rd | Generational Differences (pt.1)

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Thursday, February the 23rd. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm Jon Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have a question for Dr. Shah or a suggestion for a future episode, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right, and you guys can help us keep this conversation going by liking this podcast. You can share it online with your friends. You can leave us a couple of good reviews on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from. And we're going to leave a link in the description so you can go leave those reviews for us. We love reading them every single day.

That's right. You ready for the verse of the day? I am. You want to read it?

I would love to. Verse of the day today comes from 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Yeah. To me, that's the bottom line. Like, are you honoring God?

Is what I'm doing here in this life honoring God? And we're so quick to argue or just obsess over all these little things that we think are important. When others, they're not sharing our enthusiasm.

It's not that they're, they're not passionate about those things. But that's just a sign of insecurity, you know what I mean? I'm fixating on this one little thing rather than is what I'm doing honoring God? Well, it shows that you have a wrong perspective. I mean, if you are focused on this thing and this thing matters to you, well, big picture is this bringing glory to God is drawing people to the kingdom of God. And if it's not, then you need to adjust your perspective. Yeah.

It's just about this, like even this radio show. We're doing what we're doing in a commitment to honor the Lord, not because others approve of it or others like it or others want to hear. Like, that's great and we want that. But our impact is number one, to honor the Lord.

And number two, I mean, our purpose is to honor the Lord and then to impact people. Right. Yeah.

I have a question sent in from a user. Okay. This is James P. You're in a warehouse surrounded by a zombie horde. Ooh. I hate to hear it. Yeah, I know. That's a, that's a bad spot.

That's a bad day. You have four hours to survive. What three fictional characters do you choose to defend you? I think they can be from any franchise, any... Just fictional. Just fictional characters, yeah.

Okay. You have four hours, three fictional characters. You have four hours to survive. Like, just survive the onslaught, not kill all the zombies. Just live for four hours. I think you have to just live for four hours.

Or try to escape, I guess. I don't know. Okay.

Like, for me, I'm going Thanos, Darth Vader. With or without Infinity Stones? I'm going to say maybe with half of them. Okay. Let's say, because with Infinity Stones is kind of cheating. Let's say he's got power, space is cheating.

I'd say power, time, and mind. He's got the resources. Sure. Okay, okay.

I'd say, actually, let's make it fair. Just power. He's just got the power. Okay, so he's just a powerhouse. Yeah, because I don't want to just teleport away. That's not, that's kind of cheating. Yeah, true.

I'd say he's just got the power stone. Okay. Darth Vader. Okay.

And Gandalf. Sure. I think those are my three. All right.

I think my three would be, I'm going to go Colossus from the X-Men. Okay, yeah. Metal skin.

Like, if he needs to run interference, the zombies aren't going to be able to bite him. Right. I'm going to go Invisible Woman from the Fantastic Four. Okay, okay. Shields, force fields, or invisibility.

I mean, that's stealth if we need to make a quick getaway. Can she make you invisible? Yes. Okay.

Yeah, she can extend invisibility to a field. Okay. And I'm going to go, I'll keep it all Marvel. I'm going to go Doctor Strange.

All Marvel? Magic user. I'll say he doesn't have the sling ring, so we can't teleport away. Yeah. I think from the way he phrased it, you're in the warehouse.

Right. You've just got to survive in that warehouse for four hours. But Doctor Strange, I mean, we've got offense, and we've got some utility if we need to rewind time. And I think he can probably portal some other zombies away.

I think the zombie horde is just going to keep coming, you've just got to survive for four hours. See, I feel like Vader's got the force. He's going to keep the zombies away. Gandalf can pretty much do anything.

Gandalf's powers are never really defined. Yeah, he's just sort of like, if you can imagine it, he can make it happen. He can do it.

Yeah, whatever the story calls for, he's going to make happen. And Thanos is just kind of the tank. That's a fun question, though. Yeah.

David, you got any thoughts on that? Four hours to survive three fictional characters. I would probably choose Ben 10. Who? Ben 10 from Cartoon Network. He's the kid with the watch that can transform into different aliens. I'm going to look him up. Ben 10, he has a bunch of different aliens he can transform into.

