People Need the Lord
(Take a selfie)
That seemed a little inappropriate for
worship didn’t it? Who does that sort of thing? Well, we’re going to be talking
about the selfie kings and queens today.
But before I get started let me say a
few words about how I’d like to proceed. Normally, when I get the opportunity
to preach, my style is to take a scripture passage and dissect it into how it
affects our lives. I try to tie the ancient writings into modern times and how
we might allow them to change our hearts and minds and how we can apply them to
our everyday living.
Today will be different. I am going to
approach this in the opposite direction, starting with a modern dilemma and
looking at how the scripture applies to it. Our entire service has focused on
the theme of community.
That theme speaks to my entire message.
I titled my message “People Need the
Lord”. Obviously this should apply to ALL people. But today, I want to look at
a very specific group. Namely, a group of people in the United States, born
between the years of 1978 and 1998. They are more commonly referred to as
“Millennials”.
Millennials. Who are these people and
why do we find them so annoying? We know a lot about this group of people. I
hear people talk about them all the time in so many conversations I am either
involved in, or within ear-shot to hear. I hear it at my engineering office. I
hear it at my finance office. I even hear it often in this church. So here is
the general consensus about the “Millennials”.
First of all, “They’re entitled.”
They think the world owes them just
for being who they are.
Second, “They want a trophy for just showing
up.”
They’ve been receiving rewards whether
they win or lose, have success or failure. And they have come to expect it.
Third, employers say that “They’re job
hoppers.”
They change jobs more often than any
other generation before them.
Fourth, we ALL know that “They want
special privileges.”
And fifth, “They’re easily sidetracked by technology.”
But I have to ask, what are these
opinions based on? Are we RIGHT to be so negative about the newest young adults
in our society? Based on the consensus, how can we be anything BUT negative?
As I prepared for this message, I
spent the past 2 weeks reading article after article about this group of people
we call Millennials. I’ve also spoken with several people in this group, and
asked the question, “what do you look for in a church?” And, you know what? I
learned a few things.
I’d like to look at the data collected
by the census bureau and several research groups concerning Millennials.
Looking at the myths we hold dear and whether or not we are right to hold them.
MYTH #1: Millennials have it easier than
previous generations.
It is commonly believed that the
millennial generation is full of lazy, entitled and selfish people. Or
that they all started with a leg up on every other generation.
That is statistically untrue.
We have just recently come out of one
of the worst recessions. Which was in no way caused by millennials–but they are
dealing with the repercussions.
Millennials have 40% more unemployment
than Generation X’ers and 25% more than Baby Boomers, at comparable ages. And
for younger millennials from ages 18-29, the rate of unemployment is double the
rate for those over 30. And 1 out of 5 millennials are living in poverty.
MYTH #2: Millennials are lazy.
For the laziest generation, they sure
like to start their own businesses. We have experienced the worst
recession in recent memory, massive layoffs, and tons of corruption. Starting
their own businesses is the best way to take control of this situation. After
all, we have seen how big companies can turn their backs on employees as soon
as trouble starts. Millennials see this as the answer to big corporate America.
Compared to Boomers and Gen Xers, Millennials
are creating companies at twice the rate previous generations did, and
they are starting their own businesses a lot earlier than past generations: at
the average age of 27, while Boomers waited almost eight years later to
start their businesses at 35.
MYTH #3: Millennials are job hoppers.
The myth of job hopping sounds
legitimate if you still believe that they are incredibly selfish. We now know
that a lifelong career at a single company is nothing more than a pipe dream
today. We have seen pensions disappear and lifelong employees get laid off in
droves. The gold watch retirement banquet is as extinct as the dodo.
When looking at the other generations,
millennials are actually more loyal to their first jobs. In fact, they are
staying with their first major employer on average 3-6 years, as opposed
to Gen Xers, who stayed for less than a year on average.
MYTH #4: If millennials go to college, life will be good!
