Meet the Zeitgeist Family
Life is busy for the Zeitgeist family. The members of this typical Christian family are all baptized and one is still to be confirmed. The parents work hard to build a stable future for their children. With their resources they are able to provide for their children with a wide range of opportunities. The Zeitgeists seek to enjoy what life has to offer by doing as many activities as possible. The boys hunt and fish as much as doable while the girls are in to shopping at the mall. They all have strong friendship groups, which feel like extended family. Although the Zeitgeist’s are members at a church they often skip church to do something “a little more fun”. Although they pray at mealtime, it seems a matter of duty rather than joy. This average Christian family wants to be connected with the church, but they struggle with juggling too many other commitments. Their family’s priority list is lost, which creates tension in the home over time commitments- ultimately resulting in doing lots of activities rather focusing on being a family. For Mr. and Mrs. Zeitgeist being distracted with each other seems like a distant memory and so many other things pass through their minds like a crowded hall way. Arguments help to get attention back on each other but they seem to be trapped in this cycle. The Internet seems to provide peace for the family but some of the girls are talking to ungodly boys and the boys seem to spend consuming amounts of time online with out anything to show for it. The emphasis of the Zeitgeist family is the education system, which they hope will teach and provide what is needed for living in the world. As for God, the parents have appealed to Him as a sort of therapist who will give direction when life goes really bad, and the children are now following that model themselves.
Our youth have the potential to hold our highest hopes and deepest fears. They are the future of society, the testimony of our families, and they often shape the world of younger children. One of the books I have studied this summer is by Dr. Christian Smith, Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the one of the most renowned sociologists of religion in North America. His studies have shown that the majority of youth in America believe in no more than a therapeutic deity that helps them to live a better life. He concluded that the strongest source of their spiritual understanding comes from their parents and almost all youth directly follow the spiritual life that their parents present. Some adults project the breakdown in morality and spiritual disconnect in our society as a teenage problem, rather than realizing that often it is the parents projecting their own disinterest in church on their youth. The Zeitgeist family is my attempt to show this in one instance.
“Hurt” by Dr. Chap Clark, is another fascinating study into the lives of teenagers. In his book, he states that the period of adolescence has been extended over the last generation, leaving teenagers more vulnerable and distant from adults. This leads them to find their identities in “friendship clusters” which in turn, also define their morality. Friendship clusters are also the center for dating, without any sense of parental involvement. Without strong parental/family structures, teenagers’ sense of “family” will be found in their friendship groups. Within these groups it is ok to lie to parents because ‘Parents don’t understand’. The cultural pattern within teen groups is to emphasize their time spent outside of the home. Teens have created a huge disconnect from those that love and know them most and can often provide the best advice for them. Like the Zeitgeist family above, many families have become very disconnected and though they have some ‘together time’ at meals, they spend little time connecting at a deeper level.
If we really look at the Zeitgeist parents they seem to treat their children like pets. They feed them, give them exercise (sports) and train them in education, but they miss out on the most central aspect of their children- the reality that they are image bearers of our God! They have distracted themselves so much with worldly things, that they find security anywhere but the home. Interestingly God spoke to the ancient/primitive Israelites about the basic structure of society through the Ten Commandments. God was at the top and family was central. God gave the commandments to be taught by parents to their children so that society would progress and not regress. Family devotions are a great way to keep the basic foundations of society. Saying grace at meals is a small start, but the statistics today show that the emphasis parents place on faith will direct our future generations either for their benefit or detriment. We can often say that God and family are our priorities but if we don’t live that out, we are simply lying to ourselves. At our baptism and confirmations we make promises to keep God in the family. This promise is a serious commitment before God- it is called a covenant. We are a part of God’s kingdom that He has pronounced justified from sin. We are his representation on the earth to welcome people into that beautiful kingdom. And yet, at times the church is difficult to distinguish from secular culture. The beauty of the kingdom is lost when both are off key. God has provided us with the basics and promises to meet us and provide for us those areas where we are lacking. One great thing about our Episcopal tradition is that the prayer book offers a liturgy for family devotion, as well bible reading schedule so that all the families can read together. This was once a strong tradition that seems to have lost it strength. Let us be the patriarchs and pioneers who transform both our families and the culture around us. I’ll finish with a quote, “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
Peace Jason and Chelsea