I would choose... Oh, yeah, I know who that is. General Stonewall Jackson. Fictional from the Civil War?

From the Civil War. Yeah. They're fictional characters, though. Why would you choose him? He's just a guy with a gun.

He's always a piece of fiction. Why? No, it's not. What? Stonewall Jackson.

The mailbox from Blue's Clues. You ain't taking this serious. Somebody sent us a question and you're playing a clown. I just hear it.

I was thinking like... And David's like, we just got a letter. So what was the first one? Ben 10. Ben 10. A somewhat serious answer. Right. A guy with a gun who did in fact exist is not fictional. And also is just a person. He's just a guy with a gun. He got shot off his horse. Yeah.

And then the mailbox from Blue's Clues. I'll change Stonewall Jackson. All right.

Yeah, because you're breaking the rules of the game. Okay. All right. Give us a third fictional one in addition to the mailbox and Ben 10. How about Uncle Ben?

Start the episode. Well, good morning, afternoon, evening, Clearview Today listeners. My name is Jon. And I'm David. And we just want to take a quick second and let you know about another way that you can keep in touch with Dr. Shah's work.

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All right. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abudan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028. Dr. Shah, welcome to the studio today. How are you doing today? I'm doing very well. What day is it? Today is Thursday. Thursday. Thursday.

Okay. Almost the week's over. Almost. We're getting close. We're getting close to the weekend. We want to thank you guys for sticking with us throughout the week.

If this is your first time ever visiting the show, welcome. Dr. Abudan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's episode. You can find all his work online. That's on his website at AbudanShah.com. That's right. And speaking of all of his work, I'm really excited about today's episode.

Yeah. Today was a good one. I'm really looking forward to it, because we're talking about something that we haven't really discussed on the show before, but something that is so helpful, so impactful for us and for really all of our listeners, all of our viewers. You recently gave a talk that I think everyone in the world needs to hear, first of all. When you were talking about the different generations, specifically about millennials and Gen Z, where we are, where we're headed, do you want to give just a preview of what we're going to talk about? What led to this discussion and how we ended up here?

Absolutely. I was at a meeting at a chamber education focus group. We were talking about the state of education in our country, where our young people are, and how we can help them become ready for employment, occupation, career goals, and all that.

I made a statement there. I said, the generation today, we're talking about Generation Z, is under so much pressure. They're told all the time that the world is full of problems and it is their job to solve these problems. And if they don't solve the problem or these problems, then they are the problem. And so I made that statement and the chamber president, she's turned to me, she said, would you mind leading some group on that, like talk about it?

I said, sure, if you want me to. I've always been interested in this generation theory knowledge, always have been. And I always felt like there is a divide now, right now in America, we have been pitted against each other on so many levels, right? Ethnic levels, financial levels, but also cultural levels. And I'm talking about specifically generational levels. We've been pitted against each other where, you know, the older generation is stuck in their ways and the younger generation does, you know, they're lazy. And so, so how can we resolve at least that battle? And so in this seminar, I was able to help educate people, I guess that's the best way to say it, educate them into starting to look at people differently.

Okay. Now as a believer, my first lens is the gospel. Second lens I believe would be, you know, where are they when it comes to their generation?

You know, where are they, because it really helps you understand where that person is and meet them where they are. Yeah. Well, a lot of times you see people, and maybe we've experienced this ourselves, where people are from a different generation, either older than you or younger than you. And there seems to be this, like this error in communication that like you're saying something and they're saying something, but it's like the messages aren't even, it's not the wires are getting crossed.

They're getting connected, like we're just talking around each other. And I think, you know, you brought that out in your talk, how our generation that we're a part of shapes the way that we see things, it shapes the way that we approach the world, it shapes the way that we see different current events, it shapes the way that we see people from other generations. Right. I mean, as someone said, people are more like their peers than their parents. I don't like that. Yeah.

But it's true. So how can we help them? Of course, not be odd and be like their peers, but at the same time, be different. Think for yourself and think biblically and think maturely. Yes. Live in the zone, live in your culture. You don't have to talk like, I mean, what are we going to talk like the Puritans? I mean, who are we going to go back to?

