seacrest, Out...

Insightful and penetrating! I especially resonate with your observations related to transparency. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.

I guess these past two postings are confusing. Using the term "Gen X" was recognized years ago as being not accurate nor wise to use. The whole changes happening in our culture, are not just age specific and trying to describe anything by "Gen X" as a demographic was realized pretty silly to categorize things by that. I haven't seen the term used in years since we aren't talking about age, but culture and various worldviews.

Andy, you articulate the pitfalls well.

However, I fail to see how they apply to GenX-ers or younger church leaders more than anyone else. I think that the greatest difference between this and previous generations of church leaders is simply the recognition that 'image' does play a legitimate - but inherently subordinate - role in our missionary enterprise.
Before the Church Growth movement attempted (successfully or not) to apply missionary principles to pastoral work, I doubt that pastors thought much about their 'image'. Of course, that is not to say that image played no part in ministry -- it just wasn't as deliberately thought or talked about!

Your final point on the need for honest transparency strikes a strong chord with me. Honest transparency is part of the reason why, as a missionary to those influenced by popular postmodern (popomo?) culture I _do_ take image serously. Marshall McLuhan's dictum that 'the medium is the message' means that it image-weak and content-strong is just as ridiculous as the image-strong and content-weak that you so fear.

May we all increasingly only bear the image of Christ because of our union with him!

Hi Andy,
I'm really confused because the pastors and churches you are describing don't sound at all like the churches of the group to which they are ascribed. They actually have a very strong resemblance to Boomers. I happen to be a Booomer and have seen my children's generation move away from the showy, image-conscious pretention of my generation and toward authentic desire to serve a world in need and hurt in the way Jesus did and does. The "Younger Evangelicals" that I have observed are following Christ by being more authentic imitators of Him than anything in my experience/generation.

Thanks for the comments on my post above.

I hope you can overlook my use of the term "Gen-X pastor." This term is rarely used anymore and very few people believe in the Generation X distinction. Willow Creek has a "Next Gen" Leadership Conference. I like that better. You can see my post on my blog about the Emerging Churches book by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger for the more discussion about the confusing terms “emerging” and “emergent.”

I also affirm that this image issue is not limited to pastors in their 20’s and 30’s. My post simply tries to identify some of the issues I noticed in myself and my friends and how we have tried to address them.

Thanks again for your comments.

I'd like to weigh in as a "boomer" pastor. I lead a staff (5) exclusively made up of Next Gen pastors. We have engaged in a good discussion of your two posts and have been blessed by a better understanding of the ministry issues, emphasis, and methodology of next-geners.

As a boomer, I have chosen to use this as an opportunity to mentor my staff while at the same time learning from their insights.

Much to my surprise, instead of defensiveness, they unanimously concurred with many if not most of your observations. Each generation of ministers has to undertake the unique challenges of their generation, but by and large the standards of ministry remain unchanged.

Thanks Andy, I appreciated your two articles.

Andy, you are nailing something with those practice statements. Our generation of leaders in the church boast authenticity and yet harbor a ton of anxiety and self-inflicted distance from others.

I was watching Coldplay on television last night and noticing the crowd reacting to the spirituality in the music and thought to myself, "There is a longing for intimacy there, but those guys are going to go off the back of the stage and be separated from that throng of people. Somehow the separation of fame is accepted. People know they won't be having dinner and conversation with the band after the show. The distance is accepted, flaunted, deliberate... Keep them coming back. Keep it mysterious! They'll have to buy our music to ever be this close to us again."

We do this in what appears to be "kingdom business" all the time - with look, feel, buzz, teaching, writing, music, even prayer ministry and prophecy.

A lot of what I see in my generation, is people getting a lot of what they want from people who have no idea what they really need.

I agree with everyone here so far, but the concern about image is not at all unique to "Gen X" pastors. Every type of church I've ever been in has seen staff with their fair share of image consciousness. The only real difference is what image they want to convey and where that image has its origin. Younger pastors may be a bit more "trendy" these days, but pastors in all churches tend to be careful to portray an image that is desirable in their particular subculture.