Going to college has always been a big
part of the American Dream. No matter who you were, it was the path to a better
life. And they believed it. They are now a highly educated and a highly
indebted generation.
MYTH #5: Millennials should stop wasting their
time and get a REAL degree.
For some reason, the other generations
think millennials are majoring in more creative and less practical degrees.
It’s thought they are pursuing degrees that will not get them hired instead of
majoring in STEM subjects.
But that is statistically untrue, especially
compared to past generations.
Millennials actually have the
highest concentration of STEM degrees across generations, with almost half
of all millennials studying a STEM subject.
MYTH #6: Millennials are financially
irresponsible.
Now that college is almost a
requirement and the cost has increased by 200-300% most millennials are in
massive debt.
At the same time, Millennials start
saving almost 10 years earlier than older generations did. They now start their
first major savings account at 23 years old, compared to 26 for Gen X and 32
for Boomers. In fact, 62% of millennials are saving 5% or more of their
income, almost double the rate of other older generations at that
age.
MYTH #7: Millennials are delaying making major
commitments.
It probably won’t come as a surprise
to many that this one is, in fact, true. Millennials are actually delaying
traditional milestones like moving out, getting married and buying homes.
15% of millennials are still living
with their parents. Leaving parents later in life is also pushing back other
milestones, like getting married. Of people aged 18-34, over 65% more
millennials are not married compared to their parents’ generation.
Although college-educated millennials are more likely to be married,
it is still at the lowest point overall.
Now let’s look at their attitudes toward the
church and religion.
According to Barna Group, among
young people who don’t go to church, 87 percent say they see Christians as
judgmental, and 85 percent see them as hypocritical. A
similar study found that “only 8% say they don’t attend because
church is ‘out of date,’ undercutting the notion that all churches need to do
for Millennials is to make worship ‘cooler.’
In other words, a church can have a
sleek logo and website, but if it’s judgmental and exclusive, if it fails to
show the love of Jesus to all, millennials will sniff it out. Their reasons for
leaving the church have less to do with style and image and more to do with
substantive questions about life, faith and community. They’re not as shallow
as you might think. If young people are looking for congregations that
authentically practice the teachings of Jesus in an open and inclusive way,
then the good news is the church already knows how to do that. The trick isn’t
to make church cool; it’s to keep worship weird.
Let me say that again. The trick is to
keep worship “weird”. I find good news in this statement. The Brethren have not
been called “weird”, per se, BUT we HAVE been called “peculiar”, which is 10
times better in my book.
Now let’s go back to the scripture passages Sandi read for us today and see how they apply. In the letter to the
Ephesians she read, “you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the
futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated
from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.”
When we hold these false ideas about
an entire group of people, how can we ever build a community that includes
them? They will always be on the outside. Have we hardened our hearts because
we choose to believe the worst about our young adults?
In the Philippians passage Sandi read,
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as
better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to
the interests of others.”
How does bad-mouthing Millennials
regard them as better than ourselves?
We need to intentionally regard our young
adults as better than ourselves.
The entire service today focused on
the theme of community. We are to be a “community” of believers. We are to
include people who love the Lord. We are to find people who NEED the Lord and
share the Lord WITH them, and bring them into the community. But how do we do
that?
One way is through things like our Eli
Project. The project matched our children and youth with an adult who was their
“secret” pal. Today, the secret is over. The young “Samuels” will find out who
their “Eli” is. The point is to use this introduction to kickoff what we hope
will be a long lasting relationship between the generations. For Millennials,
they too should have relationships with older adults.
One of the reasons I have focused so
much time on the Millennials is that they comprise 40% of the population. And
down the road, it is this generation that we are going to hand our church down
to. If they are not part of our community, how do we pass it on? Let’s face it,
we who currently make up the church are getting older. If we don’t start the
process of including the future generations very soon, we won’t have a church
to pass down. Nor will we have anyone who wants it.
We need to include Millennials in our community, so perhaps we
need to understand them a little better.
