What are those young people coming to Christ searching for when they do so? According to the 33-year-old worship pastor of Charleston, South Carolina’s Seacoast Church, Brandon Lake, what they want isn’t a feel-good story put out by a slick pastor, but rather an authentic telling of the Gospel and what it means for their lives.
Such is what Lake told The Christian Post in an interview, explaining how those who show up for his Sunday services are there because they want to hear the real story of the Gospel and know that what is being communicated to them is authentic, not just a collection of soundbites meant to get them to show up and think about afterward.
Making that point, he said, “I think my generation and younger are less and less convinced by preachers and communicators that are communicating so slick.” He added, “I know sticky statements are important because you remember them beyond Sunday. But this generation is looking for something to be communicated. God’s Word is authentic. It’s relevant, it’s complete truth, but I think it’s important how you communicate it so that you can earn people’s trust, that it’s believable, that you’re coming across authentic.”
Joining him, Christian artist Phil Wickham explained what makes now different than the past, namely the information environment. He said, “It’s a unique world that we are all in right now compared to all of human civilization. The fact that we have so much information hitting us and then and shaping everything that we see, shaping our view of sexuality, shaping our view of spirituality.”
He also commented on the issue of young people being able to sense when the true, basic Gospel is not presented and the issues that causes. He said, “It’s like the Bible peels the clouds away so you can see the North Star of Jesus that has been clouded by all the things of this world.” He added, “The Church doesn’t give like just like the simple Gospel, like you forget the power that has to change people’s lives and you’ve got to slick it up.”
Lake also spoke about his Summer Nights Tour with Wickham, one meant to help invite thousands of young people into the church. He said, “That was one of the most beautiful things on this tour; we invited people to start a relationship with Jesus. You’re hearing me and Phil, who didn’t go to school for communication, necessarily. …”
He added, “This is just coming from a dudebro who’s in love with Jesus and just wants you to have a relationship with Jesus because we know that that’s what you are made for. It’s coming across probably super broken and imperfect if you’re comparing it to a professional communicator. But I think what I’ve seen is this generation is responding to the authenticity into the realness and the rawness.”