Boomer Byte
By William Stearns
Malcom Gladwell in The Tipping Point suggests that small changes have little or no effect on a system until a critical mass is reached. At that tipping point, change comes quickly-like a tiny virus that bursts exponentially into an epidemic. Evangelical Baby Boomers-one of every ten Americans-making small changes in our lives can eventually release a maelstrom of solutions, positive trends, boons and blessings in the name of Jesus Christ. We Boomer believers can fulfill the promise God has invested in our generation-if we will.
Fulfilling our Boomer promise isn't contingent on our brains, skills or pocket books-but on letting God tap into the heart of our generation. This isn't about doing deeds of token charity-helping the helpless by ladling soup once a year at the homeless shelter, taking tax write-offs for charitable contributions. This is about opening up our hearts to God's big purpose to be exalted in all the earth, to bless the nations-our own included.
When your next generations talk about your life, they'll mostly remember your last days. The smell of hospitals in winter. Catheters. Medication. Beverly Manor invoices -- or this:
- "Your great-grandfather died drilling a water well in Chad. That's here on the globe. They named that well after him. Probably a hundred thousand people are alive today because of his water.
- Or: "She wore a burkha, just like the widows. Yes, in Kabul.Yes, it was a dangerous place in those days. Well, she was an extraordinary woman!"
- Or: "He helped build 56 houses for the Appalachian poor and started twelve churches. She rocked babies at that women's shelter till the day she died. He trained the supreme court judges in the new Sudan. They started a campaign to eliminate hunger in the whole city. She began a 24/7 Internet prayer circle that's still praying around the world today."
- Or: "No, he wasn't a soldier; just a great man who gave his life so they could be free. He spent those last years serving God as a tithe of his lifetime.
