Henry

Henry lives in a neighborhood filled with ethnic diversity which allows him to be a part of a larger world community.  He shops in a market that supports local organic farmers and spends time with friends at a café that supports fair trade with coffee growers in Latin America.  His company provides technology solutions for small business that are making an effort to become more environmentally friendly.

Social justice issues are important to him, and he backs it up by supporting organizations that combat human trafficking in Asia.  Saturday mornings finds him putting together food bags for children living in poverty whose parents are struggling with drug abuse.  Spiritually he is involved in a Value and Vision Circle that keeps a conversation going about values, ethics and designer spirituality.

In his own words, “It is up to me and our community to make a meaningful contribution to this world.  The institutions around us have in large part failed.  Science has not delivered on its promises.  Religion has become morally bankrupt and political leaders are corrupt.  Families, including my own, are breaking apart.   This world is dysfunctional on so many levels.” 

When someone commented on his negativity, he quickly countered, “Not at all.  Even though my friends and I recognize the chaotic nature of the world and though we have dismissed any overarching purpose in life, we are discovering the value that our personal stories make on a local level.  We embrace the conditions as they are but still contribute positively to society in individual ways.” 

As for me I would like the "Henry’s" of the world to know that as Christians, we too value personal stories.  We do believe after all that we were created to do good works which God prepared in advanced for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).  We know the importance of acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8). We do care for widows and orphans in their distress (James 1:27).

What I would welcome from them is a conversation about the grand biblical narrative.  Because as someone once said, “I can only answer the question, ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question “Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’”        

I would invite them to consider what God wanted for us through creation and what happened to us with the fall of humanity into sin.  To consider what God has done in Jesus Christ to put things right and how things will be restored in Him.

What I would like us to realize is that the "Henry's" are not just an insignificant number of free thinkers.  Instead they represent a largely growing contingent of people dissatisfied with life, and they see their stories as a way of making sense of it all.  They represent a coming generation that has arrived.