As much as I feel like an old person sometimes, I'm a young person. Born in the digital age, I know that computers come more easily to me than those born before 1986 (how you lived back then??) and I know that I we can change the world. Teachers and parents have been telling me that since day one of kindergarten. Some people call my generation Millennials, some call us the "Me Generation", and some call us the generation of children who were coddled and had everything handed to them. A lot of missiologists and other Christian thinkers have written about this generation (born between 1980 to 2000? Hard to believe we can all be put into one group) and their relationship with missions. Here's what other people are saying about us (no citations, so really, this is just hearsay):
1) Millennials can't commit to long-term. Long term to a millennial is one year, and they want to do a 1 week survey trip before they can commit to that 1 year. I think this is partially true-- we are seeing a lot more applications for short term trips. But generally people who are interested in going short term are checking it out as a potential long term deal. Millennials aren't afraid to commit, they just want to test the waters before jumping in with both feet. Challenge us to commit, and I think we'll surprise you. And honestly, did you really think I was ready to go for the long haul at age 20? Maybe it's better for us to take a little longer to commit to long term.
2) Millennials don't know anything about the Bible. OK, this one is just true. It's hard to debate it. We don't know a lick about the Bible, especially compared to my parents' generation. But I think this points to two deeper issues: first, our involvement in local churches, and second, our perspective on faith and the importance of Scripture. First, church. How many 20-30 year olds reading this are members of local churches? Don't read "regular attender", but you actually went through a membership class or talked with a pastor about becoming a part of this local congregation. You tithe, and your tithe goes to the local church. You serve in this local body, and you fellowship primarily with them. Any hands? Well, I can tell you for sure that if you're not a committed member of a local church and aren't sitting under Biblical teaching every week, you're not going to learn a lot about the Bible. Maybe you didn't grow up in this kind of environment, but it's not too late to start! Commit to a local church and let the Word of God correct your life week after week. I really believe you'll see a difference.
Second, our view of faith and the importance of the Bible. I will readily admit that the time in my life when I was most interested in the Bible was my senior year of High School when I underwent a time of testing in my faith. I felt persecuted for being a Christian, I was getting asked questions about what I believed, and I depended on the Word to get me through that time. It was foundational for my faith, and it had everything to do with studying the Word. After that time, when life was going kind of well, I didn't hunger for the Word as much. And I think this latter situation is where most of us are. Life's kind of good, and when I read the Bible in my spare time, I just don't understand what it's saying. Do we understand that the Bible is what God has given us to KNOW Him today? That if we want to KNOW God, we must know His Word? Or do we think that being a Christian is about something else besides knowing God? Do we equate faith in Christ with something else-- a fellowship group, a collegiate ministry, a feeling of happiness, or a just a cultural tradition?
3) Millennials are more interested in activism than preaching the Gospel. I kind of have to admit that this one is true too. It pains me, but Millennials are more interested in the cause of AIDS than the cause of Christ. Millennials are more interested in stopping human trafficking and becoming modern day abolitionists than proclaiming the only one who can break the bondage and chains of sin for all eternity. It is pretty easy to get people to sign up at a table on campus to build a school for girls in East Africa. It is hard to get people to sign up at a table for an investigative Bible study.
I think the reason we are in tension here is actually because of what was discussed in point 2: our understanding of faith and Scripture, and our involvement in the local church. My husband said recently, we are confusing the implications of the gospel with the gospel. There are a lot of beautiful things that happen as a result of preaching the gospel and putting your faith in Christ: diseases can be healed, relationships reconciled, people will step out of trafficking or prostitution, and every human being will be valued. But those are the results of the gospel, not the gospel itself. Those things aren't the message. The message is still Christ and Him crucified! That message alone is the power of salvation for all who believe. And we look forward to a day when there will be no more tears, no more pain, no more oppression, no more sin. But that day can only be ushered in by Christ when He comes to bring a new earth-- not by human efforts.
Here's what I would say to my own generation, and, if I'm honest, to myself:
Underneath all that other stuff, we are insecure and don't want anyone else to know it. We have been told our entire lives that we can do anything! Then what is this feeling that we can't? Insecurity and fear of failure plagues us. It freezes us to make short term commitments, to not let the Bible pierce our hearts, to not get involved in a close community of people. This is why I think I have been so resistant to getting training and prepared before going overseas. I used to say that it was because of my passion for the unreached, but now I think it's because if I go there without training and fail, I can blame my lack of training. No one told me what to do! How was I supposed to know? But if I get training, what if it's revealed that I can't do this?
I have to say, I still believe it comes back to Scripture. Do we believe in the promises of God, the finished work of Christ, and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Do I believe that what God starts He will finish, and that He is on a mission to gather His people from all nations to Himself? That nothing can separate us from His love? Our grounding for not just missions, but our faith cannot be in anything else besides Christ and His Word. He is the one whose mission it is, not ours. He is the only on whom the mission relies on, not us. He is the initiator, and the one who will see it through to completion.
Praise the Lord the mission isn't dependent Millennials. But I still think we can change the world. But not because of our efforts, but by living transformed lives that are found fully and completely in Christ.
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