WorldView: the 'First Globals'

Here is an interesting excerpt from something I read a few days ago.

“What are your goals?” asks C.J. Mahaney, editor of Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World (Crossway, 2008). “Do they move you forward — to financial security, more friends, successful kids, a certain position at work, learning a craft or trade? Or do they drive you upward — to obeying and glorifying God above all else?”

There’s nothing wrong with helping a young person prepare to earn a living. But there’s more to life than earning a living, even in hard economic times. That’s what Jesus meant when He said we do not live by bread alone, but by the words of God.

We cannot force our children to serve the Lord. Neither should we unwittingly push them toward worldliness and materialism with the best intentions of helping them achieve “success” as defined by the world. Rather, we should model lives of love and service — and invite our children to join us in the great task of sharing the Gospel with lost and suffering people everywhere.

There’s plenty of data indicating they’re open to the invitation.

Pollster John Zogby has renamed the so-called Millennials (18- to 29-year-old Americans) the “First Globals.” They are “the most outward-looking and accepting generation in American history,” Zogby reports. “First Globals are also the most cosmopolitan age group in America, the most international, and the one most concerned about the environment and human rights.”

By and large, they’re comfortable with the different skin colors, cultures and languages they encounter every day. A fourth of them expect to live outside America at some point in their lives.

They sound like potential missionaries to me.

If your children fall into this age group or mindset, why not show them the unprecedented opportunities they have — not just to pursue a career, but to pursue the glory of God among the nations?

It is an interesting way to put it, no? Sometimes it is hard for me to see this "acceptance" he describes, but perhaps it really is happening and I have yet to open my eyes to such a reality. shrugs. Being in Harvest for almost four years now, I seriously STILL think Harvest is this crazy church and fellowship that somehow managed to congregate a bunch of individuals who aspire to commit to full time ministry as pastors and missionaries. It is amazing, needless to say EXCOITING, to see and hear about these dense... desires and passion in such a small church! I have definitely been blessed by these individuals through conversation, their actions, their service, and the list goes on. God really used them to open my eyes to what it means to be a global Christian, what it means to shepherd, and often times the difficulties in ministry. All of this have given me all the more reason, and no excuse, to pray.

on another note.
If I ever have a family of my own, I hope I will not acquire the “Hyperactive Parent Syndrome” living out [parents'] dreams through their kids (it was mentioned in the intro of the article above). It is such an easy trap to fall into, don't you think? Scary! I seriously think it is even applicable for me now. I have a bunch of younger cousins and they've always been the baby brothers that I have to nag on, discipline, and watch over. I feel like I'm their second mom sometimes. But it's so easy to think about what they might do in the future. Would my little cousin pursue music? He's so talented! Would that little cousin be some mischievous street smart individual engineer type of person? You get the point. They're not even my kids. And they're all way young - like 8th grade, 6th grade, 5th grade, 3rd grade young - meaning looong ways to go. By God's Grace, He'll remind me who they are as individuals in Christ, not kids that have the potential to live out something I can "brag" about. ha. That must be a challenge for parents.

Yet another note. but the last one for the noights. Speaking of globalization and cultures and languages and all that good stuff, I was extremely happy to find that my Chinese professor posted a link to this: jointhewall.org! Go read for yourself if you want to find out the details. Basically it is going to be a video display wall on Chinese Americans who reside in the U.S. and the display will be organized by surnames :) HA. thank goodness I'm not a Chen, Chan, Lee, or Wong. Anyways, it will be in the American Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo, 2010! HOW EXCOITING is THAT? I cannot wait to go! Here's my share of the wall! I guess you can't really see the details of the photo (i don't know why it's so small on blogspot) but it basically has a template and you fill in your info :) see! on the left corner ish there's my last name in Chinese! On the blue part, it also says "place of Chinese origin" which would be Hong Kong in my case, and "Place of U.S. residence", which would be Walnut, CA! pretty dang cool huh? 8]