So let’s look at some data ABOUT
Millennials and their views on church and religion.
Interestingly enough, Millennials are
MORE religious than all the other generations. More of them pray than the
previous generations. More of them see how God interacts in their lives. More
are trying to understand who God is.
BUT, they do not trust the
institutional church.
Their faith looks far more like their
great grandparent’s than what we see in today’s church. They are religiously
“conservative” believing the current church has strayed off the path into
religious “liberalism”.
Recent research from the Barna
Group and the Cornerstone Knowledge Network found that 67 percent of
millennials prefer a “classic” church over a “trendy” one, and 77 percent would
choose a “sanctuary” over an “auditorium.” While they have yet to warm to the
word “traditional”, millennials exhibit an increasing aversion to exclusive,
closed-minded religious communities. For a generation bombarded with
advertising and sales pitches, when young people sense that there is more
emphasis on marketing Jesus than actually following Him, they want no part in
that. Millennials “are not disillusioned with tradition; they are frustrated
with slick or shallow expressions of religion.”
Let’s ask ourselves a question or two
to find out where we stand.
1.) Is our church real or is it relevant?
For a long time now, I’ve been saying
that we need to relate better to the next generation. We need to make the
scriptures relevant, or the next generation will never come through our doors.
Here’s what the research says, “Millennials are looking for authenticity.
Unfortunately, a lot of churches today are striving to win over young adults by
being relevant.” Consider what Leadership Journal Managing Editor
Drew Dyck identifies as the potential point of connection:
“Millennials have a dim view of
church. They are highly skeptical of religion. Yet they are still thirsty for
transcendence. But when we portray God as a cosmic buddy, we lose them (they
have enough friends). When we tell them that God will give them a better
marriage and family, it’s white noise (they’re delaying marriage and kids or
forgoing them altogether).
When we tell them they’re special, we’re merely
echoing what educators, coaches, and parents have told them their whole lives.
But when we present a ravishing vision of a loving and holy God, it just
might get their attention and capture their hearts as well”
“Young adults are used to Photoshop. They want
reality TV. They want to see real people and what they go through.
They want REAL, not RELEVANT. I’ve
been wrong all this time.
2.) Is our church setting a place of
action or rest?
One of the ways churches can help
point people to God regardless of their facility’s architecture is by bringing
nature into the church setting.
Millennials say nature helps them connect with
God and it helps provide an antidote to a need they voiced in research—the need
for respite.
Our culture is highly fragmented and frantic,
and there are few places to take a breather and gain much-needed perspective,
while ironically, most churches offer what they think people want: more to do,
more to see. Yet that’s exactly the opposite of what many young adults crave
when it comes to sacred space.
Most church buildings today are places
of action, not rest, and spaces to “do” rather than “be.”
With so much emphasis on being the
hands and feet of Jesus and putting love into action—all of which is
well-intended activity designed to help people grow as followers of
Christ—church buildings still need to be a place where people can experience
Jesus’ invitation: “Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.”
3.) Is our church being Jesus?
“Every young adult is trying to figure
out what they exist for. What’s my purpose in life?” We need to talk with millennials
about real things—here’s why you should stay sexually pure until marriage.
Here’s why it’s good to tithe.
This kind of real-world teaching gets
at another aspect that attracts Millennials: challenge. “Twenties want to
be challenged to think about difficult messages, they don’t just want to have
easy topics each week. They want to dive into difficult-to-understand topics
and passages and explore how they apply.
Millennials want a role to play. “They
don’t want to sit on the sidelines and observe. If they’re going to be part of
a church, it must have value and meaning. In generations like the Boomers,
people attend church out of some moral obligation to do so. Millennials won’t
have any of that. If it doesn’t provide meaning and value to them, they won’t
participate. They’ll go and find something that does have meaning and value.”
What better place for young Christian
Millennials to feel they can truly make a difference with their gifts and talents
than at their churches?
4.) Is our church helping Millennials find
mentors?
