Are Millennials Lost or Enlightened?

Dr. Oord, I believe this is a concern that the older generations need to address in the church. Something I have noticed in the church is that for a long time, the older generations are overpowering and en-crouching on a young person’s spiritual life to the point where instead of guiding them, they chase young people away.

I think that the older generation might actually be partly to blame. Not all to blame, but partly. I think that the older generation needs to re-look at how they react when young people do attend church and to be grateful that they are there instead of getting into young people’s personal space.

However, I believe the biggest reason that young people do not associate themselves with any religion is that society as a whole is stepping away from Christian values and values that were in place when the Silents and the Boomers had when they were young. More things are becoming more and more acceptable that were NEVER acceptable before.

Thanks for sharing this information!

It seems what you are describing is very similar to the modern/postmodern issue. The younger generations have been formed and reared in a postmodern world. In general many churches have attempted to resist postmodern thought and as such are out of touch with younger generations. I think this is directly related to the statistics that you mentioned.

I definitely thought this was an interesting topic. Although, it doesn’t surprise me that the millennial generation is different from the older generations. We are living in a different society and are raised on different things than that of those who are in older generations.
On the other hand, I am very surprised at my generation on the need to re-elect Obama. In fact I am kind of saddened by that. The people I talk about seem to not want Obama back in the office at all because of what a disappointment he turned out to be. So that was particularly surprising to me.
I think the other things mentioned was not really a surprise. It just seems to be where we are headed in our politics. And sadly, it doesn’t surprise me that more people in the millennial generation are saying they aren’t religiously affiliated. More and more people these days aren’t being raised in the church. Or they don’t have good experiences in church when they grew up and so they left the church. There are many causes of this and I personally think a lot of the fault lays on the Church (capital C).
Good blog topic Dr. Oord!

I want to defend agaist the notion that the millenials are becoming less moral or less Christian. I believe that the millenials, having grown up with these issues in more of a spotlight, have had to come to terms with them much differently that the boomers. The sheer amount of press on these issues has played an enormous role. I also see the age old swing of the cultural pendulum. Coming from the ridged church going boomer generation the millenials are now turning away from those ways to try to find a better way than they have seen. I don’t know if I can say that the millenials are more enlightened but as the pendulum swings further from the boomers the things we value are inevitably going to change as well.

Tom,

These statistics are important. They provide a view of our world we Christians cannot ignore. As I have listened to many of those who speak from the progressive side, their message is often encapsulated in Christian views. If I lived in a part of the world where I worked by the sweat of my brow to keep the man who lived on the hill living in luxury, I would be very depressed. Now, a person comes to me and says, “You see that man on the hill? He has gotten rich off of your hard labor. I propose that he share what he has so that people are treated fairly.”  A second man comes and says, “You see that man on the hill, living in luxury?  I propose a way that you can one day live the same way. It will be up to you to make that change by working harder but, you too have the opportunity to live a life of luxury.”  Now, which one would I follow?  The first man (a Marxist)or the second one (a capitalist)? 

The problem is that the millennials are exposed to arguments that are noble. The failure is that in real life, in a sinful world, they just don’t work. All one has to do is look at Communism. It has failed. Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried.  Yet, they sound noble. 

Therefore, we cannot judge the merits of the millennials’ understanding of how the world SHOULD work. We just need to do a better job of explaining why the noble ideals do not work in the real world.

This is what Jesus did. He said the poor will always be with you.  He did not stand up against the Roman’s. He did not speak out against slavery. He did not try to change his world through political speeches and movements. He accepted the world he lived in as a reality that the fledgling movement had to face. He then worked on the hearts of the people. Even at that, he did not succeed, he died alone on a cross. It was only by the Holy Spirit that the real “Change and Hope” begin to become a reality.

Between the schools (taught by many of the ‘60 progressives) and the media (more mellennials get their news from John Stewart more than any news source), we as the Church need to be relevant, show the big picture, and show that change comes through loving God and our neighbors. Not the ballot box.

Millennials. Huh. There seems to be a lot of concern about the Millennials. It gives me the impression that the ‘unchurched’ of the Boomer and Silents have been written off. I am not sure if I am one of the first Boomers, or one of the last of the Silents … but since I am far from Silent, I must be a Boomer. I dunno. What I do know is that I am an old gasbag and that I move fairly comfortably from one social generalization to another.