People from the Roaring Twenties or the Sixties? Yeah. Peace, man. I mean, no, we're not going to do that.

Or I don't know, the Gen Xers, like, cool. Cool beans. Yeah.

This is the bomb.com. Yeah. No, we're not going to talk like that.

It's odd. Yeah. So yeah. Yes. Of course you can dress, talk and act like your generation, but think outside, think different.

Yeah. How can we help people do that? That was sort of the goal of this seminar. Well, I think a lot of people just stop at, like you said, like communication, like how do I communicate with the younger generation? But I think your focus goes beyond that, just communicating. It's how do we start to think alike?

How can we start to move productively in the right direction as a society, as a culture, as a people, and how do we not pull against each other? Yeah. And that's the key.

Yeah. You cannot respect a generation. You cannot talk down to them. I never do that. If you notice, you know, I will knock down sometimes the certain behaviors that are not very productive, helpful from a culture, from a generation. I'll make fun of it. I'll be like, that's so dumb when people say that or do that or that age level does it.

Like what does that mean? So yeah, we can call them out, but there are people who just hate, they hate older people or they hate younger people. And I hope we never get there because that's a caricature. That's not really the person behind there. And why not take the time to come to know them and start drawing caricatures?

That's right. You know what a caricature is? It's simply an exaggeration of a certain feature. That's a caricature.

And I don't want to just have a caricature. Yeah. Cause we get exposed to it so much that we start to think that that actually is what represents, like imagine if that's all we had, you know, those like drawings, those characters. Yeah.

Like imagine if some, if like the human race is wiped out and that's all that existed anymore. That's what people are going to think. Massive noses, big ears. Yeah. They're going to be like, oh, that's what...

Enormous forehead. People must've looked like. Yeah.

But of course we know that's not what people... Yeah. That's not how people look like, but as I say, but that's what the artist does just to, you know, pronounce or, you know, emphasis, emphasize this one particular thing. So you go, it's like, yeah, it looks like me. Good grief. Look at my ears. Yeah.

My ears are a little, you know, spread out, but yeah. But anyways, I'd rather help people come to know each other, respect each other, help each other, and even have convictions enough to say, hey, I know that's your thing, but that's, that's not going to work here in a workplace or in a church setting or in a family. Yes. We can give and take, we can meet in the middle, but here in this area, this is a non-negotiable. We have to work on this. For example, for our church, non-negotiable is, you know, our allegiance to the word of God and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That that's a non-negotiable word of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, other things we can work with. Yeah. We can work with that.

Yeah. Well, it's like we were, we, I think we talked about this at lunch, you know, every members of every generation have to be able to see the flaws that like every generation is going to have pros and every generation is going to have cons. But I think what people tend to do is they'll say, okay, so here's the pros of my generation. Here's the cons of my generation. That's just what it is. So let's learn to accept those cons and live with it, but you don't have to accept them.

You can overcome them. Yeah, exactly. And they have really made a difference in our culture, especially in the business world. So if you were there this morning we talked about the meaning of work in 2021. This is a great article that Sarah Korolevich posted and researched and posted from phenomenal job. I mean, they researched thousands of people from different age backgrounds and it's from good hire. Okay. And in this, in this article, she, you know, they, they research, I believe 4,000 full-time American workers to, to figure out where are they.

And I want to go over some of those stats. Is that okay to do that? It's a little, it's a lot, but I hope our listeners and our viewers will benefit from this. So, you know, this article came out in 2021 towards the end of 2021, you know, coming out of, or come on, sort of at the tail end of the pandemic, you know, there's so much burden that fell upon businesses and employees all across the country. So people have lost their jobs, people are looking for a new job, employees are looking for someone to work and all that stuff.

And so remote work, increased autonomy and flexibility and layoffs and decreases in pay have really put a pressure on, on businesses everywhere. And so when they did this research, when Sarah Kurlovich did her research, she found that 48% of all people surveyed baby boomers, all the way to Gen Z said that they were very happy at work, 48%. And then when you go a little step further, which generation is happiest is the millennials. All right. So just for the benefit of those who are millennials, we're talking about from 81 to 2000, okay.

