The Millennials are leaving the church!
The Millennials are leaving the church!
Seems like every blog, every book publisher is trumpeting the ecclesiastical crisis of the moment: younger folks are leaving church.
We hear all about how they're sick and tired of the veneer that boomers have called Christianity…how they're weary of being “hurt” by church…ignored and even judged by the previous generation. We read surveys that highlight the mass exodus of Millennials. But I, for one, want to say, “Just hold on a minute!”
It's one thing to say, “I'm in a bad marriage.” Or “I wish this relationship didn't strain me.” It's quite another to get a divorce and universally declare the idea of marriage itself as broken.
But in unplugging from church as an institution—that's what many Millennials are really doing–they're divorcing themselves from church.
When you receive Jesus as your Savior, you—in effect—are saying, “I've signed up for a relationship that I intend to honor…until death us do part.” That relationship is with the bride of Christ—inevitably and only expressed in the church universal AND a local fellowship. Even if—and when—the church fails us, it is never an option for us to simply unplug from the idea of church itself.
Understand I'm not saying it's wrong to switch churches—and maybe find a local fellowship that's more millennial oriented. But I AM saying that throwing out the entire notion of church is biblically wrong.
So while I feel the pain of the Millennials (I actually find myself more aligned with their frame of thinking than that of boomers), I find their exodus from church untenable and unacceptable.
Because Dad and Mom might have called it quits over “irreconcilable differences” in their marriage, doesn't give Millennials the right to do so with church. Neither choice is biblical.
Someone needs to say “While you have the right to express your pain, your dissatisfaction, you do NOT have the right to walk away”–to throw the bride of Christ aside in search of a self-actualized spirituality. So I say, let's get together—Millennials and boomers—and fix what's wrong…rather than abandon it.
“Do not forget to assemble yourselves together” is not optional advice. It's a command—not just for boomers, but also Millennials.