Aa casual examination of comments on Facebook and other social networks demonstrates that Millennials can be as intransigently judgmental and as viciously self-righteous as any of their predecessors. Which isn’t surprising, since those traits are part and parcel of the human condition.

As for specifics … I find rabid hatred of the general Christian bent toward homosexuality to be an insult to Christ’s teachings. In this, I tend to agree with the Millenniums and their view of the Church Universal’s position. Let me ask this: What is the COTN’s position regarding ordination of a gay or lesbian pastor? Is the ‘homosexual nature’ in and of itself that abhorrent sin? Or is it the practice of homosexual behaviors? What would be the COTN position toward ordaining a gay or lesbian pastor who was celibate? How does the COTN respond to a single, heterosexual Millennial pastor who, if not cohabiting with his/her squeeze, goes off on those long ski weekends with him/her? If the COTN will ordain a single heterosexual pastor, does the COTN not expect that pastor to remain celibate? Why not, then, a gay/lesbian pastor? Define the ‘abhorrent sin’ a little rationally for me. Please. I’m having a hard time working up the proper level of hatred, here.

While I supported the Afghan adventure, which centered on nailing the Taliban and Al-Qaeda to the proverbial cross (but not The Cross), I think we are making a big mistake with this ‘nation-building’ adventure. Page Smith, in his “A New Age Now Begins”, describes his view of why American republican democracy works for us, and how circumstances combined in a unique way for that seed to germinate. None of that exists in the Middle East. (We might re-examine how and why McArthur’s reconstruction of Japan, also a very alien culture, was so successful, but that’s another story).

Abortion? That’s not the government’s business. It’s a religious and theological thing. The Republicans need to keep their religion out of their politics. Perry is in lockstep with his preacher, John Hagee, who is as hateful an excuse for a ‘Christian’ as you will find anywhere (and so I too exercise judgmentalism) and so long as Perry cannot separate Hagee from the Perry Political Agenda, Perry will never have my vote.

Millenniums tend to support President Obama and his agenda. I also notice that the majority of the Occupiers seem to fall into the Millennials’ age range. I don’t support the Occupiers. I have yet to hear anything from them, no matter how ‘intellectually’ they try to frame it, that is not some form of whine about why the government and/or the rest of us owe them something. I guess I’m an old enough gasbag that that’s a dog that just don’t hunt very well. OTOH … Mitt Romney? Why, the man is a Mormon. Most ‘Christians’ I know consider him to be a heretic. Further OTOH, so is Glen Beck a Mormon, yet the same people who regard Mormons to be heretics and non-Christians are eating out of Beck’s hands and more or less worshipping at his feet of clay.

There is little rational thinking politically or religiously these days.

Perhaps that is the unchanging quality of it all?

I absolutely agree with Faith. I think, perhaps, the biggest mistake that I’m seeing rampant amongst my fellow Millennials (even to the point of being a pitfall that could be incredibly damaging to the future of Church) is the lack of appreciation & honor for the heritage & momentum that the previous generation has set in motion. Although we may want things to look different within the context of Church/lifestyle/our personal values compared to our parents’, we MUST come to a point of AT LEAST honoring those who’ve journeyed before us. To walk away & cease discussion is to divorce us from the story that we’ve been drawn into. We may not be happy with what we’ve been given, but that is where we need to learn to think like we are Sons & Daughters of the King and have these conversations with those that have carried the mantle before us. If we were able to receive from them the wisdom & impartations that they have received from their previous generations & (most importantly) from God’s Spirit, then we would truly be able to be iron sharpening iron—in which both “irons” recognize that both are indeed “iron” & that both could receive some “sharpening” and learn & receive from either side—because we are The Church. We are a family. To walk away from this sharpening process—to disregard the conversations (that may end in disagreement)—would be an injustice to both parties. May our prayer be that the Spirit make the path known. We are in this together!

This may be reading too much into the statistics or misinterpreting the world around me, but it seems as though we are on the verge of a drastic change in American culture and especially within the Church.  As others have already noted in these comments, the move from modernity to postmodernity is probably fueling the way that young people think and act and that is flowing over into the way everyone lives.  Though I would not consider myself a futurist, if I were to venture a guess I would say that opinions on political and social issues are not the only things that are changing.  The way we think, believe, behave, participate in politics, engage in social issues, and even live as Christians is going to be different in 50 years.

