Church attendance has been dropping amongst millennials in the past few years. And while some see this as a sign that we have lost a generation to the world and move on to the next one, God is calling those who will faithfully claim that Jesus is Lord over every generation.
The term "millennials" has been credited to Neil Howe and William Strauss, authors of the 1991 book Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. They define millennials as those individuals born between 1982 and 2004.
Looking at Jesus' model of ministry, He always looked to reach the generations. He never played favourites based on age but reached out to every possible demographic. When children were withheld from Him, He responded in Luke 18:16 by saying, "...Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
The reality is that the church has seen a decline in attendance amongst American millennials in the last three years. According to CNN, more than one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith, much higher than the 10 percent of 2007.
But this should not be taken as a sign of hopelessness but a call to intercede for the next generation instead. Although very different from the previous generations, today's youth are the next in line in terms of leadership and influence. The next engineers, doctors, politicians, even pastors will come from those who are members of generation Y. We cannot let this generation slip away.
I believe that the millennial generation is the future of ministry. Why? Because I believe that every generation belongs to Jesus Christ, and that every generation will have people called by God to do mighty things. God's desire and God's intent is to bless the generations, not abandon them because all hope seems lost. As members of the body of Christ, we are called to reach out to, pray for and build up the next generation.
Sadly, many churches today fail to see the potential in the generation of millennials. Sure many of them are leaving church, but there are still those who are staying, and those who stay still have great potentials.
Social science shows that the millennial generation comprises some of the most innovative, entrepreneurial, work-smart, tech-savvy, passionate and ambitious people who have lived. I believe it's no mistake that God has made this generation to be such because He plans to use this generation that He created for the advancement of His kingdom.
So how are we to respond to the call for millennials to rise up in the church today? Let us pray that in this generation will rise leaders who will live out Ecclesiastes 12:1: "Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them.'"
It is not over for the generation of millennials. The world doesn't and will not own this generation because every generation has been bought over by the blood of Christ. As a church, God calls us to pray for this generation and to have hope and faith that God will call from this generation the next Joshua, Moses, Paul, David, Martin Luther King and Billy Graham even. Every generation is the Lord's and God is not yet done with this generation.
