Tag Archive for: Millenials

Millennials tend to think and feel differently than previous generations. Their behaviors, buying habits, and brand loyalty (or lack of it) are far less predictable than those of their parents, and certainly grandparents. Yet the one thing that appears predictable among most millennials—is their abandonment of Christianity.

Despite the 24/7 streaming and uploading, millennials feel alienated, and carry with them a skeptical spirit to authority—especially in the church and in government. I have spent the past twenty years working with millennials, and have seen the good and the bad with these young people. I love this generation and feel they get a bad rep most of the time. So, I would like to briefly touch on three key areas that are commonly underdeveloped in millennials, and provide insight on how you can build relationships with them. Now before I go any further, my purpose in using the term “underdeveloped” is not a put-down of millennials, but a cultural and generational fact.

Underdeveloped Brains

In certain areas of life millennials are not progressing as quickly as previous generations did. This is causing many parents to be concerned, and has resulted in a rise of depression among millennials. According to psychologist Laurence Steinberg of Temple University, by the late twenties, “There’s better communication between parts of the brain that process emotions and social information—like what people think of you—and the parts that are important for planning ahead and balancing risk and reward.”[1]

It’s important to understand the underdeveloped brain because it affects the identity formation of every young person. If you have a twentysomething right now, your son or daughter is still figuring out who he or she is, what he or she likes, and what he or she should do. Choices and decisions are affected in a big way by the maturity of your child’s brain. With brains that are still maturing, these kids need mom and dad to help them make the right decisions.

Underdeveloped Faith

I have had millennials tell me they feel they’ve gotten the short end of the stick when it came to faith development. According to their recollections, the Bible was little more than an Instagram post in their lives. These young people clearly observed that the faith they grew up in was a cultural activity instead of a truly spiritual one. Today, older millennials have a hard time understanding how or why faith should play a role in their careers, personal interests, or future lives.

Yet, despite the underdeveloped faith experienced among millennials—they are yearning to believe and live out a faith that is true. Stop and think about that for a moment. After all the years in church, with millions upon millions of dollars spent on private Christian education, camps, retreats, and so on—nearly 20 percent of millennials under age 30 are no longer affiliated with the religion they were brought up to believe. However, these same young adults who left the religion of their upbringing didn’t trade it in for another religion. The majority of millennials, raised in a Christian home, became dissatisfied with Christianity because of their doubts, skepticism, and the hypocrisy they witnessed in the church. They simply abandoned their faith.

Underdeveloped Values

Sadly, the sacredness and purity of sex within marriage is seemingly lost in the culture embraced by millennials. Deep down that’s what they truly want, but they don’t know how to achieve it. So many young people aren’t getting married because they feel they ruined their chances by sleeping around, or they’re afraid if they get married they might get divorced like their parents.

Much more can be written about millennials, so I encourage you to get my book Abandoned Faith: Why Millennials Are Walking Away and How You Can Lead Them Home for more insight. But as I wrap up this post, I want to leave you with five action steps that you can apply to building a relationship with a millennial.

First, simply ask how you can pray for him or her. They may not be a Christian, but millennials often love to discuss spiritual matters.

Second, make time for them. Plan weekly engagements that allows them to feel safe, and open to talk about things they want to talk about.

Third, be as transparent as possible. Millennials have a “prove it to me” mindset, so if they feel you don’t care, or smell a hint of hypocrisy, they’re gone.

Fourth, teach them true doctrine. Millennials may not agree with what you believe, but they respect your belief, and hate it when Christians compromise in order to be relevant.

And fifth, release their creativity. Give them opportunity to serve and be a part of something that points to community, love, and true forgiveness found in Christ!


Endnotes

[1] Melinda Beck, “Delayed Development: 20-Somethings Blame the Brain,” The Wall Street Journal, August 23, 2012, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443713704577601532208760746.


Recommended Resources On This Topic

Stealing From God by Dr. Frank Turek (Book, 10-Part DVD Set, STUDENT Study Guide, TEACHER Study Guide)
Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions by Greg Koukl (Book)
Defending the Faith on Campus by Frank Turek (DVD Set, mp4 Download set, and Complete Package)
When Reason Isn’t the Reason for Unbelief by Dr. Frank Turek DVD and Mp4
Letters to a Young Progressive by Mike Adams (Book)
Another Gospel? by Alisa Childers (book)


Jason Jimenez is President of STAND STRONG Ministries and author of Challenging Conversations: A Practical Guide to Discuss Controversial Topics in the church. For more info, check out www.standstrongministries.org.

Originally Posted at: bit.ly/3zky69b

 

By Brian Chilton

Let’s be honest. We in the Christian world are inundated with bad news. We are bombarded with news about how the Millennial Generation is far more unbelieving than Generation X. In full disclosure, I was born at the end of what would make me a Gen-Xer. Nevertheless, pastors especially are concerned with lower numbers of people in their pews, statistics that show that giving is much lower than in times past, and denominational numbers that are dismal. I am identified as a Southern Baptist. I have heard reports that the SBC baptismal rates are the lowest they have been for quite some time.