Honestly, I believe that every generation is unique in many ways – including their beliefs on various issues. That does not mean that one group is necessarily wrong and the other is necessarily right. A lot of it is just different emphases. A lot of times, this is caused by the push back of each generation. For example, my parent’s generation was much more strict/legalistic—probably too much so. My generation is pushing back against that and so tends to be much more “loose” and is willing to let more things go. In all honesty, both generations have issues. Past generations I would say are too legalistic and need to take a lesson in love while I would argue that my generation is too tolerant in the sense that we believe that we have to accept a person’s actions in order to love them. Both generations can and should learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the other.

One of the biggest things that really stood out pertains to one specific word: “…have not been properly nurtured by religious communities?”
Well surely the Millennials have been nurtured – that is inevitable. But “properly” has such large weight in the question that it changes the direction of the question altogether; it even suggests the condition and status of the religious communities. Personally, I push the blame on the religious communities adapted by the Boomers and Silents, despite the fact I side more with them. I think they truly have done a poor job of properly nurturing us, giving us merely the “rights and wrongs” and not enough of the “why’s”. It is not much of a surprise the results these polls yield, but I do think many things need be reconsidered that are both directly and indirectly influencing all that are involved within such statistics.

Honestly, most of this does not surprise me at all. I believe that my generation, inside or outside the church, is looking for change. Actually, we are demanding it. We recognize the mistakes of our parents and grandparents. My question in all of this is, what are we going to do about? We can moan and groan all we want. But if we are not willing to take a stance and take action for our convictions. We are no different than our parents. And it is more than voting for who we want as president. It is time we take action. Teach our parents and the next generation what it means to be Jesus to the whole.

I cannot speak for my generation, but I do tend to embrace a more compassionate outlook towards different views and issues than my grandparents and even my parents.  I grew up in the deep south, very indoctrinated in the church, but as I grow older, i find that many christians I affiliated with as a teen are very hateful in their views of the world.  I cannot support, even with my presence, the atmosphere of violence, hate, and downright discrimination that older self-proclaimed christians tought as truth from the pulpit, in living rooms, and generally in daily life.  This has in large part led me away from my family and the church.  Since I was a young teen, I have yearned for open dialogue of this with these people close to me, but the more I seek personal opinions from my elders, the more hostility that pours forth. For me, this is the biggest reason I stay out of church and have an exaggerated distrust of self-proclaimed christians who offer misguided direction for our future.  I am tired of being assualted as the scapegoat for older christians, when all I really want from them is compassionate dialogue based in intellect instead of fear and ignorance.  Everyone’s reality is not the same, and all of our truths are relevant.  Until we can openly discuss these things in relation to thelogy and real life in conjunction with addressing pertinent needs of society, there will always be the so-called generational gap between our views of the world.

I think the question for Millennials has really become one of which ethical issues should be legislated and which issues should be prioritized. For example, ethically I do not support abortion. However, I realize that the best way to prevent abortion is not to make it illegal. This actually exacerbates the issue. Providing education and better access to birth control/emergency contraceptives lowers abortion rates significantly more than making abortion illegal. Just because one believes something is wrong does not mean the most effective or moral thing is to outlaw that immoral thing. Millennials are more willing to creatively engage social issues because they realize laws deal with people, not robots. They see that the way the past generations have handled ethical issues and law have not promoted the best for society. Millennials also realize that feeding and clothing the people in our nation might be more important than arguing about whether or not human beings should legally marry whomever they wish. To millennials, this is a common sense issue – of course non-heterosexual people should have the same rights as heterosexual people. Quit arguing about it, and let’s move on, say the Millennials. It’s simply a matter of different priorities. Older generations are more comfortable with things staying the same; Millennials see change as a solution, not ardently clinging to methods that have not worked in the past.

I too have noticed this to be the case.  My generation seems to be less and less religious, and more and more open to new ideas and “liberal” thought.  There is a general push away from the church because of their ideas.  Many Baby Boomer and Silent generations push judgment on the younger people and this causes them to push away from the church and get burned by the church.  This then causes a major issue and the development of more liberal thought!  If I am being judged by the church, I will then believe things they hold to be “bad”. They are way more open to liberal thought and thus, get pushed from the church even more so.  We questions everything as a postmodern generation and this leads to liberal thought in certain instances.  Traditional, older generations deem this bad and thus causes the separation and push towards a non religious movemet.

