SHARE Magazine October 2017 | Page 23

Remember the Korean millennial couple who became so obsessed with raising a virtual baby in an online game that their real human daughter was neglected to the point of starving to death? [1] South Korean Lee Young- ho’s StarCraft gaming career so damaged and deformed his muscles an operation was the only way to save his arm. He is now left with a scar half an inch wide, stretching from just above the elbow and up over his shoulder. [2] His physical scar however, cannot be compared with the emotional and social scars of the untold millions of millennials who are addicted to their digital lightbox be it a phone, computer or anything else in between. Who are Millennials? The term Millennials is usually considered to apply to individuals who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21st century. The precise delineation varies from one source to another, however. Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of the 1991 book Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, are often credited with coining the term. Howe and Strauss define the Millennial cohort as consisting of individuals born between 1982 and 2004. Overall, the earliest proposed birth date for Millennials is 1976 and the latest 2004. Given that a familial generation in developed nations lies somewhere between 25 and 30 years, we might reasonably consider those the start and end points. have become willing slaves and we are being walked by the proverbial dog, in this case machines and our technology is leading us rather than being used by us, we are addicts of our own products. There is a great deal of variation from one individual to another within any generational cohort. Nevertheless, the particular environment for any generation affects those individuals in ways that are observable as broad Religious Dopers tendencies. If you are a born again believer you http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/ are probably saying, “well I’ve Got millennials-millennial-generation Jesus in my life, this has nothing to do with me” but this phenomena is ‘Doped Up’ Millennial Culture The Beijing 2008 Olympics was prevalent even in the Church, which hosted under the theme ‘faster, has now become a money powered higher, longer, stronger’ and it was enterprise that bankrolls, a worship so inspiring at the time I thought, production that is now a dopamine “yeah let’s go for it, raise the bars and dependent activity rather than a Spirit push beyond present boundaries.” lead experience. Church meetings are Yet, there is still something about orchestrated highs. All the man-made the mind-set of this generation of trappings of media, marketing and millennials that is bugging me. It’s sensual stimulation are subliminally that they are obsessed with results orchestrated to put attendants into and not the process, the product not a dopamine high, where they get the person, they have no concept hooked and want more. Without the of grafting towards a desired end, sensual stimulus of the technology they are the slaves of instantaneous around us we don’t seem to be gratification. Waiting is an irritation able to function. God help us if the rather than a natural part of life. internet is down or the electricity goes Today, the millennials are “dope” during Church, what would we do? addicts yes, they are all high on Once the meeting is over, we leave dopamine a chemical in the brain spiritually and emotionally, empty; no that is released when we experience change, deliverance, healing, revival gratification and we are chasing of souls or transformation of mind. that high through every click of the All these things are supposed to be mouse. Research shows that this is the commonplace in Christian communal basis for addiction to video games, worship. Yet, we leave as the same mobile apps, gadgets, social media degenerated lot that walked in, like, Facebook and Instagram, just to bopping and bouncing into the car name a few. We need that high that parks. We remain on this high until results from a dopamine release. We the drug wears off, but not to worry, are naturally high on ourselves, we we will be back for more next Sunday. p [1] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game [2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32996009 October - December 2017 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 23