Hearing these numbers cause great concern. As one who loves peace and security, I find myself asking some questions that are noble, like—”Will the next generation know about Christ? Will there be an evangelical presence in a future generation?”, And some questions that are admittedly more selfish, like—“Do I have job security as a pastor? Will I have enough time in ministry to retire? What will I do if I lose my position?”. Be honest. If you are in ministry, you have probably asked similar questions.

However, I have had a statement that the apostle Paul gave the Romans on my mind a lot here lately. Paul wrote, perhaps his magnum opus, to the church in Rome. Roman Christians were facing uncertain days as they were often met with persecution. In AD 49, Emperor Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. The Christian Jews were met with strife over their trust in Christ by fellow Jews. For the Christians left in Rome, they were Gentiles who were bombarded by various other competing worldviews. In the midst of this turmoil, Paul encourages them by saying, “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).[1] How can these words apply to our situation? First, let’s look at the reactions that people often have when met with opposition.

  1. Reactions to Negative Statistics.

            As an observer of people, I have noticed three negative reactions and one positive to the problems facing the church. We’ll call the three negative reactions the denying mule, the withdrawn ostrich, and the whipped pup, while the positive reaction is noted as the conquering lion.

            The Denying Mule. A mule can be a stubborn animal. If it is content to not do something, it is difficult, if not downright impossible, to get the animal to that thing. In like manner, some Christians will hear the negative statistics that are given and will deny that things are as bad as the statistics portray. Why? It is because the person is content to keep things as they are and is unwilling to change ministerial practices regardless of what may come. This is an unhealthy practice.

            The Withdrawn Ostrich. Ostriches are classically portrayed as sticking their heads in the sand when concerned. I have been told that ostriches do not actually do such a thing. However, for our analogy, we will use the famous scene. For some Christians, they are overly concerned with the bleak news, but they are unwilling are perhaps too afraid to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Therefore, instead of facing the challenges, they withdraw themselves to people like themselves and ignore the outside world. Again, this is an unhealthy practice for the evangelical Christian.

            The Whipped Pup. The third practice is that of a whipped pup. This is likened to an unfortunate puppy who has been met with horrid treatment by even worse people. We have taken in pets before that attach themselves to us, because we treat them well, but are afraid of anyone or anything else. Some Christians are like this whipped pup. They feel defeated and think that there is no hope. They feel anxious and concerned, but do not know how to improve the situation at hand. This too is an unhealthy practice.

            The Conquering Lion. The healthy response is likened to a conquering lion. This animal has confidence and faces any circumstance with the attitude and trust that he can make a difference and can see positive things take place. The conquering lion is the attitude the modern Christian needs to have. It may surprise you to know that even the United States has met times where Christianity wasn’t as strong as it was at other times. God would raise up individuals to bring change. Examples include John Wesley, George Whitefield, D. L. Moody, and more recently Billy Graham.

           2.  Ways to Overcome Negative Statistics.

            So, how do we overcome the statistics? Rather than placing an unhealthy focus on the statistics, I suggest that we take four attitudes moving forward.

            Power of Prayer. First, we need to remember that there is great power in prayer. Do you think that the power of prayer has ceased? Has God changed? Remember, God does not change, he is the same God that he has always been (Heb. 13:8; Rom. 11:29; and Num. 23:19). God hears our prayers (1 Jn. 5:14). So, if God has not changed and he still hears our prayers, why are we not praying more, asking that God does something great in our lives and in the church to change the direction that we’re going?

            Gospel Focus. We cannot ignore the statistics. However, I do not think we should make statistics our primary focus. Our primary focus should be on Christ and on fulfilling his Great Commission. We cannot control what other people do. However, we can control where we place our focus. What if every Christian and every church took the gospel seriously and tried to share their faith by both their actions and words? Why we might see another Great Awakening sooner than we thought.

            Divine Trust. Also, we must not be consumed by the negativity all around us. We must trust God in all things and understand that he does have a great plan for us and for all of history. It’s also in Romans that Paul notes that “all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Trust in God and in his direction.

            Genuine Love. Finally, we must not lose the focus we should all have on love. Do we really love the lost? That is a serious question we must ask ourselves. Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (Jn. 13:35). Can people see Christ in us by the love we have? If not, we need to first have a revival within ourselves.

 Conclusion

Statistics are important. They serve as a gauge to illustrate the spiritual condition of our time. However, we cannot be consumed by the negative statistics we read and hear. For us to have a revival, no amount of human tactics will do any good. Rather, to have a true revival, God must move. He must move within us as we are the hands and feet of Jesus. So, to borrow Paul’s statement in Romans 12:21: Don’t be overcome by statistics, but overcome statistics with the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Notes 

[1] Unless otherwise noted, all quoted Scripture comes from the Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman, 2017).

 


Brian G. Chilton is the founder of BellatorChristi.com and is the host of The Bellator Christi Podcast. He received his Master of Divinity in Theology from Liberty University (with high distinction); his Bachelor of Science in Religious Studies and Philosophy from Gardner-Webb University (with honors); and received certification in Christian Apologetics from Biola University. Brian is currently in the Ph.D. program in Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University. Brian has been in the ministry for over 15 years and serves as the pastor of Huntsville Baptist Church in Yadkinville, North Carolina.

Original Blog Source: http://bit.ly/2tirl5l