I don’t think this is necessarily a matter of lost or enlightened, to me it is more neither, as we just simply are. Looking at the cyclical nature of generations we see that we are just falling into the same gaps that that come into play every 20 years or so. Nothing in this blog should be that surprising but it may raise a ton of questions to consider. I mean really there aren’t very many hard statements but there are questions that just linger. I think for the most part Millennials look at a system that seems to be failing them and maybe the rest of society so what we really just want is change. If nothing changes then we are just heading down the same dreadful path and I don’t think that is where we want to end up. So maybe some think their parents got things wrong with same-sex marriage, or abortion, and the environment, and they want to make their life count for something. The church should take a stand on some issues but they shouldn’t remain ignorant or naïve when it comes to environmental issues or warring conflicts. So in a sense we are lost because we are looking for where we fit but we also feel enlightened because we are trying to make our ethic and our faith actually match up. And many Millennials are finding spirituality outside of the church because the Church, to many, has failed and I don’t know how exactly it can be fixed.

Pertaining to the surprise issue, part of me feels as though many young people are taking sides with issues that seem to be contrary to what their parents believe possibly to establish themselves as different from their parents. Yet the more optimistic side of me believes this is a new age and way to thinking about Church and God coming to life here in a way that might not be fully understood yet but has amazing potential. Hopefully the young generation continues to learn, growth, and discuss as they figure out what it means not just to be a Christian in today’s world but to be the new leaders of the Church.

I think we are lost and enlightened. The truth is we have an unprecedented access to information, which has led to enlightenment in some ways. In a country that stands for “liberty and justice for all” a majority of millennials see an inconsistency with that statement and keeping homosexual marriage illegal. As they see the inconsistency with United States and Christian nation. In this way I would say that we are enlightened. I think these are healthy responses to these issues because they raise valid points. They help to correct some of inconsistencies that the previous generations didn’t see. However, I think we are lost as well. In general, we see information as equally authoritative, which means religion for many doesn’t have a special say in their life. It also allows truth to be relative. Religion is compared to the likes of science and philosophy, which isn’t necessarily bad, but it reveals the assumptions made by some of the previous generations in these areas. I think millennials represent the generation furthest away from the modern age, which is where much of these differences possibly arise. So I think we are enlightened in helpful ways, but some of the enlightenment has left us lost…

First of all, I would like to make the claim that there is an adaptation of thought from generation to generation. We are creatures that are constantly changing, adapting,and growing. As you can you can see from the statistics given above, there has been a drastic adaptation of thought between the 3 generations. Now, having said that, I believe that individuals are influenced by the experiences they have. Millennials have experienced many societal shifts that the older generations did not, and as result their process of thought has changed radically. As a millennial, I believe that my generation often looks to the past and sees all the things the generations before us did wrong, but we sometimes forget or choose not to see the positives. In our attempt to make sure the same mistakes are not repeated we choose to make polarized decisions in hopes that a change will occur. I applaud my generation for desiring a change,a change to better the environment and world;my fear is that we are slowly becoming a generation with many causes/movements that have no real significance. What impact is a movement if its heart isn’t centered in Christ.

This article brings up things that we should be talking about in Church, because they are issues this country is facing now. Do to this I think the millennia’s are the most willing to speak out on these issues because most have been brought up in environment where we don’t talk about these types of things. However, it is troubling to hear that most wont claim a religion. If I were to offer up an idea it would be like this; they don’t want claim a religion because they are not sure what to believe, or they are not even sure if there is a God. Both are viable ideas, and both may be completely wrong.  I think the millennial’s could be a breath of fresh air for the Church, because they ask questions of what has come before them/us. We don’t necessarily want to change things; we want to understand what has been done before. This is not to say millennial’s are perfect, because their not, this is to say that look at all the things they could do if people could/would give them a chance.

This data is interesting and I wonder how much the environment has changed over these few short years from when this article was posted and the data collected. But with just this information I wonder if the ethical values of the younger generations on same-sex marriage have anything to do with the rising debate and coverage of this issue? I also wonder why there has been a decline in people who claim a religious affiliation over the years when we are supposedly going into a more spiritually minded age?

