“I would not expect a church to compromise its beliefs to accommodate me,” said Rebecca, a Millennial from Michigan. “To be honest, I am intrigued by their beliefs, and that’s one of the reasons I’m visiting the church.”
When Christian Unity Becomes Evangelism.
The issue for the Millennials was not an expectation of Christians and churches to compromise their doctrine. They simply are attracted to Christians and churches where unity is real and evident.
For almost all of the Millennials in our study, 97 percent to be precise, mutual respect was a critical issue in any relationship. And 64 percent of them expressed these feelings strongly, higher than all the other attitudes we measured.
It seems, therefore, that Christians and churches will win the right to be heard by Millennials when those Christians and churches demonstrate love and unity among themselves. And the early reporting from the Millennial generation about this issue is not too encouraging.
We Christians and the churches we represent may be one of the biggest stumbling blocks to reaching the largest generation in America’s history.
Shortly before He went to the cross, Jesus told His followers these words: “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35 HCSB).
That’s what is important to the Millennials.
And more importantly, that is the command of Jesus Himself.