Millennials don’t feel the same sense
of obligation to attend church that previous generations may have. At the same
time, being part of a faith community can provide young adults with exactly the
mentorship and guidance they crave from older adults.
Barna’s research shows that young
adults who remain involved in a local church beyond their teen years are twice
as likely as those who don’t, to have a close personal friendship with an older
adult in their faith community . They’re also twice as likely to have had a
mentor other than a pastor or youth minister.
“Mentoring and discipling this next
generation is everything,” says Aspen Group CEO Ed Bahler, a founding partner
of the Cornerstone Knowledge Network. Baby Boomers, Bahler says, hold all the
financial, intellectual, professional and relational capital. “The golden
opportunity for the Church is learning how to tap into all of this capital and
leverage it to equip the next generation to lead in the church.”
Effective ministry to Millennials
means helping young believers discover their own mission in the world, not
merely asking them to wait their turn. It also means calling out Millennials to
share their knowledge about how to navigate life in this digital age. The term
“reverse mentoring” describes the reciprocal sharing between young and
established leaders.
5.) Do worship “styles” matter?
Traditional or contemporary
worship? High church or low church? A plurality of elders, board of
directors, or staff-led church? Millennials don’t care.
Millennials won’t attend churches that
try to answer questions nobody is asking.
6.) Where is the church’s priorities?
“When the faithful saturate their
schedules with Christian events at Christian venues with Christian people, the
world has a hard time believing we hold the rest of the world in high esteem.”
~Gabe Lyons
What is important to Millennials? How
a church responds to the lost in the world, both locally and globally. How
a church responds to the poor, homeless, needy, and widowed. If you want to
ensure your church has very few Millennials, answer the questions nobody is
asking, spend most of your resources on your building, and have programs that
do little to impact anybody outside the church walls.
The next generation is pessimistic
towards institutions…the church included. Millennials are not going to give
their time and resources to a church that spends massive amounts of money
on inefficient and ineffective programs.
Millennials are not looking for
perfect people…Jesus already handled that. Millennials are looking for people
to be real and honest about struggles and temptations.
This is a common misconception about
Millennials. While they do not like paternalistic leadership, they place a high
value on learning from past generations.
They value wisdom and insight. It
is a valuable treasure, and they will travel long distances to acquire it.
Millennials aren’t standoffish towards
those who have gone before us. They place a high value on learning. But they
want to learn from sages, not dads.
Love the people “out there” more than
you love the people “in here.”
Millennials are desperate for a
church whose heart breaks for the lost and broken. A church where reaching
the lost is THE mission. Not A mission. Not part of a mission. THE mission.
7.) Do we actually make community a
priority?
Millennials want a church that values
smaller, not larger. Smaller in the sense of community. Deeper intimacy. A
place to be known. A place to be loved. Most churches talk about community. But
few churches make it a priority.
Community exposes layers of
selfishness and sin. At the same time, community peels back deeper layers of
God. Millennials want this type of community.
Now that I’ve talked about who the
Millennials really are and what they are looking for, it’s time for the GOOD
news! Our church already provides everything the Millennials are looking for.
Our biggest obstacle, as I see it, is that we have been simply misunderstanding
them all this time. We have been carrying misinformed negative opinions about
an entire generation. We don’t need to develop new programs, or change worship
styles, we simply need to extend a hand to them. We need to get outside our 4
walls and invite them to experience our love and the love of Jesus. We only
need to be ourselves and care for them as much as we care for anyone else
within our community.
And what I think is a huge
opportunity, is that we are in a time of transition. We are searching for a
new pastor. Does it make sense to include the thought that we should also be
searching for the next generation? Perhaps even looking for a pastor who is
also searching for them?
I may have spoken exclusively about
Millennials, but we know that ALL People need the Lord. He’s alive among us and
we only need to share Him with others. Our community is alive and well and we
have an opening for an entire generation to join us!
Sources:
Most of the statistical data in my sermon (and a lot of verbiage) is taken directly from these websites.
