Inspire, Winter 2003

What’s Abuzz I grew up in an age of dreamers. W e thought we could change the world all by ourselves and create a world of peace ruled by love. We strummed our guitars, clapped our hands, and sang, “Ain’t Gonna Be No War No More,” “I’d Like to Teach the World To Sing,” “If I Had a Hammer,” “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and the countless other sing-a-longs of our idealistic generation. In those days, we were serious about life. The number one reason we went to college in the sixties and early seventies was “to develop a meaningful philosophy of life.” I remember the marches (and the riots) for better education, for civil rights, and for an end to the war in Vietnam. Regardless of our position on these issues, they were important, and everyone knew that we had to do something. The dreams of a better future kept us going. But then the dreams died. They died a slow death, and their memories have not lingered. They died because we had a faulty view of humanity. High expectations of the goodness of man were crushed in a frenzy of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Much of the blame rests squarely on the older generation who did not know how to deal with real issues wrapped in unusual packages. They did not hear the anguished cry of youth on the verge of spiritual starvation. In 1966, when John Lennon told Maureen Cleave that the Beatles were more influential than Jesus Christ, the church drew a line in the quick-hardening concrete and challenged the youth to choose sides. Guess who the vast majority chose. (Yeah, yeah, yeah!) Our dreams for a future utopia degenerated into a quest for financial security, social influence, and political power. Marketing was the important thing; image was everything. “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” became a jingle for a Coca-Cola commercial. The legacy of those days remains in the new generation of young people trying to make sense of life. The number one reason kids go to college today is to get a better job and make more money. The most recent riots on college campuses have been to protest rules restricting the consumption of alcohol for underage drinkers. This generation has inherited a shallow, self-centered arrogance about life. We have taught them to value pragmatism over principle, riches over righteousness, a Mercedes over morality. Looking at today as the flotsam of those “years of hope and days of rage,” we see little of the hope survived. But the rage remains and is now endemic in culture, though no one knows how to deal with it. The best of those times has disappeared. We have kept the bath water and drowned the baby in it. Where have all the dreamers gone? I believe that the up-and-comers in today’s youth have all the marks of true dreamers. They will live in the most incredible period in human history: a time when a lack of information will no longer be a problem; a time when many of the poor among us have more luxury than did royalty 200 years ago. The real possibility of being involved in changes of worldwide proportions puts an edge on life and its choices. The events over the past decade have polarized us morally. How we respond will determine if the dreamers have a place to dream. But we need to engage the culture with the heart and mind of Jesus Christ. Our Postmodern culture has demolished recognized structures in society, and now everyone is waiting for what will be built in their places. Restoring the dream is more than going back to the halcyon days of The Love Boat and the Peace Corps. Restoring the dream means living and thinking deeply about the world with the heart and mind of Christ. Restoring the dream means believing that nothing is impossible with a God who calls us to be salt and light in a world that is so unsavory and dark. Looking at the world through the lens of a biblical worldview is what God has called us to do. The Apostle Paul gave us the pattern to make ourselves “a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible” (1 Corinthians 9:19). It’s about them, not about us. Our goal is to understand what makes people tick, where they find their significance and security, and what questions they have about life. We know that the provisions and the answers are only found in Christ. The biblical worldview allows us to pierce the fog of despair and doubt. We are to “test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and thereby make a mark on culture before it makes marks on us! But above all, we are to love our Lord and those around us with a compassion that transforms because it is sacrificial and authentic. We have a hope that transcends our circumstances, and it is so evident that people ask us about it (1 Peter 3:15). This is the stuff of true dreamers. I get to see 3,000 of them every day, and I cannot wait for them to start living out their dreams. Dr. Bill Brown President, Cedarville University Note: Much of Dr. Brown’s comments here come from his 2001 book “Where Have All The Dreamers Gone?” 6 Winter 2003 Where have all the dreamers gone? President’s P n