THE POST-CHURCH CHRISTIAN: DEALING WITH THE GENERATIONAL BAGGAGE OF OUR FAITH
Who are the millennials?
They are the 80 million people born between 1982 and 2000. In the introduction to their book, The Post-Church Christian, Paul and
Carson Nyquist write, “In the past few years, considerable research has clearly
documented the millennial migration from the church. David Kinnaman provided groundbreaking
research in his books unChristian and
You Lost Me.” Millennials love Jesus, but they are
unsure about the evangelical church.
The Nyquists, Paul, a baby-boomer and the president of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and
his son Carson, a millennial and pastor serving in Wisconsin, divide their book into three
parts. In Part 1, Carson gives voice to
the millennials’ frustration with the existing evangelical church. In Part 2, Paul asks millennials pointed
questions including, Can I love Jesus and not love the
church? Can the church change and ditch
its sad reputation? What do I do with
the alienation I feel? In Part 3,
the authors discuss the future of the evangelical church.
Says
the younger Nyquist, “Our generation is messed up and we know it. But we also want a place to belong, to be
known. To us, ugly reality beats fake
beauty any day. Perfection is a standard
no one can meet. But many of us grew up
in homes and churches where image management was king. As a Christian, it was your goal to convince
others how spiritual you were. Reality
was irrelevant. Perception was
everything.” Ouch.
In his section, Paul
Nyquist asks millennials a series of pointed questions and provides his
perspective on some of the issues millennials have with the Evangelical Church.
Do I Need to Be Part of the Church to Follow Jesus?
"You need the church and the church needs you. The MBI president points to Hebrews 10:24-25 which states,
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some
are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another -- and all the more
as you see the Day approaching.”
How Do I Deal with the Current Reputation of the Church?
°
Admit the
flaws
°
Churches get
stuck
°
There is still
hope
What’s My Responsibility to Those Who’ve Hurt Me?
Nyquist suggests that
millennials be gracious to those in the church who’ve hurt or offended
them. “Don’t lob a grenade. Forgive them.
Thank them. Engage them in a
conversation.
What Freedom Do I Have to Engage Culture and the Unbelieving
World?
The elder Nyquist was taken aback when his Bible-believing son got a tattoo. He didn’t know what to think at first. “You are born of a different culture with a
unique set of values. You see the world
– and Christianity – through different lenses. Seeking to be true to those values, you have
not found wide acceptance by baby boomers, such as me. Instead, you have experienced judgment,
frustration, alienation, and deep hurt.”
Millennials in their
attempt to engage contemporary culture will encounter gray areas where they
will be unsure how to proceed. Dr.
Nyquist encourages them to ask themselves the following questions based on
material contained in First Corinthians:
1.
Will it be
helpful for me? (1 Corinthians 6:12)
2.
Will it dominate
me? (1 Corinthians 6:12)
3.
Will it cause
another believer to stumble?
(1
Corinthians 6:13)
4.
Will it build
up your neighbor? (1 Corinthians
10:23-24)
5.
Will it bring
God glory? (1 Corinthians 10:31)
6.
Will it offend
an unbeliever? (1 Corinthians 10:32-33)
Carson Nyquist
concludes his section with the following, “I have incredible hope for our
generation. I believe the church is in a
unique place, unsure of its place in society as she tries to balance dogmatic
tradition and future innovation. In this
moment we need leaders in our generation to dream about the future of the
church – not to change our faith but to find new ways to express it.”
The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A
Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good LifE
I read the Little Way of Ruthie Leming in one
sitting, literally. This non-fiction
book, written by journalist Rod Dreher, is simultaneously the memoir of his
teacher-sister Ruthie who died of cancer in her forties, and the story of Rod’s
making peace with his small-town Louisiana family and his returning ‘home’ with
his wife Julie and their kids. The Little Way of Ruthie Leming reads
like a novel and – even though Ruthie loses her battle with cancer – the story
is far more inspiring than it is depressing. While it does not come with ready-made questions, I think this would be a great Book Club book.
FIERCE WOMEN AND KINGDOM WOMAN
You don't have to know me really well to know that I struggle with the Christian community's concept of submission. I grew up in a family where my father - who is not what most people would term a man of faith - used his gender/leadership role to subjugate my mom and me.
Luckily, I had other men in my life who respected women. That does not make submission any easier for me. I once told a man that I was dating that "I did not go to college to stay home and cook your dinner." I am pretty sure he wanted to cry - as he bought me my first microwave and my first Wusthof knives.
Submission, as set forth by Kimberly Wagner in her book Fierce Women, and Tony Evans in his book Kingdom Woman (and other Evangelical authors as well) holds that while men and women are equally valuable, they fulfill different roles in marriage, the church and society. In places like Ephesians 5:22 and 1 Peter 3:1, God exhorts women to voluntarily follow their husband's leadership. While I understand the concept, I have a hard time visualizing what submission looks like in real life in the 21st century.
In this day and age where women increasingly possess advanced degrees and may make more money than their husbands, Wagner and Evans assume most Christian women marry and bear children in their twenties and are stay-at-home moms for the duration of their adult lives.
Many believing women either choose not or cannot afford to stay home for the duration. Furthermore, some of us choose not to get married. So far, the only book I've read that addresses submission in these situations is Dancing With the One You Love: Living Out Submission in the Real World by Cindy Easley. I'm just saying . . .
