And that’s the key, right there. That’s where the eye-rolling fall apart.
I had an “aha moment” when I walked in the room where he was playing–which actually is the basement. He was talking as he played, and I thought maybe the kid had gone a little nuts. That’s when I realized he had a headset on. Ian doesn’t play video games in a dark basement in his bathrobe by himself. He plays with a headset on and shares his experience with kids from his school in the evenings–and even from around the world at times! They play in teams to beat the computer or other teams.
Brett’s “aha moment” extends to Fantasy Football as well. Most of these guys aren’t watching the games alone. They’re meeting with a group of other men where they rub shoulders together: watching sports, trash-talking, eating, and sharing about how things are going at home with their wives and kids.
As with the Millennial men and kids playing video games, texting, engaging in social media and more—we’re all yearning for community.
No More Unreachable Generation; It’s All About Relationships, Man
The interests and methods of communication may have changed, but the message hasn’t. God has already given us the solution to bring The belief that Millennial men are an unreachable generation is a myth. The interests and methods of communication may have changed, but the message hasn’t. God has already given us the solution to bring young men to maturity. men to maturity: It’s for mature men to take younger men under their wings and show them how to walk with Christ.
Patrick Morley recalls, “That’s what happened to me. Some men who had been discipled themselves and were walking with the Lord took me under their wings and showed me the ropes. Jim Gillean, in particular, made me his project. He gave me a vision for Biblical manhood. He spent time with me. He cared. And he inspired me to turn around and disciple others. Reaching younger men is that simple.”
A mentor is “a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.” Christian mentoring, however, is uniquely centered on the Word of God. Jesus said some men hear the Word but it gets choked out by life’s worries, riches, and pleasures. As a result, those men never grow to maturity. But other men hear the Word, obey it, persevere, and produce a big harvest (Luke 8:14-15).
The key to all this is building relationships with younger men. We’ve talked about discipleship as intentional spiritual friendship, and that’s exactly what mentoring is. The belief that Millennial men are an unreachable generation is a myth. The interests and methods of communication may have changed, but the message hasn’t. God has already given us the solution to bring young men to maturity. Millennial men—just like older men—tend towards isolation when they have problems, so we have to be intentional. Remember that no man fails on purpose, yet many men make seemingly small compromises which, over time, ruin their lives. We have to show Millennial men the mistakes we’ve made, and the lessons we’ve learned, and how God has used it all for our good and for His glory.
BIG IDEA: All around us are young men who are yearning, desperate to engage in relationships that will help them become the kind of men they know in their hearts they were made to be.
This article about the myth of the unreachable generation of Millennial men originally appeared here.
