I was in a meeting today that helped confirm a lot of what I have been thinking and reading about the “millennial generation” (largely those born between 1980-1991).
While there are varied experiences based on the context you are dealing with (such as urban vs. rural ministry), I am finding that in the Rural Youth Ministry/Traditional Church context, something went haywire about 1975, then it was fixed with “band-aids, baling wire, and duct tape” about 1985, then that all fell apart about 2005. What is this something that broke? Different denominations and churches are going to use different terms, but I’ll throw this one out there – Community Discipleship.
I was kind of late to the game (born in 1979, entered Youth Ministry in 2001), but I see from experiencing the post-1985 quick fixes while I was in youth group what I’m sharing today. Band-Aids and Duct Tape are poor tools to use for eternal matters. Facades do little if he foundation is weak.
I propose that we make the hard choice to re-think what we are doing to build disciples in our churches! We need to suck it up and go for it full-bore to make a difference in our communities. This “playing church business” isn’t going to cut it in our present generation. Whatever that looks like to make fully devoted followers of Christ, we must do. Time is short. Are you in?