Image is definitely not everything, and substance is often sacrificed in a pursuit of appearance. Posts like this prompt us to think more deliberately about our own image and investment in maintaining or creating that image. We need that no matter our age or theological persuasion.

Andy,

I really enjoyed your two part piece. I have seen the ill-effects of too many younger ministry leaders that do get caught up in image issues. So much time gets put into the way we look (personally, our buildings, our letterhead, our websites), that we fail to prioritize correctly.

I've taken issue with much of the "image" stuff throughout my ministry ... going to conferences where people say, "Hey, did you see that guy's hair" really makes me disappointed in what a lot of us are doing. I'd rather hear about how this person is creatively communicating the Gospel than how much time he spends getting his haircut.

I really enjoyed your thoughts on transparency and being image-strong and content-weak. I've grown tired of hearing about churches that "break the mold" who are "not your grandma's church" and so on.

Anyway, thanks for writing this and calling out so many of us that spend too much time worrying about the exterior rather than the interior.

Gen X is the group that came of age with TV and the Clinton era where 'spin' is a way of life. That is why Andy's focus on transparency is so important.

We will never be able to shake the 'spin' culture completely, but we can be people who don't give into it. The 'spin' culture is ultimately 'dehumanizing' in that it reduces people to tools and potential customers. It also encourages the 'culture of cool' that breeds factionalism and favoritism.

In this marketing culture, authenticity is what is most sought after, but it is the most elusive. Ultimately, the call to Christ is to count your 'image' your 'equity' as nothing and to leave it behind and follow Him. Thank you Andy, for the call to true authenticity.

Andy,
I think the reality for many of Gen-Xers is Bono. I have talked to many Christians of this age who found more authenticity and spirituality in U2 than they did in their boomer churches. So let's blame it on Bono, or praise him as St. Bono.

Andy,

I do resonate with what you write. There is a danger of becoming a Pharisee... to use christianese. I don't know if the danger is particular to our generation.

I do fully agree that being "image conscious" is a danger our generation needs to be deeply aware of, and humble enough to acknowledge. At least for me it is a struggle.

Motive is so important to Jesus... thus "attention-getting tendencies" are something I have to watch my heart for all the time.

Thanks for the reminder.

Keep up the good work!

Hank

I do not doubt that you know some people who need this but I think you are being very unfair to so many “X’ers”. Many of us already know that image isn’t everything. But some think that image is nothing (which is just as terrible).

You have heard a thousand times and the question remains is what does a Christian look like? I can hear someone now explaining that they don’t have tattoos, they wear pleated khaki’s, drown themselves in Old Spice cologne, drink sweet tea, and only clap on 1 and 3 (because the beat is obviously more consistent with the doctrine of the Trinity). The crazy thing is even in spite of all that, many of these guys are being used by to reach their fellow peers. The same courtesy should be extended to the Next Gen’ers (X’ers, Emergents, whatever you want to call us).

Also, I hope no one is confusing themselves assuming that they are not concerned with appearances when too many in the Boomer Generation are obsessed with not wearing jeans to church, where the carpets are always vacuumed, and the offering plates are always shiny (And there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, I’m merely pointing out that image-consciousness). Do I need to remind you which generation brought us televangelism? And to the posters that question the authenticity of the X’er, I hope you do not think that this is unique to this generation. Furthermore in my experience, it’s the X’ers who are trying their hardest to show their transparency.

Listen, to the loving admonition of insuring that all of us (all ages included) don’t take our image too seriously, yeah, I agree but these two articles seemed to be much more than that – criticizing sharp-looking websites to church names. It is also unfair to see generalize with this statement:

“Though you are seeking excellence, make sure no one knows how much work you have put in. This takes away from the impact. Make it look effortless and that it was just thrown together….”
A generation raised on choreographed music videos and concert tours knows that very little with any quality is ever thrown together. Even further, a generation that buys their jeans already faded (distressed) and frayed knows that very well!

“Maybe some of what I have described thus far bothers you. Aren’t we as Christians supposed to be less focused on appearances and more concerned with the heart?”

Yes! A hundred times yes! So why are you questioning others by their appearances and not their hearts?