Driving home the other day, I had the lyrics of “Waiting On The World To Change” by John Mayer in my head.

It’s a catchy song, with a good rhythm, but as I thought about the lyrics, I realised I didn’t like what it was inferring about my generation. 

The following words make up the chorus:

So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change

In case you’re wondering, I belong to the age group that is collectively known as the ‘young adults’ in the church community.

We are often categorized as a generation that stands for nothing, who are dispassionate, uncaring, irresponsible and cynical, who lack a strong work ethic and have an inflated sense of entitlement.

If I’m honest some of these words probably do describe all of us some of the time, and embarrassingly some of us all of the time!

Often there is the excuse that we don’t have the means to make a difference. I don’t believe it. Part of a famous quote from Helen Keller says “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something.”

More and more I am hearing of young people who are dissatisfied with a mediocre Christian life, with the lack of risk we have come to accept, who want more of a challenge. These are people who aren’t willing to wait on the world to change.

No, we are not thrill seekers. But we are God seekers – we don’t just pray to know God’s will, we pray that we will ‘do’ God’s will.

This regular column will be written by young adults across Australia. Some will work in Christian Ministry, all will be passionate about their faith in Jesus and wanting to share it.  We want to be an encouragement to those currently leading churches. We want our leaders to have the knowledge and confidence that the people, who they will pass the baton to, are capable, trustworthy and devoted.

We don’t want to be written off as a generation who care only about ourselves. We know we don’t have all the answers, but we do see the things going wrong in the world, and want to help change them. We are a generation who want to make a difference; who are desperate to see lives changed; who want to give God the glory.

Maybe, if you’re someone from another generation, you don’t understand us, and that’s ok. I’m not going to complain about being misunderstood, when we may not understand you either. But this column will aim to give an insight into who we are, how we think, what we see as important and the passion that we have.

I and many other young adults are blessed to know mature Christians who graciously advise, encourage and correct us. Their experience and perspectives help shape who we are and we are thankful God has placed them on our paths.

We like to have mentors, people we can trust and who we can discuss and debate with. Unfortunately, we also feel that influence is a right that needs to be earned. Even then we may occasionally seem to scoff at proffered wisdom, but if we do, I promise it doesn’t mean we don’t hear the words - we ponder them later.

Some of the final words of that John Mayer song say:

One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population

We want to be engaged and prepared to lead into the future.

And we don’t want to wait on the world to change before we act.

Megan Cordell