Now just keep in mind, and I'm going to come to this later on, okay. The 80s millennials are different than the 90s millennials. In fact, you call them Generation Y if you're in the 90s, 80s, and Generation IY if you are in the 90s. They're two different groups, okay.

And we'll look at their characteristics. But anyways, 57% of millennials were happy at work compared to 52% of Gen Xs. And then came the boomers and Gen Z, you know, they don't get along, right? I don't like those people. They're like my parents. I don't like these kids right here.

Now I'm telling you, I'm sick and tired of them, their music and well, you're about the same when it comes to happiness at work. Wow. Really?

Neither of y'all enjoy it. That's surprising to me. Yeah. I would think boomers would enjoy work more. Yeah. For some reason, I have that idea in my head that people in that generation of boomers would just be like, work is it. Like I love to be at work. Wait, wait.

Here's where it gets interesting. Which generation hates work most? Gen Z, okay.

22%. Which generation is next? Boomers? Boomers. See, I wouldn't expect that. Yeah, that surprises me.

I would not expect that. I really would think that they're like the workforce. This generation won't work. We love work. We love to be at work.

We love to produce. I understand it with Gen Z because that's kind of the caricature that's out there. Like I don't want to work at all.

The snotty teenager that wouldn't do anything. But that surprises me about boomers. Yeah. And I guess here's something I didn't bring up in the seminar this morning. But what makes them hate work?

Baby boomers? Not enough pay. Really? I need a raise.

What makes the Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z hate work? I don't like my boss. Really? Wow. Well. So y'all better like me.

I like you. Absolutely. So I mean, it is a lot of pressure on the boss and say, hey, how can we do better so that it'll be better for them?

So that's what's happening there. Does age really influence meaning and purpose at work? In the image of American workers who find great meaning and purpose at work, who would you think it are?

Great meaning and purpose at work. Is it boomers, Gen Xs, millennials, Gen Z? I would say boomers, but they're not doing too hot right now. I would say millennials. Millennials love their work. They find meaning and purpose.

Hey, you know what? I think my work means something. I'm changing the world for the better. I see myself in that for sure.

I have said those exact words. Me too. Me too. John and I are the millennials around the table. Yeah. They're like, yeah, we're making a difference. Yeah.

Yeah. So who's next? Gen Xs, which is my generation. Who comes next?

The boomers. We're making a difference. Now, get out of my way. Get off my lawn. Mind your own business. I got a couple of years to retire. Don't bother me.

Find someone else. Gen Z is the last one. This is not bringing me any knowledge. Pointless. We're making a difference. I have a juice. Yeah.

Juice. What does work-life balance mean to people from different generations? Well, percentage of people or American workers who are not completely satisfied with their work-life balance, who would you think would be the least satisfied with their work-life balance? I would say probably Gen Z. You're right.

Oh, is it? I was going to say boomers. No, they're next. They're next. I was going to say they're not having a great day. Gen Z, but boomers are not far behind.

We'll go for them. Gen Z are 69%. 69% dissatisfied?

Dissatisfied. And then boomers are 63%, Gen X, 55%, Millennials, 48%. Is it 69% of Gen Z that were surveyed or 69%... Oh, it has to be that because it can't be. Yeah, they're just not happy out of those who were surveyed.

I got you. So, moving along here, when it comes to what are they willing to give up? What are they willing to forfeit for improved work-life balance? Guess what boomers said? You can take away my promotions and career and advancement opportunities. I'll just stay where I'm at. I'm fine.

I've got a couple of years to retire anyways. That's fine. As long as I can have my time off. Millennials and Gen X, you can take away some of my salary. That's fine. I'm okay. If you don't pay me that much, it's not about the money anyways.

How about Gen Z? You can take away my paid time off. Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

It's like, huh? Okay. Sure.

All right. So, how strong is the American workforce desire for a four-day work week? How strong is it?

Well, I bet it's a lot stronger now. Yeah. 83% of them are wanting a four-day work week. Wow.

83%. Who are the top? The me, me, me, me generation. Oh, that's me? That's me. That's me. You like to work only four days without me.

So you can go see places, sit in the park, play Ultimate Frisbee. I'm just kidding. I don't know.

