Worshipping with the DFL Generation

Koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Visiting Professor

Department of Liberal Education

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

Australia

Many out there are wondering, what is he talking about? DFL. Well, let me say first that I am a DSL and not a DFL. That is very helpful. What is it? Can you spit it out, you say. It is very simple. The young people we are teaching at University are all DFL people. They were born with a pocket-monster in their hands. The day they cried for the first time their father pushed in their hands a digital device and that defines them and identifies them for what they were to become: Digital First Language Generation. I am a DSL person and so are the mothers and fathers of these young students. What characterizes these students is that they are constantly sitting with a little i-phone in their hands and with the thumb they are continuously clicking messages. The muscles of a DFL person’s  thumb is well connected to their brain in all its aspects. They know how to write to their friends messages even in total darkness. It is no problem for them. For the DFL’s it is communication that is important, not quality. It is not important whether the word that they are writing to their friends are spelled correctly. In fact, none of them spells correctly all the time and it doesn’t matter. If they want to say to their friend, “go out the door” they will write “go > dor” and the spelling of door will not bother them, and not their friend either. He/she knows that the friend’s brain will complete what is incomplete, fill-up what is left out or adjust what is need to be changed. Finally, the receiver of the message understands completely what the friend wants. Both of these DFL Generation persons are more than happy to just communicate without the ceremonies of spelling and grammar. And that defines me and their parents as DSL people. We do care. In fact, what makes us different from them, is that we can use keyboards better than them. They cannot type, we can. When they type, it is with two fingers and full of slips, slips of the hand, eye, ear, memory, and tongue. They take shortcuts to save time, we don’t. Or we are better at it following the DSL rules and regulations of centering of the title, indent of the paragraphs, spelling red underlines not tolerated but eliminated, grammar green underlining removed to clean the document. These are the DSL canons that teachers are trying to put as the standard for these DFL kids. Is it going to rain tomorrow? I asked. The DFL students thumb does the walking through his i-phone and four second later looked-up and shook his head. The DSL teacher did not watch the news on TV this morning before he came to school and thus have to wait for this afternoon to find out. The DFL student knows four seconds later the answer. The data is in his hand and the DFL student can access it immediately and verify a question. They know how and do it with confidence.

           They were all talking to each other or friends in their groups, since they sit in teams of four. Their projects for exams require in my class that they sit like that. But, when I said that we are not the same and that I am a DSL and they are DFL’s all heads turned to me and I had their total attention. They like to hear that. They like to hear that their parents are not the same as they are and also their teacher is not the same as they are.

           Their parents and me in turn like to separate ourselves from the older non-digital generation, although there are geronti or ochtonics who learned internet, like my father who wrote to me at the age of 83. I must admit that my father and I was like friends until his death. Called him every day. Never missed a day. Spoke for 20 minutes. Great talk. Great humor. Great understanding.

           These are the youngsters who slip in the worship and search for a seat in the back of the church or on the balcony. They sit in such a way that should the sermon not captivate their attention, they can pull out the i-phone and thumb around. And they do. In church. Non-stop sometimes. Sometimes all of them are doing it. Even powerpoint and videos are for the DFL’s nothing else but stuff that belongs to the domain of their parents and the teacher, the DSL Generation. They are the ones who are behind.

           Until I decided in class to capitalize on their ability for i-phones or DFL. I gave them the challenge to make an i-phone movie. Four in a team. They did it outside class-time by just fooling around. Two classes later they showed me that they got a movie. But it is not in English so I wanted a script in their language. They did. Then I wanted a translation of the script in English. They did. And then I wanted them to replay the i-phone movie again, this time using the English script. They did. The result was from a creative point of view, astounding.

           Maybe that is what pastors can do with them as well. Ask them to make an i-phone movie of events in and around the church. A short i-phone movie of the pastor’s sermon and congregation listening. An i-phone movie of church activities the afternoon, at a picnic or hospital visitation. Put the movie on a USB and play it to the church during Sabbath-school as church-mission time.

           I do not know if this will enhance their participation in the worship at church or whether i-phone movie taking by the youngsters during the service will distract the other members in the church but somewhere along the line, they need to get their space or zone or niche in God’s work and God’s worship.