It is difficult to know how to respond to this post. I am in this new generation, and am dealing with many of the same questions. While I tend to side with my peers, it is difficult for me to process how these views have been so dramatically changed.

My theology is much different than my mom’s. She is in support of war and patriotism, and she is completely anti-gay. I, on the other hand, do not agree with her on these subjects. I believe that I am following the views that God would call me to have. However, I do not discredit my mom as a Christian. I genuinely believe that she is one of the most Godly people I know, and she would not believe anything she thought to be in contrast to what God says. So which of us is right?

I do not know that we will ever know the answer to this question. I do not believe that we will know which is the right stance on these issues and which is wrong. It seems that we are all a little lost. But I hope that we are also enlightened.

Although no one appears to have an exact definition for “postmodern”, we now live in a world that no longer is full of answers but desire simply to ask “why?” I believe that’s a major difference between my generation and older generations. We are seeking to understand why people are homosexual, why people have abortions (individual case to individual case), why we are going to war, and why we need to value our environment. We want to know why and we are open to solutions to these problems being different then what has been passed on generation to generation. The desire to know “why” rather than having scripted solutions to everything this world presents us has revealed new ways of living, ways that are not unfaithful to God, but are different than what older generations are used too. I’ll speak for those of my generation that I know and love…we really want to love people, love God, and live lives with purpose and we are ready and willing to do things differently in order to do those things.

Something that has skewed our way of thinking is believing that is it okay to change our theologies based upon what is relevant to us. Our God does not change. The context in which we view God may change, but that doesn’t mean God and that which is true, changes. I think in an answer to your questioned title, millennials are starting to become lost in that sense.

I have definitely thought of this phenomenon before. The way I see it sometimes is similar to the hippies in the 1970’s. It started with young people who had entirely different views on a vast many things. I believe that as time progresses, thinking changes and realizations are made.Perhaps there is something to new ideas coming about. Perhaps, as Pinnock would say, we are adapting to our generation in order to best share the gospel.However, I do think there are some things that are becoming more and more OK that really shouldn’t be. I will never see a time or a reason where abortion should be legal.

On a different note, of the millennials who claimed to be separate from any religion, were there some who were claiming to be non denominational? This claim is something I’ve seen on the rise. People are more intent on their relationship than their religion.

I think this millennial age group is something the world hasn’t ever seen before. When I think about my age group and all of the different global and societal issues we are becoming increasingly involved with, I find a certain level of disconnect. While it is very helpful to be aware of what is happening in our world, sometimes I wonder how much millennials are longing to find a group to be apart of. A lack of true understanding and serious engagement with the most pressing issues of our day leaves many young adults grabbing onto the latest and newest social or global fad. Me included. I find myself so distracted with the days latest issue I forget to spend any more time engaging with the one I read about the day before, or the one the day before that. It just seems like we are trying to busy ourselves with countless current circumstances and in by doing that we lose intentionality.

Reading the blog essay certainly conjures up a number of reflections for more but let me focus on what this content would mean in my context of ministry. We don’t have such a robust ministry focus were statistics are released regularly and inform how we worship or what we focus on as local churches however I do see the importance of these statistics’ wonder who and what a pastor and ministry would need to consult today in order to plan for the ministry ahead? I remember much simpler times where people planned as much as they could and left the rest up to the leadership of the Holy Spirit however today statistics and relevance seem to guide and direct most of the work in the church. My position would be that both sides are important for the contemporary church however what I do believe about families is that the government cannot define what family means and this I believe is the big issue. [163]

There are some great questions raised within this post. As I’ve learned more about the differences in contexts between the different generations, specifically in teenage years, I wonder more if some of the disconnect that Millennials feel is a type of misunderstanding. In some ways, Millennials may feel as if they do not have a safe space to discuss their ideas in the Church, especially if they feel as if their voices are not heard or even tolerated by other generations. I think that both generations need to be informed by each other in order for the most informed opinion or leading. We need the narrative of the past to help inform the narrative of the present, so that the Christian narrative that we all will carry into the future will best exemplify the narrative of Christ’s love.

There will always be different viewpoints, but we can hope for discussion between the different viewpoints to seek where God is moving in the world.

God Bless everyone!

