Today and the past couple of day's I've seen a lot of shared posts about "Bad Christian"s blog. From what I have gathered (I haven't had a chance to read the blog yet because I've been busy today), they speak out against the church.
Grab your pitchforks and torches people, it's time to riot against these heretics.
How DARE they speak against our church. We are absolutely perfect! Our church does nothing wrong! Now maybe some of those other churches out there, they need to listen to what some people have to negatively say about churches, but not us.
That mentality right there my friends is wrong. We live in a broken world, we screw things up every day, and that includes how we do church and live our lives as a church. Ever church has its problems, and all are different.
I read another blog today from a person from my generation about why people from our generation are leaving the churches. His point was mainly that when we were younger and in youth group, we had a say, we could make decisions and it seemed like people cared about us. But once we get to "grown up church" we're back on the bottom rung, we get no respect I tell you, no respect. We no longer have a voice, we no longer are respected or heard. It's the older generations who look down on us as if we're stupid that run the show.
THIS IS WRONG
What's funny is when the generations above me were my age, they had the exact same struggles that millennial's have today. It's like they completely forgot what it was like to be our age. I know dementia and Alzheimer's doesn't start in the 40's people. And even if it does that would be an incredibly rare case.
But the leadership of the churches need to remember 1 Timothy 4.12: Don't let anyone look down on you because you're young. Instead set an example.
"But that only applies to you people Mike, to get them to behave properly. Those heathens."
That is not why Paul wrote that. He wrote that to Timothy, a man he brought up in the faith, and told him that the leadership around him is horrible, and he needs to show them what's up. People my age and younger--DO THIS. People older than me--Listen to these guys. They know what they need, they know what they want. They want Jesus, they want meat, and they want to be heard and respected. They are as much a part of the church as you are, just because we are young does not mean that we can be ignored or tossed aside. Times have changed since our parents and grandparents were are age, so they need to understand what that means for us. The way we think even is at it's very core different, and you think we should just come to church, sit on our butts and listen to a message that always ends in an alter call? (Not that I have problems with alter calls, but we should not always be worried about quantity.)
I have a dream of a generation of millennials who were brought up in the church, graduate high school and college, and jump actively into leadership roles in their churches because of their passion for what the church is doing. What I don't want to see though is people who graduate and jump into leadership roles just because a spot needs filled, which I have seen happen.
The church today is broken and run by broken people, and that's okay. But what is not okay is the lack of change in all the churches that I see, and I see a lot.
Younger people- Don't let anyone look down on you because you're young. Show them you are capable of actually being responsible. (And in order to do that you have to be responsible.)
Older people- Quit being the "back in my day," buttoned down, idea killing, heathen calling, stereotypical old person which all of us younger guys think you are. Instead remember what it was like to be our age, put yourself in our shoes. Did you want to be listened to? Then listen to us. We may surprise you.
I want to end this post today with this: I love you all. I don't know who's going to read this, I don't care. I think we're all broken and need some healing, and we all need to come to terms with the other generations, acknowledging that they may have something worth saying. So please, love, listen to, and respect each other. You'll get a lot further in your ministries.
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