(RNS) As a baby boomer who long ago wearied of being treated as a laboratory experiment and the recipient of endless marketing, I am not big on “generation” talk.

Trying to define any generation — “Greatest Generation,” “Silent Generation,” “Boomers,” “Gen X,” “Gen Y” and whatever today’s children will be called — strikes me as largely pointless.

It’s obvious that each generation has some unique elements, mainly age and certain macro events (wars, storms, celebrity doings) that shaped their formative years. Beyond that, any body of millions is too complex and too diverse to submit to bullet points.

Rather than define a generation, we need to learn from younger generations what their worlds are about. For the world they see is the same world in which we all are living.

Here, for example, is a winemaker’s take on how to market to Gen Y (folks in their 20s, who are also known as the “millennials”):

“1. Listen and don’t talk. That’s the biggest problem for everybody, especially with this demographic.

“2. Understand that they inherently want to explore as many things as possible.

“3. You’ve got to be able to tell your story quickly and the story has got to be relevant … and more personal.

“4. People want to put the millennials in a square peg. Don’t fight the market.”

Personally, when I read a list like this, I also see baby boomers I know and 30-somethings. Cultural shifts are affecting many people, not just members of a certain age niche. In fact, one reason for churches to focus energy on young adult ministry is that it will make the congregation more effective with all age groups.

For example, technology plays a big role for Gen Y. But it’s big for older generations, too. Middle-agers are flooding Facebook, buying smartphones and tablet computers, and managing their lives online. They resist meetings as much as a younger generation does.

I’m reminded of feminist theologian Mary Daly’s seminal insight in “Beyond God the Father,” when she said that liberation for women would end up being liberation for men as well. For oppressive forces touch us all. So do shifts in culture, technology, politics and entertainment.

Take the importance of listening. I ran into that a decade ago, when I found in a study that many church folks were tired of being talked at, not known, and not hearing answers to their questions.

Diversity in exploration is happening everywhere I look, too. That’s one reason I suggest congregations get beyond Sunday morning. Doing just one thing won’t respond to any generation. All generations have become accustomed to having choices about everything, including church.

Time, too, is an issue for everyone. People have lost patience with institutions that don’t honor the stresses and constraints in which people are living. The two-income family, for example, goes back many years. So does the single-parent family. Maybe in the process of courting young adults, congregations will become more sensitive to such transitions in all members’ lives.

I think the winemaker has accurately described the Gen Y folks I know. But he also described middle-agers and older folks, too.

By getting to know Gen Y folks, we will also come to understand better the world in which we all live. They may see the world a certain way, but it’s still the same world.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus” and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter (at)tomehrich.)