After reading Dr. Oord’s essay, Are Millennials Lost or Enlightened?, I believe that Christian values among younger Americans are diminishing. This is disappointing. Most youth are missing the point about what it really means to up hold the meaning of marriage between a man and a woman. It is easy to say that many young people only think about themselves or that they are not concerned about future consequences in America. However, there is a bigger picture. Fifty years ago God was talked in the schools even though Americans, then, were more segregated, men were more chauvinist, and history books were more controlled by a certain group of people.
For the last 40 years, many parents have sheltered their children or youth by placing them in private schools. This has caused many youth to not really know what is going on in the real world. Many parents pay for a Christian education thinking that this will take care of the tough questions about life. But in reality, many parents are dumping the responsibility of talking to their youth onto teachers. This is dangerous! Parents need to be more involved. Unfortunately, many parents speak to their children about the Bible as black and white. They like to quote Scripture verses without any interpretation and kind of brush them off. As a result children and the youth do not trust their parents because their parents avoid the tough conversations. This is something that previous generations may have also done in avoiding conversations regarding tough subjects. Parents and mature Christian leaders should do a better job when explaining or instructing from Scripture so that children and the youth feel that there are no questions or opinions that are off limits.
[Word Count: 290]

Reflecting on this essay, one cannot deny the obvious conclusion that Millenials see things differently than do the previous generations. I notice it in my own ministry and in the ministries of my colleagues. My initial thought is that this generation is neither lost or enlightened, but rather shaped by a culture that has been created by the effects of being systemically, and systematically abandoned by the adults in their lives.

Adults have touted the importance of ethical standards and behaviors (“true love waits,” “What Would Jesus Do?”), but often time failed to live up to the standards of holiness they preached. Rather than engage the culture that their kids lived in, adults sought to offer entertaining alternatives, which in a sense created a sub culture of sorts. Adults offered conflicting and contradictory messages without adequately explaining the reasoning behind why taking life in abortion is forbidden, but killing someone on the battlefield was acceptable and perhaps even encouraged. I know it is a generalization, but adults have not done an adequate job of being present to guide Millenials through these vital life questions.

So what do we do now? A few thoughts came my way while reading this essay today. In our ministries, I think it is vital to explore clear ethical boundaries in a way that encourages a discourse among the entire Church, but has as its foundation the love and grace of Christ. I believe the Church must engage culture (rather than run from it or ignore it) by erasing the sacred-secular boundary and bringing Christ into all parts of life. Finally, I think we need to call our congregations to a renewed vision of the value and sacredness of all life in Creation. Perhaps we cannot undo the damage that has been done by previous abandonment, but maybe we can realistically engage those that fall into the Millenial generation.

The question asked in this essay is “Are Millennials Lost or Enlightened?” I am not sure if the Millennials are lost, my thinking is that previous generations have not shared or expressed their opinions, thoughts, or ways in a way that reaches the Millennials. With the platform of technology, Millennials are able to share and voice their opinion to a broader group of people, more than any previous generation. They are able to hear so many of other people’s opinions, and because of this may not fully educate themselves on an idea. The opinions are coming to them at a rapid fire pace. The question I ask is, are older generations speaking enough with the tools, such as blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc and able to reach Millennials? Are older generations voicing their opinions (with the right tools) loud enough to be heard?

The decline in religious affiliation in concerning. The question was asked, “would Millennials think more like Boomers and Silents if they showed up for worship services more often?” The problem may not be Millennials not showing up, but that Boomers and Silents are not adapting to the “bring it to me” mentality of Millennials. Millennials can get everything they need from the touch of a button, maybe Boomers and Silents need to find a way to bring worship services to Millennials in a way they understand.

The message we as minister’s share is the same message of previous generations. The Gospel message does not change and neither does God. While the message stays the same the culture in which we share the message changes.
Younger Americans are demonstrating a diminishing of Christian values. This is not from a fresh leading of the Holy Spirit it is from a change in the Christian foundation. Fewer children of today, gen-xers, or millennials are growing up receiving a strong foundation in Christian teachings. As their parents withdrew from participation in the Christian church the children reaped the negative outcome of lack of religious training.
At the same time, we see a cultural change taking place because the aforementioned children have grown to be the ones programing culture. Our media leaders are increasingly coming into their professions from a non-religious background. As media portrays homosexuality as acceptable and normal society will begin to see it that way. The same goes for abortion, war, and the environment. Culturally we accept as normal what we see and hear in the media.
What does this mean for ministers of the Gospel? It means we need to be aware of what the media promotes. Do we combat society? Not necessarily. The shift we are experiencing has happened in the past. Perhaps not at the fast-paced rate of today but generational differences are nothing new. We need to stay true to the Gospel message and know our audience. The message does not change but the delivery does. Look toward social media for proof. Fifteen years ago, Facebook did not exist, and blogging was the hot new thing on the internet. Today Facebook is an industry leader where businesses and individuals share their information while blogging still exists, but it has taken a back seat to newer social media platforms.

