Understanding the Generations through a 500 Year Snapshot

I’ve never been more excited about this time in history as I am right now. This summer I got into some messages that sparked my attention and brought a lot of strength and confidence to me. They caught my attention for two main reasons:

1. They said things I’d heard of but that I’d never seen so simply and clearly
2. They gave me comfort about my generation, prompted a greater admiration for previous generations, and gave me courage that we’re truly in the greatest time to be alive in Church history.

I’d like to share those things with you to give you courage and comfort as well. Let’s start with a summary of Church Restoration, the Modern vs Postmodern worldviews, and the Moral Cultures of our Society.

The Church Restoration Timeline

The timeline above begins after the Middle Ages, when much of Christianity as displayed in the book of Acts had been diminished. Sudden change came to the world with the 1^st Reformation, when Martin Luther discovered Salvation was available to everyone through faith alone.

After that, restorations kept coming. Each time a big advancement came, the world shifted with it. There were about 100 years for each advancement to settle in before the next one came.^[i]

Then you get to the 1900s. That’s when most of us adults were born, so that’s the timeframe we’ll focus on in a minute. In the 1900s the big advancements continued, but they came much faster. Instead of 100 years to settle, we got only 10 years.

Just a note about the first 5 restorations. The greatest persecutor of each new restoration was always the previous restoration. Members were persecuted to the extreme of martyrdom, not at the hands of non-Christians but of Christians who did not accept the new move of God.^[ii]

The Worldview Timeline

Now let’s look at the world view timeline (in red above). During the major church restorations, a worldview lived in the developed world after industrialization. That worldview was Modernism, which primarily believed that truth can be discovered through science and taught systematically. Education and systems are the means of spreading truth, and truth is declared boldly. Modernism lived a remarkable 300 years.^[iii] That means it was in place before the United States were established, and the vast majority of our history was built in this worldview.

Modernism gave way to Postmodernism in the 1950s. In Postmodernism, truth is individual and can be discovered through experience. It’s shared by social groups and varies group to group. It isn’t so much taught or spread as it is experienced and agreed upon.^[iv] Postmodernism is no older than my parents, and possibly no older than you. In that regard, postmodernism is new on the scene of western and world history.

The Moral Culture Timeline

Now let’s look at the moral culture timeline (in green above). In the western world and beyond, we went through three major moral cultures over the last couple hundred years. The first was the Honor Culture, wherein one’s value comes from his reputation. Because his reputation matters, his word is his bond, and he presents himself according to his reputation.^[v] (In other words, he says and looks like what he is). He must defend his reputation even to the point of death. This was, for example, the culture of the wild-west, where insulting someone could get you killed.

Then came the Dignity Culture. In the Dignity Culture, one’s value is inherent as a human being. Because his value is intrinsic, he doesn’t have to defend his honor socially. ^[vi]  His achievements speak for him, and where needed, the systems will prove him on major issues. He shrugs off small offenses, saying things like “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” He trust the systems in place.

Today, we’re in the Victimhood Culture. In the Victimhood Culture, victimization is virtuous. The extent of one’s victimization holds more weight than his or her character. The systems in place are said to have flaws, and those flaws have victims. Relying on appearance also has flaws, and “all is not as it seems,” since what one looks like may not be what he or she actually is (ie police that do not protect, priests that abuse). So both systems and appearance lose value.^[vii] Instead, one appeals to the masses to resolve both minor and major wrongs.^[viii] It could be argued that since being a victim is virtuous, people must be hypersensitive to their own mistreatment or disadvantage to prove their value. Being established, successful or accomplished means you risk being seen as dominating, making the established/successful person a villain and everyone else the victims. The Victimhood Culture also fosters deep compassion for others and social awareness. This is the culture in the US in which generations Y and Z grew up.

The Parallels

Bishop Hamon points out that every time God does a major work in the earth, technological advances and societal shifts also occur that aid His purpose^[ix].  I wanted to discover these parallels, especially as it relates to the ~5 generations alive today. I also want to see if anything else stands out:

1. The Concentration of Change
   Look on the timeline for the decade in which you were born. Notice anything? Yep, there’s a lot of dots right around your birth! We alive today were born around a historic time of concentrated, abrupt transition. It’s like we’re looking at a giant ship called mankind trying to make a 90-degree turn in the sea of history, and we grew up or were born right in the middle of that turn. The concentration of changes means several things to me:
   1. The “generation gap” between boomers and millennials is not a generation gap at all. It is more like a world history gap. It is not a misunderstanding between parents and children. It’s a change in over 300 years of human thinking!^[x] All generations alive today are in this gap together because we are all at the epicenter of world transformation.
   2. New moves of God become a way of life.
      We have 7 moves of God being restored at once together (2 newer ones not shown in the image). The distinctions between any two moves is less obvious. In past generations, one person only had to adjust to one major transition. Today one person could have to accept (or reject) up to 7 major transitions. For those alive today, Church and life is nothing but
2. The Transition Generation
   Something else is kind of obvious looking at the image. There are some gaps where the thought of society was making its sharpest turn. Those gaps coincide roughly with 1960-1980. Those seem to be the years of greatest transition. It really makes me wonder how aware of cultural transition those born just before and during that time must be! To me, having been born in the 80s, my awareness of cultural transition has come from being taught about it, more than from personal observation. I learned that my worldview was partly postmodern (though I had some modernism from being taught by Moderns in the Church). Looking at this image, I’m increasingly impressed with those older than me, with the incredible flexibility, wisdom and grace they have and their ability to navigate what I now think is one of the most dramatic transitions since Jesus.
   
