Old vs. Young

Did you know that survey shows that two-thirds of millennials leave from ages 18 to 22?

I was recently talking with my peers about why millennials are leaving the church. In that conversation, I found out that they are having the same feelings as me and it made me feel like I wasn't crazy or alone in this "epidemic".

Fun fact: 6 in 10 millennials who grew up in church have dropped out at some point. So I don't know why people at my church were highly surprised with me saying I wasn't happy and that I wanted to leave.

Honestly, I'm hoping all of my blog posts prompts my church to do some serious introspection because, the church that does not attract younger adults won't keep growing. I don't know how many times I have told my parents, my friends and members of my church that soon enough, my church is going to literally vanish. Either members are finding new churches that correspond with their values and give them what they want and need or members are actually, literally dying... because they are elderly.

Christians should be welcoming and guiding the youngsters of the world, not criticizing or offending them. Every second Sunday, I pay close attention to the sermon. (Second Sunday's are our Youth Sunday's so typically, the sermon is geared towards the children.)

So one lovely Sunday, 8 months ago, a preacher (who will remain nameless) from outside of our church came to preach. When I tell you, I should have skipped church... oooooh child, I should have skipped church. I was beyond angry with the preacher.

I was irritated.

Annoyed.

Enraged.

Fuming.

Hot.

To sum it all up, I was straight up pissed. My blood was boiling. I was so angry with him AND the congregation for clapping for him, I couldn't take it anymore and I left the sanctuary to find my dad. (Side note: My dad is in the Audio Ministry so he is normally behind the stage).

I looked at him and he could tell I wasn't happy. He even told me he didn't agree with what he was preaching about. (This was the moment I knew, my dad was truly my ride or die).

Okay so let me get to the sermon. This preacher had the AUDACITY to say that children don't know what hard times are. That they don't know what struggle is. He told all youth under 21 to stand up (luckily, I was just shy of turning 23 so ya'll know my butt was happy I didn't have to stand) and basically embarrassed them by saying they don’t know what it feels like to struggle. He kept using examples from his past, saying things like, “have you ever got hit with an electric cord?” “Have you ever done this and that..” and just kept going and most of the congregation, of course, got kick out of it. I'm still trying to figure out what did that preacher gain from calling out the youth. What does any of that have to do with bringing children to Christ? Absolutely nothing.

I wanted to scream at him for saying all of that nonsense. So you're really going to stand up on that altar and tell me that children don't know what it means to struggle? Just because they aren't going through the same struggle you did growing up, doesn't mean they don't know. Suicide rates have increased throughout my years of growing up and you're going to tell me that they don't understand? You're going to tell me they don't know what struggle is when I work with children and I hear about their struggles every single day and see it first hand? You're really going to tell me that?! So guess what my "non struggling" self did? Of course I made a Facebook post (definitely not my finest moment) and oh my goodness you would have thought the flood gates opened because I had the older generation defending him saying statements that didn't even go with the meaning of the post!!

But then, there were the members that were outraged by his sermon as well. Those 70 comments were a reality show at its finest, let me tell ya.

But the greatest kick out of all of that was, the next Sunday, people were coming up to me about my post WHO DON'T EVEN HAVE A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! They told me that I can't post stuff like that and that I need to stay away from controversial things like that. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You are literally just telling me to stay quiet because you think I am a child. That's the biggest mistake you could ever do to me, because I will stand my ground and I fight hard for children.

That sermon was in April. 8 freaking months ago. And to this day, I have never forgave my church for inviting him to preach BECAUSE he also came back a second time a couple months later. And of course, members of the church were looking at me to see if I would get up and leave, but I didn't give them that satisfaction or juicy gossip of the day. Honestly, I just sat in my seat and played Candy Crush on my phone the whole sermon. I have no shame. I didn't and still don't care for that "preacher".

So with all that being said, millennials are leaving the church because they don't feel respected, accepted, understood, discipled, or relevant to their lives.