My question is, why do we call them busters? Do they bust things? Are they going to bust up our conception of what the good life should be? And why are they called Generation X? This label, of course, implies that they are a mystery to us and will always be unreachable by religious people.

Those who really care about this generation say that last conclusion is poppycock, a figment of your fear and, in some cases, loathing. Yes, some of you do not like these young people because they are too honest, a little bit weird to your way of thinking and much too dismissive of your favorite things (such as money, property and material goods). That is also why you fear them.

But all of that distrust is not necessary. We just have to start thinking of the next generation as the bearers of a brave old world. Yes, in some ways they are taking our conclusions and packaging them in some new, brightly colored wrappers.

Since I'm as puzzled about young people as any God-fearing American, I asked Handt Hanson, the worship team leader at the large and effective Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minn., to help me comprehend the younger generation. Hanson has a national reputation, a packed speaking schedule and an understanding of young people that makes sense.

"In the old days, kids would leave church after junior high or high school and do their wilderness wanderings," Hanson says. "But eventually they would come back to the promised land. Now they don't."

Hanson says the next generation is searching for an objective truth or a grand design they can fit into, or at least hang onto as the winds of life buffet them.

Our idea of an objective truth or a grand design is to quote the Bible - "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life" might do for starters. But for the next generation that grand design sometimes doesn't include Jesus, or at least not in the pure form that came to us as youths.

"The question they ask," Hanson says, is, "How do we become radical Christians without becoming bigots?"

Now that is a question worth addressing, and one the mainline churches should keep in mind as they pursue this generation, which is now clawing its way into adulthood. Young people have heard from fundamentalist Christians that certain groups in our society are not acceptable because of their ethnic or racial heritage, their gender or sexual orientation.

Somehow that does not square with the grace-filled message most youths have heard all their lives in mainline churches.

So what drives these young people? Are they hostile toward the gospel? Do they think the God of traditional religion is bogus?

"They are very spiritual," Hanson says. "They know there is more to life than the five senses. But you start talking about Jesus, that's where it becomes murky because it sounds like we are trying to manipulate their minds."

So the task for traditional religion is creating an environment where there can be excitement on the one hand; and, on the other hand, a safe place where they can explore their own dreams and goals and build relationships with other youths and adults.

The last part of that formula is best done in small groups where there can be "an authentic exchange of story," Hanson says. The large events - massive worship, big bonfires for the soul, rallies in auditoriums - are filled with excitement that may or may not be life-changing. But small groups are where honesty can happen. And that honesty leads to trust rather than skepticism.

Everywhere these youths move within the church the message must be filled with grace rather than judgment. They need to hear, over and over, that they are loved and there is hope.

Clark D. MorphewJuly 19, 1997