What is a millennial?<\/p>\n
There are no precise dates when this generation starts and ends; most researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from 1978 to the early 2000s. I was born in 1978, so I just missed the Generation-X group and barely fit into the millennials. In fact, some definitions would keep my age group out of the millennials category, but I am around true millennials all the time by speaking to high school and college students, church planters and young families on a regular basis.<\/p>\n
In my experience with this broad and large people group, I find there are extreme differences between 34-year-olds and 17-year-olds. However, there are some common views that come to the surface in most millennials no matter their age.<\/p>\n
This is extremely important because, as children of God, we have firsthand experience of the incredible grace of Jesus. So, we should have a never-ending drive within us to love every age group the way that He loves us, and be students of every generation in order to be faithful missionaries with the Gospel to them.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, here are 10 common views of millennials that may help us understand this large and diverse generation:<\/p>\n
1. Millennials don\u2019t promote ageism . People tend to think that millennials don\u2019t want to have anything to do with the older generation. However, this generation is in desperate need for older generations to invest into them. This is largely a fatherless generation. They often seek out or are more open to discipleship or mentorship than we tend to believe. But they won\u2019t know how to ask for it, so they ask you to \u201chang out.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. Millennials value experience over heritage . For the most part, millennials don\u2019t value \u201cheritage.\u201d For example, a young person is not typically going to be Southern Baptist just because his parents were. If we can\u2019t answer their \u201cwhy\u201d questions or we get defensive over their questions, we\u2019ll lose them. Be ready to answer their honest questions with love, patience and kindness. Their experience with something or someone will dictate their views more than history will.<\/p>\n
3. Millennials are fairly non-committal . Unless it\u2019s an Apple product, millennials aren\u2019t completely committed to anything. Previous generations may have valued commitment over enjoyment by making statements such as, \u201cI\u2019ve hated my job for over 40 years but I\u2019m committed to it.\u201d You\u2019ll probably never hear a millennial say that, however, because they tend to value enjoyment over commitment. So they may say something like, \u201cWhy be miserable for 40 years? I may make less money and move around a lot, but I certainly don\u2019t want to be miserable. Life is too short for that!\u201d A great way to keep millennials engaged is by constantly communicating, illustrating and empowering participation in the vision and mission of the church. Remember, the younger generation is not the future of the church — if they\u2019ve been redeemed with the blood of Jesus, they\u2019re the church right now. Let them have some ownership of the ministry and be patient with them when they mess up, possibly a lot.<\/p>\n
4. Millennials mainly think about today . They often seem shortsighted. Think about it — the defining moment of their lifetime involves the tragic events of 9\/11. They saw the twin towers fall over and over again on a video screen while they were still children. It\u2019s burned into their subconscious. Because there is so much focus on today, there will be very little preparation for the future by most millennials. This is also the reason for a lot of debt with this generation. \u201cI need money today, so I\u2019ll take out this loan and worry about how to pay for it tomorrow.\u201d There is a great opportunity for the church to utilize the urgency of each day with this generation while also discipling them in the values of planning.<\/p>\n
5. Millennials are more globally minded . Most millennials are up to date on world news and affairs. However, they may seem to be less patriotic to the USA than previous generations. They tend to view things from a global perspective while still valuing their country. It\u2019s very possible that the Lord may accomplish the Great Commission through their interest in the nations.<\/p>\n
6. Millennials know public shaming all too well . Public shaming once was a thing of the past but now has been revived with social media. Millennials have grown up afraid. They\u2019ve felt the sting of cyber-bullying and may even have participated in viral trends. Their online persona is often as important to them as their real persona. Where we once said a photo was \u201cA Kodak moment,\u201d we now say, \u201cThat picture is Instagram-worthy.\u201d This is an incredible opportunity for the church to teach this generation that a true identity found in Christ is better than a false identity created online.<\/p>\n
7. Millennials see brokenness at an earlier age . They are exposed to more violence, graphic images and evil at an earlier age. Internet exposure, media coverage and broken homes are unfortunately the norm for far too many. Mass shootings are mainly a new phenomenon in their generation. This is a pornography-saturated generation — the average age of first exposure is 11. The fastest-growing consumers of Internet pornography are girls 15\u201330; 90 percent of guys admit to interaction with Internet pornography and 60 percent of girls. This generation is looking for solutions at a much earlier time in their lives. They know they\u2019re broken. Thank God for the Gospel because it is mighty to save millennials. Share it with them because they\u2019re starving for it, whether they know it or not.<\/p>\n
8. Millennials are cause-oriented . This generation wants to be a part of \u201cdoing\u201d something. They\u2019ll want more out of their church than sitting on a pew, listening to sermons, going to potluck dinners, while waiting on the Rapture Bus to swoop down to pick them all up. They are not scared to die young; however, they are terrified to die at a ripe old age while not having done anything significant with their lives in their own eyes. They are not typically impressed by a church\u2019s size or budget. They\u2019re more interested in being noticed relationally and in what the church is doing outside the walls of the building. Sometimes you\u2019ll find a greater percentage of millennials in smaller churches or church plants because of the assumed accessibility of the leaders to cultivate a relationship.<\/p>\n
9. Millennials are an ADHD generation . Surprising to some, they usually don\u2019t mind long sermons. The communicators most popular among millennials commonly preach 45-50-minute sermons. However, millennials have about a 7-10-minute attention span at the most. In communicating, teaching, preaching, it is a must to break up the message several times with a story, illustration or practical application. Also, teaching has to be more than relaying content. This generation is visual. If they can\u2019t see it or envision it, they have difficulty understanding it.<\/p>\n
10. Millennials value doctrine . Mature Christ-following millennials deeply value doctrine, verse-by-verse preaching and missions. This generation seems to get weary of gimmicks and sleek presentations very quickly. The seeker-sensitive movement of their parents\u2019 generation has grown to be \u201cold hat\u201d for the millennials who grew up in church. In preaching, the more raw, transparent and vulnerable the communicator is, the more millennials connect. There was a time when preachers were told not to use themselves in personal illustrations; however, this generation wants to hear those personal stories.<\/p>\n
Millennials are a hopeful generation, and I personally am encouraged by this. My prophetic prediction about this generation is that God will use them to further the Great Commission more than any previous generation. Even if I\u2019m wrong, millennials nevertheless are people made in the image of God who desperately need the Gospel of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #1400]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What is a millennial? There are no precise dates when this generation starts and ends; most researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from 1978 to the early 2000s. I was born in 1978, so I just missed the Generation-X group and barely fit into the millennials. In fact, some definitions would keep my age […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1658,1132,1390,1659],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.churchedge.com\/illustrations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}