Comatose Tiger

One of the most stirring articles that I have ever read is the Sleeping Tiger by Dennis Peacocke. I first came across the article in 1983. (The full article can be read in New Wine magazine.) The article began with a quote from Bob Mumford.

There is an entire generation out there—the sixties generation—that has rejected empty religion and is hungry for something real and alive. They have become burned-out on politics, drugs and sex, and now they’ve blended into the establishment. They’re like a sleeping tiger. But with a prophetic word that is real and powerful, they can be awakened.

Denis Peacocke began his description of the Sleeping Tiger by telling about the false trails pursued by the sixty generation. These included radical politics and drugs. They all lead to disappointment.

Looking back, I can see that spiritually, we were looking for a prophetic voice. Many of us had identified with the youth and enthusiasm of President Kennedy but when he was; assassinated, those hopes were shattered.

A Generation's Calling
The Scriptures speak of God as the one who "calls forth the generations to serve Him in their time" (Is. 41:4). I think God put something in our generation which caused it to search for a prophetic sound. As I searched, I found in Marxism a more comprehensive world view than I could find anywhere else. I certainly hadn't found it in the parochial, self-serving brand of Christianity that I'd been exposed to.

We knew that there was a revolutionary historical process in motion and our generation seemed to be on the cutting edge of it. We had an intuitive sense that we were a catalyst in massive changes that were coming to our society. Looking back, I believe that the desire to make an impact on society was something that the Holy Spirit had programmed into our generation. We were looking for answers. We were looking for a prophetic voice wherever we could find it.

Everything changed when Dennis became a Christian.

I got into the Scriptures with a vengeance and the world view that Marxism had given me actually became a help, because I approached the Bible looking for a world view. I knew that there had to be a cosmic point of view in Scripture that was different from what I had known of Christianity before, which had reduced all concerns to personal pietism and made heaven the goal instead of the kingdom of God. I knew that type of Christianity was not going to change the world.

In 1983, looking back on his generation he was disappointed at what had become of them.

Looking Back
That was a major turning point in my life, and my life has been radically different since I encountered the kingdom of God. In looking back at my personal journey through the sixties, I see how it paralleled what happened in the generation as a whole. It's painful to look at what has happened to the idealistic young men and women who were once searching for something more than a split-level house and two cars in the garage.

Thoreau said, "The mass of men live their lives in quiet desperation." I think that sums up where most of my generation is now. They have no cause calling to them. Although many would deny it, they have gone back to the pursuit of pleasure and comfort because it's the only game in town. We have seen ten years now of the Woodstock generation "doing their thing" -making as much money as they can, to have as pleasant an environment as they can. I think that, as a result, there is a collective guilt among them about "selling out" and settling for the most mellow life they can find.

Even so, I don't think that's the condition they want to be in. They're playing the game; they're getting by-but I don't think this generation has found what they really hunger for. I think they are still searching inside for a cause to motivate them. I believe that many people are still hoping that something will come along to grab them. The anti-nuclear movement is trying to do that and certainly has captured a lot of the youth in Western Europe. But I don't see that issue really taking hold here in the same way that either civil rights or Vietnam did. We've been through that.

Explosive Potential
Bob Mumford has likened the sixties generation to a sleeping tiger. It's gone to sleep in a bed of hedonistic pursuits, but it's still a tiger-it still has the explosive potential God imprinted in its spiritual genes.

It is the Church's responsibility to preach a gospel that will arouse that potential. The sad thing is that we haven't preached a gospel that really calls men forth. It's been a very self-centered gospel-save yourself so you go to heaven. Frankly, that isn't enough to someone who wants something beyond themselves.

Many from the sixties and seventies viewed traditional Christianity as about the lowest level of spiritual life that anyone would give themselves to. They saw the Church as irrelevant-or, at best, as an institution that represented a certain life-style within western civilization. They did not see it as a spiritual phenomenon.

The prophetic sound that they will respond to is one that has deep content which emphasizes a Christian world view, the gospel of the kingdom of God which speaks uniquely of bringing every sphere of life under the lordship of Christ. The New Testament speaks of the calling together of God's people-the formation of a holy nation and a peculiar people who are destined to impact the world and to prepare themselves to rule and reign with Christ.

That's a message that they've never heard. They've heard Jesus saves, but if all He does is get you into heaven-so what! The idea of living forever is not very appealing if you're not excited about being alive. That's not a very appealing gospel-certainly not to this generation. They're going to have to hear why God wants to save His people and what He wants to do with them after they're saved. The destiny of God's people to rule and reign in life is by far the most compelling message that Christianity has to preach.

Waking the Tiger
This generation already knows that there's no life in the existing order. So, the challenge is to awaken that tiger, not by being critical of what exists; but by putting forth a vision of what could be. In the sixties, there were many powerful voices pointing out what was wrong with society, but very few people with either plans or values to replace those that were being so quickly discarded. The danger is that we could wake up the tiger with the tearing down without having the ability to build up.

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, He tried to communicate that there was a spiritual reality which superceded all other realities. Those we address must see that reality in us. That’s where it gets scary, because we must have the character of God. Otherwise, we will have awakened the generation only to defraud it and disillusion it again. We need to speak prophetically concerning the kingdom of God, hut it is the life-style and the character of life in Cod's people that authenticates the prophetic word.

Every generation has a destiny. The sleeping tiger has sensed within itself a calling to a purpose, which will cut across the momentum of history. If God will give us the wisdom to awaken that desire with the message of the gospel of the kingdom of God, we can make a significant difference in the preparation of the world for the return of Jesus. I believe there are many who, right now, consider being a Christian unthinkable, who have a call on their life that's much deeper than their intellect. Once they have heard that call, they will find themselves going places and doing things they never would have imagined-and with the most unlikely people! Without knowing it, that sleeping tiger is ready to be awakened to that call already burning in their hungry hearts—the prophetic call of the kingdom of God.

This article really resonated with me when I first read it back in 1983. I am part of the sixties generation, although I never got into the dark side in the way that many did. I left the farm and went to university to study economics and politics in the hope of finding solutions that would make the world a better place. I had become quite disillusioned when I found that I was trying to draw water from a dry well.

I can still remember the excitement when I became a Christian and discovered a worldview that worked. I had been seeking a way to change the world, so I was overjoyed when I discovered the Kingdom of God in the gospels, I knew that I had discovered a game changer that was unmatched.

When I read Dennis Peacocke’s article, I understood what he was saying and knew that he was right. I had watched my generation leave radicalism and join the establishment for the benefits of prosperity. His suggestion that this sleeping tiger could be wakened to their destiny by a prophetic message about the kingdom was a powerful idea. That hope was one of the reasons that I started writing about the Kingdom of God.

Looking back now, twenty-five years after Dennis Peacocke shared his vision of the sixties generation awakening to fulfil its calling, I am now less certain. The sixties generation is moving into retirement and still seem keener on the good life than a good calling. Can a prophetic vision of the Kingdom of God awaken this comatose tiger? I do not know the answer to that question. Maybe God will have to find another radical generation to complete the task.

As for me, I am going to keep on pursing the Kingdom of God, regardless of whether I am joined by the rest of my generation. The vision of the Kingdom of God is as powerful as ever.