The Millennial Challenge~

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them~ Psalm 145:17-19 ESV

This past week I came across a thought-provoking post by Rachel Held Evans entitled “Why Millennials are Leaving the Church.”

The Millennial Generation is the nickname given to those children born between 1981 and 2000.  As a Mother of three millennials and someone who has worked with youth I have found Millennials to be intelligent, engaging individuals with many admirable qualities. Millennials value relationships and family connections. They care about social justice and the environment; they value diversity and are generally very accepting of all kinds of different people. All in all, not a bad set of values. One could certainly do worse.

Millennials have some beefs with the Evangelical Church and Rachel Held Evans does an excellent job of communicating them. Millennials assert that churches are too concerned with looking cool, shallow, excessively political, old-fashioned, indifferent to social justice, obsessed with sexuality, apathetic towards the poor and not inclusive enough.

Sadly, some of these criticisms are legitimate. It’s fair to say that for the last couple of decades the church has sought to cultivate a veneer of coolness through edgy music, casual clothing, coffee bars and “relevant” teaching. This has been done while sidestepping doctrinal instruction and declining to draw boundaries around attitudes and behaviors that are discouraged or even forbidden in Scripture.

 Because churches have tried so hard to appear cool and tolerant of everyone and their pet sins, it comes off as weirdly dogmatic when leaders draw boundaries around behavior. The one behavior church leaders have consistently put boundaries around is sexuality. It’s also fair to say that sexual standards have not always been applied evenly to everyone. I totally get how this might be perceived as some sort of weird obsession.

I would also agree that the church has largely ignored the poor. I believe that some of the indifference has been born out of confusion and ignorance. Many church leaders have no clue how to help the poor in a wealthy society where many basic needs are met by government programs. I have visited poor countries and it is much simpler to offer assistance when needs are critical and solutions obvious.

I am not troubled by Millennials’ concerns about church. Concerns inspire dialog and dialog is the first step towards reform. I am deeply troubled by the fact that young people are leaving church; the church needs the next generation’s energy, authenticity and concern for social welfare. Just as the church needs the Millennials, the Millennials need the church. Every generation needs the grounding and wisdom that 2000 years of teaching and tradition brings to the table.

Many church leaders are taking note of Millennials concerns and jumping to make changes. Few leaders are challenging Millennials’ to think deeply and critically about their questions and concerns. Young Christians need to figure out which issues trouble them because the church is out of step with God, and which concerns are connected to their own struggle with God and His methods of running the universe.

 Society is changing and to some extent the church has to change with it but not at the expense of core truths. Today I want to challenge Millennials in particular and the Church in general to take a few things into consideration as we look to reform the church. The three challenges we all need to be confronted with are…

The challenge to embrace the heart of the gospel~

Gospel means “good news”. Regrettably, good news is often preceded by bad news.  The bad news of the gospel is the core truth that the entire human race is not okay (Romans 3:23). We are all messed-up, deviant sinners who are out of step with God and in serious need of changing. Scripture teaches that if something is not done to rectify our sin situation, when we die, we will be forever separated from God in hell (Romans 6:23).  Jesus is the good news, and the only answer to our sin problem (Ephesians 2:8-9). Through faith in Jesus and His resurrection we can be forgiven and given a new beginning (1^st Corinthians 5:17). It is up to the individual to accept or reject this offer. The gospel is clear: we are all deeply loved by God but we are not accepted without repentance. Admittedly, this is hard truth and unpleasant news to a society that has made the mantra “I’m okay, you’re okay” its war cry.

The challenge to accept God the way He is~

Christians and non-Christians alike desperately want to give God an update. He’s just so 1st century and the 1^st century feels a bit backward. No matter how much the majority would like God to revise some of His views, it’s not going to happen. God is God and He’s not changing. He made the universe and gets to decide how its run. It’s up to us to accept God as He presents Himself in the Bible or reject Him if we so choose. We do not get the luxury of remaking Him in our own image.  If we reject Him on the grounds that He’s outdated and old-fashioned, we have to accept the fact that there will be no negotiating with the Almighty on Judgment day.

The challenge to think biblically~

We live in a noisy world; there are a million voices competing for our attention and allegiance. It is up to each of us to take responsibility for our own growth and development, sometimes that means getting away from some of the noise. I challenge all believers to take a season and fast from secular entertainment. Spend your extra time with the Bible and some good books on doctrine and historic Christianity. You will find the issues we struggle with today (sexuality, science, abortion, materialism, helping the poor) are not new. Christians have wrestled with these issues throughout history. As you search for reading material, choose your authors wisely. You will never be led to a better understanding of God and a deeper faith by an atheist with an ax to grind.

 And now I will attempt to tackle the inclusiveness issue (God help me).

Objectively, there have been Christians who have behaved in a less than loving manner towards some in the church. That is not okay. We should warmly welcome all people into our Church communities.  We must sincerely and passionately love everybody with the love of Jesus. Unrepentant sinners need to be shown the truth that God pardons anyone humble enough to come to Him regardless of their past choices. The church has not done a good job of communicating the fact that the only real difference between the saved and the unsaved is repentance (Colossians 1:21-23). We need to change that.

 Love is essential, but so is theological honesty. If we are going to be theologically honest at some point we have to teach people that Jesus came to change us, not to celebrate all our choices. Sadly, many equate love with full acceptance of every choice they make. God loves all people but does not validate all behaviors. This may cause some who are unwilling to change to feel unloved or unwelcome. As long as people in the Church are loving sinners and teaching truth in a sympathetic and thoughtful way the church is not responsible for an individual’s decision to reject revealed truth. Some will reject it and use the behavior of Christians (real or imagined) as justification for doing so.   As heartbreaking as it is, we have to face the reality that not everyone will make the choice to fully embrace Jesus.

Every generation of Christians is tasked with living out the life of faith in the midst of the culture they were born into. Millennial believers have it tougher than previous generations; they have been thrust into a culture that is increasingly hostile to the things of God. But with great challenges come even greater opportunities. If Millennials can correct the blunders of the past while fully embracing truth they will powerfully impact our world for Jesus Christ. I believe that the millennial generation could usher in a great revival of faith. Conversely, if they allow themselves to be conformed to a sin-sick world they will miss out on the opportunity to be a part of something bigger and far better than themselves. The choice is theirs.

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free~ John 8:32 NKJV