3. Postmodern Experience and the Pentecostal, Deliverance, Charismatic, Faith + Prophetic Movements
   In the first 5 restorations of the 1900s, all the gifts of the spirit were restored. Immediately after that, the communication of truth changed from systematic discovery and authoritative declaration to personal experience and community. How convenient! Postmodernism says in order for something to be true, one must experience it, and experience it together. Isn’t that how the Kingdom was advanced in the book of Acts, ministering one to another and being jointly fit? And beginning with the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the 1900s, all the way through the gifts, the Church again has all the ingredients needed to demonstrate the experience of God’s Kingdom, possibly for the first time since Acts.
4. Victimhood Culture and the Saints Movement
   One aspect of the Victimhood Culture is the lack of reliance on structure, such as titles and hierarchy. Sadly this often translates into disrespect for authority. Of course, honor and respect for authority is fundamental in God’s Kingdom, and all Believers must demonstrate both from the heart. But I notice something else. When God released the Saints movement in the early 2000s, the shift was that every saint can access and demonstrate the Kingdom of God fully. No longer does your pastor need to pray for you to be healed; you pray for each other to be healed.^[xi] The empowering of the saints to do what previously only clergy did is God’s purpose. Dismantling structure is not God’s purpose. It seems maybe leveling out the hierarchy of society was a human, knee-jerk reaction to the sudden realization that all people are equally able, with their own ministry, purpose, destiny, function, or whatever else you call it. When I relate to members of gen Y and Z, they already have the idea that they are uniquely called by God, that they have their own ministry that doesn’t have to be in a pulpit, and that they can do anything a major leader can do if they trust God to do it in them too. It’s like they know inherently what Bishop decreed long ago, that “the day of the one-man show is over.”^[xii]

So many more societal shifts could coincide with the timeline of Church restoration, and there are more parallels to discover. It should be that way, because everything God wants to do in the earth, He will do through the Church. Seeing it all together helps me really understand the 4 or even 5 generations alive today. And through understanding and humility, we can navigate one of the greatest transitions in history. We can turn it into the most explosive advancement of God’s Kingdom ever seen!

In your field, where does the timeline of shifts and advancements fall on the Church restoration timeline? What parallels do you see?

^[i] Hamon, B. (2003). The Eternal Church: A Prophetic Look at the Church, Her History, Restoration, and Destiny. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image.

^[ii] Hamon, J. (2014). Awakening and Reformation. Lecture presented in Vision Church @ CI, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

^[iii] Lawson, L. (2017, May 30). Modernism vs Postmodernism. Lecture presented at ACEA 2017 Florida Summit in Vision Church @ CI, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

^[iv] Cornell, S. W. (2014, April 27). What does postmodern mean? Retrieved June 19, 2017, from https://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/25/

^[v] Pitts, N. (2017, June 14). BEING A FAITHFUL WITNESS AS A THOUGHT LEADER. Lecture presented at The Bridge Summit 2 in Word of Faith Family Worship Center, Austell, GA.

^[vi] Campbell, B., & Manning, J. (2014). Microaggression and Moral Cultures. Comparative Sociology, 13(6), 692-726. doi:10.1163/15691330-12341332

^[vii] Pitts, N. (2017, June 14). BEING A FAITHFUL WITNESS AS A THOUGHT LEADER. Lecture presented at The Bridge Summit 2 in Word of Faith Family Worship Center, Austell, GA.

^[viii] Campbell, B., & Manning, J. (2014). Microaggression and Moral Cultures. Comparative Sociology, 13(6), 692-726. doi:10.1163/15691330-12341332

^[ix] Hamon, B. (2003). The Eternal Church: A Prophetic Look at the Church, Her History, Restoration, and Destiny. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image.

^[x] Lawson, L. (2017, May 30). Modernism vs Postmodernism. Lecture presented at ACEA 2017 Florida Summit in Vision Church @ CI, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

^[xi] Hamon, B. (2002). The Day of the Saints: Equipping Believers for Their Revolutionary Role in Ministry. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image.

^[xii] Hamon, B. (2015, January 01). CI Apostolic Network. Retrieved January 01, 2015, from http://www.ciapostolicnetwork.org/