Dr. Oord, I know that our views can differ from our parents or grandparents. I know that my parents (generation x) were raised in a different society where the Jetsons seemed unreachable, and myself (millennial) has grown up to experience the start of the Jetsons. Yes, we have differences in what we believe and how we perceive ourselves, but I also think we can find common ground in our decisions. There might be a lot of compromises and a lot of sacrificing. Going back to the article, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that millennials are more “religious” than the generation Xers. It is a little scary to think that millennials are also very lenient when it comes to topics such as gender, war, and marriage. I think that millennials see topics like gender, war, and marriage loosely because it has become the norm to see it in society. Society has embraced this kind of culture and it is a topic that is sensitive to religious affiliations. Should our churches do more in reaching out to families of all generations to find common ground on heated topics like abortion and marriage? I think we should but in a manner of love and respect. We might be losing millennials to culture because they (we) are so exposed to the trends of this world and as Christians, we need to be aware of what’s feeding into our eyes, minds, and hearts.

Hi,

Being born into an era where information is available quite literally at your fingertips, millennials are being influenced much more than the generations before them. This mass receiving of various opinions, perspectives, and lifestyles impact the way a millennial comes to understand the world around them.

To answer the question ‘Are millennials lost or enlightened?’ I’d have to say that they are both; it just depends on which perspective you’re coming from. If we’re approaching this question from a non- Christian ministry perspective, I’d argue to say that millennials are more culturally sensitive and globally aware than any other generation before them. They seek justice for all, fairness in every situation, and empathy for those who suffer.

But in a Christian ministry perspective, millennials have lost sight of what it means to not conform to the patterns of this world. Society has categorized Christianity, and as far as I can tell, millennials do not want any part in organized religion. So they drift and fall astray. They claim to be a Christian but do not act in a way Christ would lead them to act. They do good and love others for the sake of doing good and loving others rather than doing good and loving others for the glory of God.

I’m a millennial, but I’m an exception to the statistic. I love Jesus with all my heart and live my life in a way that is reflective of this love, but most of my peers have never set foot inside of a church. I follow God, and my peers follow society. So to get millennials from lost in the church to part of the church, we have to shift the mindset that society’s worth is more valuable than God’s worth.

I believe the answer is both yes and no. What I mean by this is I do not think that after 2,000 years of church history, plus several more thousand years of written history of YHWH followers, that suddenly we have the right new answer. There is something to be said for tradition and the role it plays in teaching and training younger generations. We do not have the same opportunities as the disciples who walked with Jesus did to understand who the incarnate Jesus is and who we are called to be in light of that. Therefore, we cannot be too hasty to throw out the old ways of believing and thinking simply because a new and exciting way is introduced to us.
That being said, we also cannot accept tradition for traditions sake. We must always be reevaluating what we have been taught and led to believe with what the Holy Spirit is doing and revealing in the present. One thing Millinials have that older generations did not is the instant connect to people from every culture and background. The internet and technological advances that have connected the world in ways unseen in the past has opened up our eyes to some of our shortcomings. It was easy to demonize another culture when we knew noone or nothing of it other than what someone told us, but as we see and engage with others from those cultures they become human and personable and we no longer can hate them in the same way. This has led us to realize a great need for social justice and a shift away from nationalism that I believe is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
All that to say that there are some traditions that are being thrown out, not because the Holy Spirit is suddenly doing something new that has never been done in thousands of years of history, but because these beliefs are socially acceptable and politically correct and we fear being counter-cultural or different. However, there is also new information present that was not present before that I believe the Holy Spirit is using to help us reevaluate beliefs that were not Christ-like and it is these that are truly enlightened.