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Millennials: The Promising Generation
Millennials want to make a difference because they are pampered and sheltered.
When generational experts, Neil Howe and William Strauss, wrote their defining book on Millennials, they highlighted our generation’s pros and cons, namely, that we had a desire to achieve greatness, and our parent’s generation was the driving force behind this.
We are the result of a domino effect.
Some mothers will recall the tragic crime in September 1982, when “a cyanide-tainted Tylenol triggered an October wave of parental panic over trick-or-treating” (Howe and Strauss, 43). On its heels was a “national hysteria over the sexual abuse of toddlers,” an immediate distaste for classic 80′s horror flicks victimizing children, replaced with a flood of sitcoms portraying kids as the heroes. While parents filtered the family television, American school teachers experienced a newfound pressure to raise better kids in the classroom. And the trend continued.
Our generation is almost entirely conditioned for greatness
By the time we reached grade school, we had already adopted a skip in our step (or perhaps a leap in our step). And why not? We were being preened to take over the world by an earlier generation that wanted to leave a better legacy. We evolved from the latchkey kids of our ancestors to kids inheriting all the keys on the latch.
Millennials are unlike any generation that has gone before. And because of this, there is an overwhelming pressure to succeed. Unfortunately, the opportunities available to an aspiring millennial are underwhelming enough to damper the passion of the most resolute college grad. Our parents didn’t just leave us with a different outlook on life, they left us with a different life. Look no farther than a broken economy, steep living prices, and a job famine. It’s as if someone taught us how to fish in the middle of the Sahara. The world’s greatest generation, pampered with hopeful expectations, and sheltered from the grim truth of everything our parents never wanted us to experience. How do we handle this? Can we take advantage of the momentum we’ve been given?
What do you do when someone promises so much and gives back so little?
Setting Yourself Up For Failure
Go with me on this for a few minutes…
Billy Graham has preached the gospel to 2.2 billion people [1]. According to his staff, 3.2 million people have responded to his gospel message. Gnarly numbers, right?
Now imagine that God’s calling on Billy Graham was to preach the gospel to 4 billion people. What would that do to his numbers? Wouldn’t that mean that he was unfaithful with his calling?
Now imagine that God put you where you are, to work the job that you have, and cultivate the relationships you are in for the glory of God. And let’s say that God had a calling on you to preach the gospel to that one person you’re always eating lunch with in the cafeteria. Let’s also imagine you did, and the person got saved. That would mean you were faithful to God’s calling on your life. Oh, and it would mean something else…
You were more faithful than Billy Graham!
You see, hidden in much of the Millennial’s drive for significance is the mistaken assumption that our lives must be remarkable in order to fulfill our calling. We like to see change, and we love to be instruments of change, so it make sense that our litmus test for success is how much we are able to accomplish.
Does God have the same standard we have for ourselves? Are they even related?
To think that God has been waiting centuries for you to come along and shake things up, or that he was loosing sleep until Billy Graham showed up is a bit anthropocentric. God does not think more highly of charismatic leaders than stay-at-home mothers. And if we live with expectations like that, we are weighing significance much differently than God, who once noted that “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones” (Luke 16:10). He wasn’t trying to motivate Millennials to climb over life’s stepping stones to get to better things; he was accentuating loyalty.
God wants faithful servants, not superstars.
There is enough of the latter invested in his Son, Jesus Christ. If he so chooses you to be the next Billy, than by the grace of God, you are who you are (1 Cor. 15:10), but stop idolizing what others have told you is “radical.”
Of course, all of those previous situations were hypothetical; I have no way of knowing the specifics of what God called you or Billy Graham to accomplish; I’m pretty sure Billy Graham has been faithful, and at the very least, beloved by all who call on the name of Jesus.
But the point still stands.
We make too much out of our own accomplishments.We keep score, and God does not. The problem with scorekeeping is that our identities get wrapped up in the excentric nature of a particular calling, to such extent that Millennials may become depressed if they are not doing something as remarkable as “everyone else.” The solution to this is to remind ourselves that nothing we do is extraordinary; we are “unworthy slaves” doing what we ought, in the presence of an extraordinary God (Luke 17:10). He can save 3.2 million people through Billy Graham, Billy Jean, and he could have chosen anyone to do this because he is the one actually saving.
What God wants are a few faithful men and women, vessels in the hands of a master craftsman.
The Church needs to do more!
Heard that one before? Said that one before??
Millennials thirst for significance, and we are no different in the church; too restless to settle with the status quo ante, we want to push any limit that smacks of apathy. Neither do younger generations like to fall into routine, just because “That ‘s how it’s always been done,” especially when we see some traditions actually harming the body of Christ or the world around us. This Millennial boat-shaking ought to be welcomed as a blessing.
With limits, of course.
Sometimes we take it overboard, and may grow disgruntled with the church because it won’t move as fast as we would like.
Ever been in that Bible study where the young dude shouts in zealous angst, “The modern church should be more like the church in the book of Acts! More like the Early Church!”
To which I reply, “No, YOU need to be more like the Early Church! Drink some decaf and stop yelling.”
Sometimes our zeal is too tightly packed. We end up waving a gun around at anyone who gets in the way….including the Church.
But how can Millennials remain passionate without dishonoring the Bride of Christ? Below are means that will help us more effectively siphon a passion for change back into the church.
Let’s repent of our pride, and remember that we ARE the church.
Things always seem to go awry when we remove ourselves from the mayhem (even if we had nothing to do with it!). When you join a church, you are joining the mess! And when you follow Christ, you join his Church. I’ve heard Millennials cite Martin Luther’s reform of the church as reason to rebel, yet unaware of how hard he struggled to bring change from within, in fact, he never left the church—he was kicked out! And when the prophet Daniel wanted healing for God’s people, he did not do so from a safe place, but identified with the mess, praying, “We have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulation” (Dan. 9:5, emphasis mine), though he is one of the few men in Scripture whose sins went unrecorded!
Passion must never travel without humility.
Conviction must not go unchecked by a community.
Change must always be accompanied by empathy.
And this is where we often thrive, anyway: through collaborative relationships.
