Generation X

Generation X was born between 1965 and 1981. There are 45 million of them and they are usually forgotten by the media, despite their rising power in the workplace. Gen X’ers are:

-Raising children.

-Don’t believe they will be retiring when their parents did.

-Looking for a flexible work environment. 

-74% say they were negatively affected by the Great Recession and 57% are still recovering from it.

-82% are home owners and their homes have an average value of $238,000 according to Met Life.

Forrester Research says this about Gen Xers:

-74% use the Internet for banking, 72% use it to research products or companies, and 81% have made purchases online.

-Items that they buy most online are books, clothing and accessories, event tickets, and videos and DVDs.

-62% read newspapers, 48% listen to radio and read magazines, and 45% regularly enjoy TV programming online.

-95% have a page on Facebook, 35% have LinkedIn profiles, and 25% regularly post to Twitter.

-70% report that brand loyalty was the highest in Gen X consumers according to eMarketer.

-85% who use the Web still prefer to watch their favorite shows on TV. 

Xers are the most demoralized generation alive today. Their insecurity regarding their own worth was enabled by an unstable family life experienced by so many. While only 11% of Baby Boomers (Xers' parents) came from broken homes, nearly half of all Xers are the children of divorce. These were the first "latch-key kids" of the 1970s with their moms entering the workforce in droves.

John Mabry said in his writings about Generation X:

"Xers are not excited to be part of traditional faith institutions, leading in part to the continued decline among mainline Christian denominations in the United States, and the lack of religious concern generally in Europe. Yet, Xers are sincerely social animals, and "connection" is a true value for them. It has been suggested that the coffee shop is the Xer church, and indeed, such places provide a welcoming place for Xers to meet, to share their struggles and concerns, to support one another, to compare notes on literature and pop culture, and to discuss and debate ethical and theological issues.

Those who do participate in traditional religious structures will invariably come to them with a critical eye, and will have an agenda (not conscious or chosen, but generationally instilled) toward reform that demands greater transparency, great institutional and ideological humility, and a ruthless evaluation of the most effective expenditure of effort. Elders would do well not to fight or reject Xers' questioning or ideas out of hand, but to recognize the valuable power for course-correction that they offer, the energy for reinvention that they bring, and harness that energy for the benefit of the institution."

Most Gen Xers tend to disagree with traditional theologically and biblical interpretations. One could exhaust their time confronting them with facts and truths from the Scriptures, and would likely be justified and correct in all that was said. Yet if “telling” them truth ends the relationship and closes their ears to further dialogue, then one who is “wise as a serpent” will consider other ways. Rather than merely provide correction, the goal is to be a tool in God’s hand to transform their “hearts and minds” that they also be “in Christ Jesus” (Acts 9:15, 2 Corinthians 4:7). It is being wise to seek a way to be fully heard and understood rather than pushing them away because of a disagreement."