Millennials are asked why they’re leaving church and their answers are challenging | Christian News on Christian Today
Some Millennials feel that what worked for previous generations isn’t necessarily what works best now.
I’m not a millennial, but I do relate to the issues they are concerned about when it comes to what is actually going on in the churches of today. So, let me just take the highlighted comments from this article and expound on them for a moment.
Starting with the aspect that they aren’t too accepting of just being preached to since they see this as old-fashioned and out of date for today so to say. And it’s true that every whim of preaching is easily available all the time so why have to sit through a service that is meant only for those who haven’t accepted a relationship with Christ. These individuals have been raised up peering in relationships their whole life, and they are keen to empty pledges of devotion and commitment from others. So, when they come into the service they are looking for individuals who are among the membership that is willing to take on a more mentoring role in their lives. This is something that is not easily done by any pastoral member of the church mainly because it requires a level of devotion to the interest and concerns of those who attend.
There is a way for what they want to happen, and that is in a small group setting led by those who have by the Spirit of God grown through some things in their own life, and are now committed to helping others either overcome or avoid the same. Unfortunately, most churches aren’t into small group promotion simply because it imparts that the lay just might be better at using scripture meant to teach about life issues than those educated in the ability to render pulpit dissertations. I’ve taught in small group bible studies for many years and I can tell you when a group of people come together around the scriptures to find out how to live in a world that is trying to kill them and their children. A relationship is built not just with those who attend, but more importantly with the Holy Spirit in the Lord, simply because each one learns to see themselves and their family as a valued aspect of God’s creation.
Too many times the pulpit is used for the promotion of the corporate purpose of the church and not for the core purpose of the gospel. I’m not talking about the Church corporate, I’m talking about the local churches that feel it has to be more about their part in the overall working of things than the word of God. I’ve also read many denominations and non-denomination statements of faith which are written to imply what they believe or see as a foundation to justify what they do magisterially. And not surprisingly every one of them sees themselves as the one having the most integrity based on Godly values and virtues by continually excoriating scriptures to promote themselves.
This is easily seen as hypocritical and even spiritually immoral by those who have a consciousness of the truth. These organizations and their so-called efforts of ministerial premise defend themselves by blaming an expression of existentialism as the core element in their ineffectiveness to minister to the later generations while at the same time embracing the worldly culture of today as the new thing to do. Millennials would rather be taught the techniques revealed in scripture that are to be used to not just survive in this world but to thrive in it, rather than continually being reminded how bad it really is out there. I’ll let you in on something! So do all ages of believers who have learned to see the evil in this day.
One thing that is apparent with millennials is that they are far more bound to emotions and excitement of anxieties brought on through an anxiousness to know. That just means they are trained to be socially aware and sensitive to what goes on around them more than those who preceded them. So when such things as tithes and the use of them are considered there is an expectation that does not align with the status quo in most churches. The use of the term transparency is a standard in today’s use of narratives in presenting oneself or others as genuine and true. And yet most churches very discreetly reveal the real uses of all the monies gathered from their willing congregants. This creates animosity toward the leadership and renders the members feeling as if they are only seen as cash cows for building ministerial egos. While the economics of the church will always be a topic of discussion the real focus must be on the purpose of the gospel, and not on the monetary means to accomplish it.
I must admit not every church is bound to the mistakes outlined here or any debt and false interpretations of truth from scripture, but they are few in comparison to a massive denominational presence. The fact that mistakes have been made by church leadership in the past is not an excuse to add to the void that is occurring, as all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And nothing is wrong with calling out such failures to discern the way forward in our transformation as the Church. The thing I see missing from this article is that millennials must be willing to change the future by aligning to the truth in God’s word by the Holy Spirit or them to will be spiritually deceived and accept man’s own humanity over God’s eternal promise.
