We are supposed to be taking the Word of God to the lost, dying world, not conforming to the lost, dying world.
Churches lose sight of that when they allow the twenty-somethings to dictate the worship service or when they think they are catering to the twenty-somethings to be cool. All of these cosmetic changes being made to the church dilute the actual goal and don’t even bring in new members.
Just the fact that we ask “why are the Millennials leaving the church” is proving it’s not working. And even worse, we tell the older generations that their ways of worship are outdated too, so it’s a double whammy. The young people stay away because they are being pandered to and they know it, and the older people leave because they are being insulted.
As a person who has participated in leading worship since age 13, I’ve seen a lot of these changes up close and it doesn’t make people more welcome in God’s House. Rather, it drives them away, creates conflict and division, and worse, it makes people think less of God because we as His servants can’t get their act together.
It’s time for all of us, young, middle-aged, and old, to get our shape up. We need to remember that God is not here to cater to what we think we should be doing, but we should be serving Him and advancing His kingdom on earth until the time that He calls us home. Young people need to be taught this by their elders, because it is supposed to be understood that when you’re young, you need that guidance and instruction.
As Jesus told his disciples in Mark,
“Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not.”
The youth will always have their own ideas about what should be done; rather than shut them out or give them free reign without consequence, we should be willing to hear them out, and know when something needs to be changed and when it doesn’t.
Change for its own sake is not always good.
God is pleased when we as His children pass His love onto the next generation. The Millennial generation will figure this out the same way every previous generation did. But Millennials won’t learn with coddling, flashy gimmicks, or pathetic pandering by a clergy that wants to be loved more that they want to preach God’s Word in truth and without fear.
If Millennials want to be treated as adults, we should act like it by not demanding that the church bend to our demands. We need to seek out churches that preach the truth of God’s Word without fear, where our spiritual needs can be met, and where great teachers of the Word will welcome us into the fold.
And if the older generation wants the Millennial generation to stay, they will have to give it to us straight because as Jesus told the Jews who believed in Him,
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
but when combined with music that is shallow in theology to begin with, you have nothing more than a rock concert.
Not all contemporary music is shallow in theology. That is cetainly a generalization.