Israel punkToday was presentation day in Youth Culture class. I divided the class into three groups of two, and their assignment was to investigate and give a presentation on a youth subculture. The investigation was to have at least 6 interviews with people involved in that subculture as well as research from books, magazines, or the Internet. Creativity in research and presentation would also greatly enhance their grades. The presentation was also to include a “ministry strategy” for sharing the gospel with these groups. The three sub-cultures that the students chose to study were: punks, goths, and ravers. Because of time limitations, only two of the groups went today, but their presentations were very good, and we will see the other one on Friday.

Some of the things that Lalo and Israel discovered about the punk subculture:

  • Punks say they are against many things: government, religion, fashion, and the order placed on people by society
  • One of the guys that they interviewed said he believed in God, but when he had problems, God seemed so far away.
  • In order to be of any help to this group, the church needs to get away from traditional styles of thinking and develop relationships with them.
  • They need to be accepted as they are.

Ceci and Angelica gave us many interesting insights into the gothic people they talked with:

  • They are very intelligent, cultured people with an appetite for learning more about philosophy and various positions.
  • One of the guys from this group actually listens to tapes of preachers in order to be able to defend his belief system against the claims of Christianity
  • They live for today, not for the future. “I don’t know if I’ll be dead tomorrow,” is their thought.
  • They stay to themselves. When they have a problem, they figure it out themselves.

Ceci and Angelica
Obviously, these investigations are only a snapshot of the subcultures here in Mexico City, but the project was a great opportunity for seminary students to get out of their comfort zones and see different subcultures as people with real needs and real lives. We need to engage the culture as Christians. Many times, our fear leads us to stay in our church buildings and hope that these people who are different than us stay away. That is not our mandate as the army of Christ. We are commanded to share the gospel with the world, not just people who think and act like we do.