As promised, here are my thoughts in the article…
A few days ago I posted an article titled: “Reaching the Elusive Urban Young Adult: Postmodern Longing for Community.” Really I posted the article because I had just read it and I wanted to see what you all thought about it. I hadn’t given it too much attention, but I did think it was interesting. As I have thought more about reaching Italian students here in Rome at La Sapienza and Roma Tre, I have started to think about how the things mentioned in this article relate to ministry here.
Antiestablishmentism
When talking with students, one of the questions that I tend to ask is “che pensi reguardo Dio?” “What to you thing about God?” Invariably the response I get is: “I don’t like the Catholic Church” or “I don’t like Pope Benedict; Pope John Paul was much better.” It is interesting that the first thing that comes to mind is the Church. I usually follow up that question by asking what do they think about God outside of the church to try and clarify what the truly believe.
Whether it is government or the Church, Italians have a low view of established things. Some of them want to see change yet others have become apathetic; thinking what difference can they make. This is this general feeling antiestablishmentism.
When I talk to students, I love that I get to tell them that I don’t really like religion either. To tell students that God loves them and wants to have a personal relationship with them is amazing. It is so fun to get to know students, meet them at the place where they are, share the gospel and walk along side them as they learn and grown in their understanding of who God is.
Flyers don’t work
Campus wide outreaches have been one of the hardest things to plan and implement here. We have tried a many different things from an ipod raffle, to a discussion on world suffering. It is hard to get Italians to come to events. Even at our weekly meeting it almost impossible to get students to commit to coming. We have tried flyering. And I don’t mean just a few flyers, we are talking about 10,000 flyers passed out over the course of a few days. But the response we get from that is minimal, if there is even a response at all. I can understand to a certain extent why students don’t not take interest in flyered events. I wouldn’t go to something advertised on a flyer unless I was really interested in the topic.
Ci conosciamo?
Italians are even more relational than Americans. It is not uncommon for students to sit in the garden on campus for hours between classes. They sit and talk, go get espresso and just enjoy spending time with their friends.
The other day when Chris and I were meeting students at Roma Tre we saw two guys sitting on a bench. We decided sit next to them and talk with them. “Ciao, come stai?” “hi, how are you?” we said. “Ci conosciamo?” “do we know each other?” was their response.
At Miami University there are literally hundreds of student groups from the fraternity system to the zoology club. Here there are only a two student groups of which to speak: the communist club and the fascist club. Students do not really get the concept of clubs or organizations and don’t understand what I means to be a part of one.
This is why we talk about meeting students of influence on campus. We have been looking for students that hold the keys. Students who can introduce us to their friends and who have an influence with their friends. It is much easier for us to meet and share the gospel with a friend of a student than to meet a new student and share the gospel.
Essentially we want to see 100 relational networks in the city of Rome that are reaching the people around them for Christ. A relational network (we also call them a movement) can be as small as single person or can be a group of people who know Christ and are sharing the gospel with their friends, family, coworkers and classmates.
The traditional model of one large movement with 700-1000 people involved (like Miami University) will not work here. If you think about it, 1000 people out of 4 million people (the population of Rome) is not very significant. That is why we are excited to see students like Danilo, Danielle, and Alessandro who have come to know Christ, start to share their faith with their friends.
Final thoughts about the article…
I liked this article because I could see truths that can be seen in an even broader sense. I agree that there are generational differences that affect how ministry is done in the States. I also agree that in order to reach the next generation the gospel needs to be contextualized in a new culture. The way the gospel is presented and the way that the body of believers relate to one another and the world around them should take into consideration the culture in which they live. To put one’s stake in the ground and say that we should all value the same type of worship service or something non essential is not only foolish, but it is divisive.
Where we do need to put our stake in the ground is on essentials. Essentials are things related to salvation. Although the packaging of the gospel should be contextualized, the gospel itself must not change. This is true not only from generation to generation, but also from culture to culture.
¿Hablas español?
I know I don’t speak Spanish. Maybe after I get back from Spain I will. I’ll let you know.
PS- I almost forgot…
If you want to read and know more about our weekly meeting, you can read this article from Agape Italia’s online news letter. It’s pretty cool, Amos and I got a shout out.
