Chapter 03: Be Contextual (with focus on Culture)
(Note: need more positives)
Expand Your Horizon:
Culture is a part of our every day existence. Culture, like someone said, is the water the fish swims in; it is something we see around us but we are not aware of it or the impact it leaves on our lives. However, culture is not imperceptible. Young people do have their own specific culture. The Church has usually shied away from talking about it, because they feel that culture is evil and a Christian has to shun evil and therefore to stay clear of anything to do with culture. We need to get over this unhealthy perspective. For youth workers, pastors, ministers who have an access and opportunity to engage in the lives of young people, it would …show more content…
There is often a danger of generalization as we try to analyze culture. For instance not all young people are religious zealots, neither are all drinking or nor are they all violent, these are just a miniscule percentage. Many a time it is the uncommon story that is highlighted in Newspapers and Magazines and generalizations are drawn from it. Karen Jones in her article ‘To see the world in a grain of sand’, an article found in a journal by IASYM, 2003, encourages us not to worry excessively about youth culture. Don’t depend too much on experts to analyze youth culture, she says, instead as youth workers you and I must strive to be ‘Relational and Relevant’ . For instance, the ‘experts’ may tell us to be careful in presenting absolutes as young people resist absolutes. This generalization can dampen our enthusiasm to share the truth of God’s Truth, truth that remains the same… despite the changes in times and seasons. Yet another danger to avoid, says Karen Jones, is the trap of being boxed in by developmental descriptions of the adolescent. Developmental studies, for example may over emphasize the generation gap, but the truth may still be that deep down kids long for parental approval and not just peer approval. Instead of looking for sweeping generalizations to understand youth, it may be better to know one’s own youth group and the uniqueness of our own young people. This is not to say that ethnography and serious cultural studies are useless but to emphasize the importance of knowing your own smaller
(Note: need more positives)
Expand Your Horizon:
Culture is a part of our every day existence. Culture, like someone said, is the water the fish swims in; it is something we see around us but we are not aware of it or the impact it leaves on our lives. However, culture is not imperceptible. Young people do have their own specific culture. The Church has usually shied away from talking about it, because they feel that culture is evil and a Christian has to shun evil and therefore to stay clear of anything to do with culture. We need to get over this unhealthy perspective. For youth workers, pastors, ministers who have an access and opportunity to engage in the lives of young people, it would …show more content…
There is often a danger of generalization as we try to analyze culture. For instance not all young people are religious zealots, neither are all drinking or nor are they all violent, these are just a miniscule percentage. Many a time it is the uncommon story that is highlighted in Newspapers and Magazines and generalizations are drawn from it. Karen Jones in her article ‘To see the world in a grain of sand’, an article found in a journal by IASYM, 2003, encourages us not to worry excessively about youth culture. Don’t depend too much on experts to analyze youth culture, she says, instead as youth workers you and I must strive to be ‘Relational and Relevant’ . For instance, the ‘experts’ may tell us to be careful in presenting absolutes as young people resist absolutes. This generalization can dampen our enthusiasm to share the truth of God’s Truth, truth that remains the same… despite the changes in times and seasons. Yet another danger to avoid, says Karen Jones, is the trap of being boxed in by developmental descriptions of the adolescent. Developmental studies, for example may over emphasize the generation gap, but the truth may still be that deep down kids long for parental approval and not just peer approval. Instead of looking for sweeping generalizations to understand youth, it may be better to know one’s own youth group and the uniqueness of our own young people. This is not to say that ethnography and serious cultural studies are useless but to emphasize the importance of knowing your own smaller