In recent years, our mouths have been plagued by the word millennial. It is often used to describe people who were born between the 1990s and 2000s. The attributes have included feeling entitled, consumed by social media and technology, are obsessed with anything 'free' from the government, and being against the church. Although many of these traits seem plausible, the most demeaning and untrue characteristic is millennials versus church.
To explain, growing up our generations were raised with these sayings:
1. “You who are sinless, may cast the first stone.”--don’t judge.
We as humans are not perfect, if we were, we would have to be machines. Biblically, the only sinless person to exist was Jesus Christ. That is why he gave his life to forgive our sins.
2. No one sin is worse than another.
In recent years, the talk of gay marriage being legal has been a major topic. Many of the millennial generation has voiced it should be allowed, and questions the baby boomers as to why we have the choice to condemn and restrict the right to marriage. Well, here are a few points:
1. Marriage is a biblical term. Why is it called marriage in the government eyes, instead of a civil union?
2. If we accept this is a sin, why is it so common that Christians hold the sin of a man being with another man any worse than premarital sex, or pornography? Where is it our job to decide that gays should be shunned and mocked?
3. If we as children were taught to love everyone, why doesn’t baby boomers follow this rule for even the LGBTQ+ community?
4. It’s even been said by a pastor, he would rather someone with 10 sins be picked to serve before a gay because it is unacceptable. This is not right because again, it is God’s decision. No Christian is sinless.
3. Don’t bully or gossip.
This is something very relevant to today. With social media, bullying has expanded to more than face-to-face contact and is now prevalent on many platforms. And unfortunately, this goes as far as body shaming on Instagram, slandering someone on Twitter, and it is not even children and teens, but adults. This causes emotional issues and leads to Christians leaving the Church because of losing faith in their church community.
4. Share.
I remember seeing commercials as a kid about sponsoring a kid in random countries so they can eat and drink clean water. Since I started college, I have seen more fundraising and giving from college ministries than regular church bodies. The priority of some churches seems to be to continuously plant said churches, make more money, and never do anything with the money that has been made.
5. “Love one another”
These are things we were told while growing up, advice from parents and grandparents, that we live by. We do not miss church on Sundays because we dislike church, but we dislike how lost the church body has gotten. It seems many of the baby boomers have forgotten everything they have tried to teach to us. We strive on knowledge, we question everything to educate ourselves, and we love and accept anyone.
