Bonhoeffer's Thoughts About Loving Millennials

Photo by: Catherene MacBride

Today, I decided to pick up this months' Christianity Today magazine from off the library shelf. This months article captivated my attention. I may be working with youth in the future, or may start my own ministry somewhere, so it would be good to keep my ear to the ground and be informed rather than ignorant and dumb. Either way, I do know I'm to help youth find Christ for themselves - whether that's my life calling or now (who knows!). 

In the article by Andrew Root, I took note that once again that we have the wrong focus as thinkers, theologians, and as Christians when viewing the young "milennial" generation of today. It's title, Stop worrying about the Millennials, jumped out at me seeking to remind me the reader that I, "need to learn to love them", instead of worrying about how I'm going to keep them. In the article, one of the greatest thinkers of the 19th century,  Deitrich Bonhoeffer, explained why. 

Bonhoeffer says, 

When he wrote that he was trying to shake up the "accommodating youth movement" and instead remind the church that they were to, "disciple youth so that they constitute the church as they grow older." He believed too many Germans thought the future of the church depended upon very spirited young people. 

One of the reasons I could go into youth ministry was because, "they are the hope of the church". 

I have now realized that is a false statement. The youth, the children, the older people, are not the hope of the church. Bonhoeffer called our fixation with youthfulness - idolatry. 

Our future depends on Jesus Christ (Period!).

If you and I have an encountering with the Holy Spirit in our lives - homes - churches, specifically through the word of God and the means of grace, young people will want what the body of Christ has to offer! If they see Jesus in our lives - young people will want that. 

He continued by arguing, "Youth ministry is first and foremost a theological task.... first and foremost an encounter of the divine with the human."

Today sadly, theology is often put on the back burner. Instead praise, and "the band" is front and center. Praise/Testimony time is in and the word of God and his Holy Spirit is out.

What young people, or "millennials" as they/we are called, really need is an encounter with God's love, his gracious people, His word and His Spirit. 

"Much of North American Youth Ministry was shaped by the desire to capture and use the spirit of youth". In many ways the christian church can capture the attention and energy till about 17. Then we lose them. Reason? We've stopped loving. We wanted them to join us and keep our church going instead of wanting them to love God to build Gods' kingdom. Initially it's just a few head butts with the young 20 something, but the more it continues and the "less love in action is shown" and the less the "word is gracefully and kindly shared" the more they are driven out. We are to always be lovingly redemptive.

"In loving the youthful spirit of millennial, we actually love not the young person in all his or her peculiarities; instead, we love what having the young person's youthful spirit in our churches can get us. We love the idea of having millennial's in our church, but may not be ready to love the particular young people that come to us in their concrete humanity." We want the person and what they can add, but who wants all the other things.

I'm reminded of John 14:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Sadly, today in the church many millennials are driven out because they weren't loved, chased after, and cared for even when they hurt the body of Christ. Loving when I wouldn't love in return was what Christ did for me and you - why not do it for someone else? It's just like human nature to not call, not care, and not visit. Individualism is the American way, but it's the wrong way. 

Today, many 17-28 yr olds are broken, and who need to be selflessly loved.

In summary: 

"Thus the best way to help the church engage millennials is to stop wringing our hands over the millennial problem. Instead, we might seek the Holy Spirit together with all generation, looking for concrete experiences of the presence and absence of God in the lives of the young, confessing our confusion and telling our own stories of God's work in our lives. That's when the Holy Spirit binds and unites us, calling us beyond our generational divided. For in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, millennial nor boomer. 

Maybe your asking the "How" question...

Here's one way the article gave to start living this out.

Stop pleading with young people to read their bibles, and start encouraging young people to read their bibles with older mature Christians who've experienced Christ and know his power. When young people have tried this they became no longer a bunch of "bored millennials", but instead represent concrete persons who also know and love the person Jesus and his word. Other Christian pastors and lay-leaders are doing this - why not us? Give it a try.

To read the original article: Click on this Hyperlink 

The Purpose Driven Church - Book Review - Part 1

 

Well, it’s true. You've heard them and so have I, those “Myths about growing churches”. Have you heard the myth, “the only thing that large churches care about is attendance”, or how about “You must compromise the message and the Mission of the Church in Order to Grow”?  Lately I've been reading a book for class by Rick Warren called "The Purpose Driven Church". Although I don't agree with everything he presents, he has got me thinking some about how a church should grow. What I find incredible is that it all started small, even his church, and grew..steadily, and sometimes painfully to what it is today. If his grew - so can ours! (Yet I think too often in the CHM we're often miss-informed, scared, purposeless, or not in tune with the Holy Spirit.)

In response to the question "only caring about attendance", Rick commented: “If you are preaching the positive, life-changing Good News of Christ, if your members are excited by what God is doing in your church, if you are providing a service where they can bring unsaved friends without embarrassment, and if you have a plan to build, train, and send out those you win to Christ,l attendance will be the least of your problems.” “Healthy, lasting church growth is multidimensional. Every church needs to grow warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism.” (Acts 2:42-47)

“Church Growth is a natural result of Church Health.” A healthy church grows.

In response to the second myth about "compromising the message", he wrote the following:

“This myth implies that leaders of growing churches are somehow “selling out” the Gospel in order to grow, and that it must be shallow and lacking in commitment.” They assume it’s a “watered-down” message. Many churches are like that, however this guilt by association is unfortunate."

"Jesus ministry attracted enormous crowds. Why? Because the gospel is GOOD NEWS!! (John 12:32) A Christlike Church WILL have the same drawing effect on people. Another reason for the confusion of shallowness is they confuse what is, “expected of the unbelieving attenders with what is expected of the actual church members.” Saddleback distinguishes between “the Crowd” and “the Congregation”. “At Saddleback Church we do not expect unbelievers to act like believers until they ARE. We expect very little from the seeker who is investigating the claims of Christ. We simply invite unbelievers to come and check us out as Jesus did. Yet, “we require a major commitment from those who want to join our church. All prospective members must complete a membership class and are required to sign a membership covenant. By signing the covenant, members agree to give financially, serve in ministry, maintain a godly lifestyle, etc” … We remove hundreds of names from our roll every year.”

...…. Like what you’re reading? Want to hear about all EIGHT myths about megachurches? Check out the book, “The Purpose Driven Church”.

Overall, it's a great book that I'd recommend to even laypeople - not just pastors/future pastors.

Click the video below to learn more about the incredible history of Saddleback Church. 

It's really quite amazing!