tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post455402775099823739..comments2023-12-22T01:59:35.407-05:00Comments on The Musings of an Urban Christian: Bridging the Generation, Faith, and Culture GapsLHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02127870226377459490noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-9181348922272536582009-09-19T05:16:13.793-04:002009-09-19T05:16:13.793-04:00Daniel, thanks for sharing these insights re: zoni...Daniel, thanks for sharing these insights re: zoning and church. <br /><br />Re: zoning, I'm sure you have heard of the book, "The Big Sort," which talks about how we increasingly tend to locate ourselves in neighborhoods where our political leaning is predominant. Cause and effect of the current shouting matches that constitute debate on some of our generation's most fundamental policy discussions. Ominously, the subtitle of the book is: "Why the Clustering of Like-Minded American is Tearing Us Apart."<br /><br />Re: church, given what it's supposed to be about, the fact that we are huddling by age is particularly tragic. I find it telling that there is very little description or instruction in the New Testament regarding what we might call worship style. And yet, you're absolutely right that many people insist on certain non-negotiables as fundamental to their ability to spirituality, and choose into a church community based on music genres, which, as you correctly note, tends to sort people along generational lines.LHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02127870226377459490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-40182179995604816742009-09-18T08:10:57.918-04:002009-09-18T08:10:57.918-04:00Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I wish more peo...Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I wish more people would talk about intergenerational diversity. I think this is the one arena of diversity where we are actually moving in the wrong direction, and it's even reflected in zoning laws (to the extent constitutional) and development patterns. <br /><br />As we travel through the life-cycle, we end up in places that serve as enclaves of other people like us. "Family-friendly" suburbs, hip urban neighborhoods for 20-somethings, "lifestyle active living communities" barring anyone under 55, and finally the nursing home. I live in a college town, which tries as hard as it can to zone certain areas for students and make other neighborhoods as hard as possible for students to live in, for example, by prohibiting non-related people to share a dwelling unit.<br /><br />Sure we're more comfortable with homogeneity sometimes (grandma doesn't want to go to a frat party), but we're missing out on the transmission of wisdom from old to young and energy from young to old. In my experience, churches are the only places where these relationships happen, but churches are undergoing the same segregation too, based on preferences for music. Even that connection might be lost.Daniel Nairnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14127732825472374125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-80412122396028872512009-09-17T05:13:13.369-04:002009-09-17T05:13:13.369-04:00Nicholas, thanks for your kind words and for your ...Nicholas, thanks for your kind words and for your readership.LHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02127870226377459490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015340.post-21459713950322904132009-09-17T01:59:14.626-04:002009-09-17T01:59:14.626-04:00Glad you're spreading through the blogosphere!...Glad you're spreading through the blogosphere! Let the record show that I was an early adopter.<br /><br />I agree that it would be great to be more intentional about intergenerational understanding and relations.Nicholashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876710927302794606noreply@blogger.com