We return a third time to considering the millennials and their reaction to Christianity. The research comes from the Barna Research Group, compiled by their president, David Kinnaman, in his book You Lost Me. Why Young Christians are Leaving Church …And Rethinking Faith. “Millennial” is the term for young adults between 18 and 30 years old.
When Barna interviewed the thousands of millennials who left Christianity, they were able to condense the reasons into half a dozen. We have already considered the first four: the church is overprotective, shallow, anti-science, and repressive. Here, we think about the last two.
Exclusive – We live in a culture that seems to tolerate everything except the view that you can’t tolerate everything. The Burger King motto: “Have it your way” permeates every thing in our daily lives. School choice. Pro-choice. Denominational choices. We have various genre of music, literature, movies, TV shows, TV channels, ad infinitum. It is hard, then, for young people who have not been seriously exposed to the Scriptures to think that Christianity is exclusive.
If we were to get to the basis of the issue, it would be that our modern society has decided that there is no objective, absolute truth. That is, statements that are consistent with reality. Our society is, in fact, trying to deny reality when a white woman “identifies” as a black woman or a man “identifies” as a woman. Those positions are not just unscriptural, they are unreal.
But anytime someone rejects absolute truth, they open the door for you to slap, hit, mug, and abuse the one who denies reality. When he/she objects that you are intruding on their freedom from harm, you simply reply, “That’s your reality. My reality is that I get enjoyment out of slapping/hitting/mugging/abusing you.” You can’t have it both ways. Who is the ultimate arbiter?
The existence of evil in the world, rather than arguing against God, is actually a very strong compulsion to believe in God. Not only must there be an objective standard of good by which evil can be measured (otherwise, there is no such thing as “evil”) but our inner “Lady Justice” cries out for some kind of accountability for those who commit such moral atrocities as the holocaust and crimes committed under the banner of Communism.
If you do not rely on a trusted source and disregard those that claim to sell you a pill for literally pennies in comparison. levitra without prescription How long does kamagra work for? The medication is highly sought after today, as it not only accentuates their intimate moments but also strengthens their buy cialis online relationship.Apart from medication, ED patients should also undertake regular exercise. At present prostate inspection method can be so effective that you would not have listened this name anywhere.The article specializes to providecialis cheap uk continue reading that to men have experienced ED recently and looking for viable treatment to continue their sensual life. Once you have taken the pill, it basically works by increasing the flow of blood to the penis and http://www.midwayfire.com/minutes/04-10-12.pdf purchase cialis on line causes erection problems. What this point reveals is that in our Bible classes and in our sermons we need a heavy dose of apologetics preaching and teaching. Christianity is built on a rock-solid foundation with tightly woven arguments. When our young people leave home for work or college, they need that foundation on which to build their lives.
The sixth and final criticism of Christianity among the millennials is that they are not allowed to express their doubts. In the words of Kinnman, “They do not feel safe admitting that faith doesn’t always make sense” (pg 93). It is disappointing to me to hear, not that young Christians (or old Christians for that matter) express doubts, but that there are Christians who don’t allow doubts to be expressed. Apparently, such people have never read the psalms…
“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). That was David, the man after God’s own heart. The man who was the prototype of the Messiah. But this verse is just one in a plethora of expressions of doubt found in the Scriptures in the OT and the NT. It is not a sin to have doubts. It is sinful to feed those doubts and act on those doubts, that is, to turn our hearts away from God. When doubts arise, they are simply a call for medicine. The medicine is gentle, patient, simple instruction in God’s word. Faith comes (and is sustained) by hearing the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). We do need to allow our young people to express their doubts and then gently work to strengthen those areas of faith that are the target of those doubts.
One further point to make… There are questions that we simply cannot answer. There are textual questions that do not have a definitive answer to them. There may be doctrinal questions that do not have a straight forward answer for them. There are behaviors of God that we might not be able to explain as to their reason. A good, mature Bible student will be aware of those questions, present the possibilities to the doubter, argue for the option that seems to be most consistent with the nature of God and the nature of the Bible as we have it presented to us, and then leave it at that. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29).
If we saw everything we wanted to see, there would be no room for faith. May God help us not to lose any more millennials and start reclaiming those who are in the clutches of Satan.
–Paul Holland