Millennials, Worship and The Grammys
Chance the Rapper took the whole world to church.
Jesus just took over the Grammys through a man who many in the church would not call a "worship leader” however I would argue that last night he led the whole world in a worship service opening with this statement “the FIRST thing is that God is greater than the worlds best thing” and then calling everyone to get on their feet and declare “How great is our God”. He may have just given the world a 4 minute Malachi 1:11 type encounter with Jesus that frankly much of the church has been prophesying but has not been participating in and now we have a choice. We can choose to become offended, to tear the man and his life apart searching for the bad “fruit” that we can use to disqualify him and his message and we can all become Facebook theologians slamming him and his followers with unbalanced and one sided belief systems OR we can learn to become comfortable with the tension that he just like you and I, is a work in progress. We can choose to step back and realize that although we may not support or endorse some or much of his approach, this man has found an honest language that is connecting with the hearts of a generation in a way that I am not sure much of the church has.
“My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty.” - Malachi 1:11
Its not just millennials but many people are not impressed with our programs.
As hard as it may be for some to swallow I think we need a wake up call to see the reality that the generation everyone is trying to reach largely is not coming to our meetings as nearly 60% of those raised in the church are no longer attending or involved. I believe it's because this is a generation who are dying for honesty, vulnerability and authenticity that only grows inside of family but often in the churches they attend people are met instead with institutions that are carrying the language of “family" while building a culture that better reflects a business or political system building on performance and sustaining by what has become an illusionary approach to christianity. We are pretending like the hard stuff doesn't exist while just beneath the surface life feels at times like a living hell and when asked “how are you doing” we don't practice connection through vulnerability but instead we respond with fake smiles and stupid coined phrases that we don't even fully believe like “I’m blessed and highly favored, brother”. Yeah ok I get it we should be a positive people that don't make agreement with negativity but speak life over ourselves and others. Yes, absolutely but we also need to follow the model of Jesus who was a man who’s life we shouldn't over spiritualize. He was completely God but He was also a man who chose to walk in our shoes, wearing our skin, and wrestling with the same flesh as you and I.
Vulnerability is a gateway for connection with God and with people
Jesus cries out on the cross in Matthew 27:46 “My God my God why have you forsaken me?” the same cry made by David in Psalm 22 so here is the point, If God is near to the brokenhearted (ps 34:18) and its not our strength but rather our weakness that His power is made perfect I wonder if we have robbed ourselves and a generation of an opportunity for wholeness by partnering with a system built on performance that has inadvertently rejected authenticity and vulnerability thus robbing us of connection then shoving a connection starved generation out the doors and into the world to find what they are looking for on their own. We should be the place that a world can find that which they are dying for; connection.
Fruit matters but its healthy trees that produce fruit and every tree has its season.
We don't need to fix anyone. In a culture obsessed with destinations I know I have been guilty of missing out on the principal that God is more interested in the process than the product. Lets let people be loved inside their brokenness without any man made timelines for their “healing” and lets agree to start caring for people like trees instead of just some “fruit bearers”. Trees who are planted in the garden of family are unmoved regardless of what they produce be we must grow in our willingness to see past the fruit (that by the way seems to have become something to be exported or sold) and even when they move into a season where the fruit looks a little unhealthy or they aren’t producing at all, we don't cut them down and throw them out. Instead we water the roots, speak nutrients to the soil of their hearts, and assure them that their season of harvest is coming again. This to me is the picture of family, through it all we don't get to choose the garden we were planted in but we do get to choose how we interact and care for those who have also been planted there… even if they bear a different type of fruit.
I believe the church is going to look radically different in the next 5 to 10 years.
And that is a good thing. Change is inevitable and just like the changing of the leaves in every season God is orchestrating a reformation that will birth a global harvest like we have never seen before. I do believe that it will be built largely on the Millennial generation which is why its important that we take an honest look at what we are doing, creating and building and ask ourselves honestly what side of the move that is coming that we want to be on. Let us not allow the nostalgia of our former glory to rob us of fresh vision and perspective on what is coming now. As one of our leaders at our home church here in Redding said this last weekend “In the time of favor you are the person of favor but if you do not respond to the favor God will put it on someone else” and we are in a moment I believe to see the Global Church come into her fullness and we are the ones called and appointed for such a time as this to see it be so.
God give us eyes to see and ears to hear what you are doing in the earth.
- Micheal
@michealgmiller