At the beloved Frog Fountain, my alumni friends and I decided to pray for the Texas Christian University community, particularly the TCU Class of 2020. This fountain has bubbled vigorously at the heart of campus since 1969–most of the time. One midnight long ago a prankster dumped Tide into the water. We recalled frothy soap globs sailing in the wind. And then there was that time when the fountain made Jello!
I hadn’t been back to TCU for 28 years. Now our little band of seven senior prayer warriors marveled at the view from Frog Fountain. The road that circled this centerpiece during our time is gone, replaced by more buildings and grassy walkways.
Summer break meant there wasn’t a student in sight. My former TCU roommate Jeannie anointed the bubbling water with drops of olive oil from the Holy Land. A breeze baptized us with the fountain’s spray.
As we prayed, my heart was heavy for this generation of college students; for those who will be the class of 2020. These young adults experience more broken/blended families, more mental health issues, more pessimism about the future, more debt, more suicides, more pressure to climb ladders of success. More, more, more of most everything–except in the area of faith. Although statistics indicate this generation’s majority is still interested in spirituality, that word is tricky and elastic. Generally, the students do not have a faith compass to guide them through cultural waters. Often, it is every American for him- or herself to figure out a system that often doesn’t play fair. Many students, raised in Christian faith, are ambivalent about absolutes and their relationship to Jesus.
My heart’s prayer is that these students will not build their lives on quicksand. There are many profile studies, but I appreciate what researcher Elizabeth Corrie writes about this generation: “There appears to be no shortage of teenagers who want to be inspired and make the world better. But the version of Christianity some are taught doesn’t inspire them ‘to change anything that’s broken in the world.’ Teens want to be challenged; they want their tough questions taken on. We think that they want cake, but they actually want steak and potatoes, and we keep giving them cake. Churches, not just parents, share some of the blame for teens’ religious apathy. …The gospel of niceness can’t teach teens how to confront tragedy. It can’t bear the weight of deeper questions….”
During the ‘70s my Frog Fountain prayer warriors and I attended college during the Jesus Movement—a groundswell of youth who knew Jesus as their Revolutionary–their Way, Truth and Life. An unexplainable Wind blew among us and miracles happened because of many prayers. There were mentors who taught and cared; and our youthful community was vibrant. I haven’t experienced anything on that scale since then.
Those who drink of the water that I will give them will never again be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life. –Jesus of Nazareth (John 4:14, PAR)
As our group prayed for future TCU students I cried because I hadn’t given this geographic place, its students and staff, much thought since leaving it long ago–that is, except during football season. Isn’t the TCU community worth more than that to me? Did I not have some kind of spiritual responsibility to remember my alma mater in regular prayer? Could I ask for that Wind to blow more powerfully now–not just at TCU, but at other campuses too?
My weekend TCU reunion, filled with much joy, was a wake up call. And I want to challenge you to pray for your alma mater and the wonderful young people who are coming by the thousands to hundreds of campuses this fall—the Class of 2020. Maybe when you take time to watch football and basketball games or read alumni news, these current events will trigger pray reminders for the 2020 class and its communities. You could start praying for the students this summer as they already begin packing for their campuses. I’m banking prayers that something great, beyond our wildest imaginations, will happen from new wineskins flowing with the greatest of harvests. May the Class of 2020 have 20-20 vision that only God can give.
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Here is a good link, from J. Warner Wallace, listing various research facts on this generation and their strengths and weaknesses as far as faith is concerned: http://coldcasechristianity.com/2015/are-young-people-really-leaving-christianity/