Time to play the meeting behind your work. Get my Game Boy Color out. Yeah. Watch your kids.

Game Boy Color, golly. Yeah. Lay on the lawn reading some Kindle book. There you go.

Have a picnic. Yeah. And just enjoy life. And then comes the Gen X's. Yeah, man. Keep it real.

86%. And then follow the Boomers. Then follow the Gen Z's.

They last. Gen Z's are the least that would want a four-day work week? Yeah. And it's not that much behind.

It was only 76%. But still, they want engagement. They want connection. So yeah, we want to be behind a screen. We want to be just left alone.

But at the same time, we do want to come and connect. How many American workers are completely happy with their pay? Happy, happy, happy. Happy, happy, joy, joy. How many American workers are completely happy with their pay? Which group would come up to the top?

That are the happiest? I'd probably say millennials. Millennials. Yeah.

Isn't that weird? Yeah. 47%. Then follows the Gen X's. 42.

Then follow the Gen Z's. Boomers are just unhappy people. Yeah. I don't know. Just cantankerous. Just curmudgeonly.

Get out of my way. Are employees leaving for higher pay? Employees leaving for higher pay or due to unhappiness?

Guess what? 46% of the millennials are leaving for higher pay. Or they're just leaving.

Let's just put it that way. They're leaving. The number one reason is higher pay. The number two is remote work.

The number three is career advancement. Hmm. Interesting. So they're the happiest about their work, but the least loyal to their work. Yeah.

They're the ones that don't care that much about money. I love it. Love every bit of it. Yeah. And I'm leaving. And I'm gone. I really do not care about money, but I will leave for more.

I love it all the way out the door. Yeah. So we have to now learn to understand one another, don't take things at face value, but find ways to have that engagement, that conversation, that reinforcement so people can understand. It's like, hey, what you're doing is making a difference.

And yes, be a millennial, but you want to be successful for life, as we talked about today at lunch. You know, be willing to step out of your lane and look and watch the tracks. And you'll realize, oh yeah, this lane is good.

That's true. Because if you don't do that, if you stay in your lane, then it will seem like, you know what? I'm so good, so happy, such a blessing to everybody.

I can beat that anywhere. And then you go and go, oh, maybe it wasn't that way. Well, too late now.

Then comes the Gen Xs, then follow Gen Z. Boomers are like, I got a couple of years left. I'm not leaving. Don't bother me. I'm good. I'm not going anywhere.

I'm just staying here. I just want to retire and go to the beach. They do love the beach. They love the beach, right? They do.

Mama, I know you love the beach. So there's a problem, we have a problem, and we need to fix it. And I'm hoping that this series that we're talking about is going to help people understand the differences between the various generations, how to build the bridge, how to help various generations work together, and especially how to help Gen Z. They're looking to us. And it's easy to write them off. It's easy to ignore them. But we do that at our own peril.

So how can we fix that problem? This is all part of this entire series. Hopefully we can cover more in the next show.

That's right. I'm excited about it. I wish we could continue the conversation today. But tune back in tomorrow, same time, same station, wherever you're listening or watching. We want to continue this conversation about Gen Z, about the different generations, and how we can interact in a way that is mutually beneficial across the board. If you guys enjoyed today's topic, or you have any questions or suggestions for future topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, and don't forget, you can support us financially on that same website.

Every gift that you give goes not only to building up this radio show, but countless other ministries for the Kingdom of God. That's right. I got a question here from Linda B. I think she's written in before Linda B. Linda. Oh, perfect.

What sermon series do you have on the horizon? Oh, wow. Glad you asked, Linda. Great question. You just heard it.

Linda. We're going to be doing a series on these generations. Again, it's going to come from the Bible, so it's not just going to be some topical stuff. It's going to come from the Bible. It's going to be expository, but at the same time, we're going to help people, whether it's in your family settings, or workplace, or school, or colleges. How can these various generations work together?

We can continue this way, where we are divided, especially along generational lines, so it begins by understanding, it begins by education, awareness, respect, appreciation, and hopefully we can do that. That series is coming up in March, and you don't want to miss that. That's right.

That's right. Stay tuned for more. We love you guys. We'll see you today.