A Millennial in No Man's Land
Reluctantly I must admit something to you, dearest reader. It’s not something I’m entirely proud of, but rather something I was born into. I am a millennial. There, I said it. My generation is at times both the root of madness, and an agent for change. We mean well. We are idealistic and unrealistic, dreamers with our heads in the clouds. We value art and artists, listen to music that make our parents and grandparents plug their ears. We are now approaching our late thirties and early forties. We are now aligned to be actual change makers. So, what have we been doing with that agency, that power? Mostly just complaining about boomers or whatever this new generation is called. We’re stuck in history’s middle. At least that’s what it looks like for me.
Many of us have walked away from the churches of our youth. Some have resigned from their previous faith all together. Some are deconstructing, some positively, some negatively. Some are simply just mad at the church. A good many no longer possess any measurable faith in the religion of their childhood. I guess I find myself in the no man’s land between both worlds. I am a former minister who left the church industrial system not to escape my faith, but to save it.
I still have that “fire shut up in my bones” Jeremiah spoke of, and often have to bite hard on my tongue when I see people being led astray. I resonate with John the Baptist and his wilderness existence. I’ve often felt like perhaps the life I live, and the call I know I have, looks crazy to most. It doesn’t help that I also spend a good deal of time in the literal wilderness with animals maligned by most. Spiritually I am wandering the in-between and trying to provide a flickering light for those, like myself, who have become disillusioned. That is, when I’m not running full speed from any sort of ministry like Jonah. Many are called, some just don’t want to admit it, like me.
No man’s land is an apt description where I find myself in the faith landscape. Wilfred Owen, a World War One veteran (and one of my favorite poets) explains no man’s land in a letter home to his mother in 1917 as “chaotic, crater ridden, uninhabitable, awful, the abode of madness.” This is often where I find myself spiritually. I’m maddened by the perception of Christianity in culture and even madder when the bad apples prove the skeptics right. It’s awful that we proclaim Jesus in one breath and espouse hatred towards opposing political parties or lifestyles in another. My brain is utter chaos as I try to navigate this liminal space, but in the most literal of ways I’m trying to stand in the gap and serve as a bridge between both sides.
I firmly believe in the teachings of Jesus, but abhor all the things we do more in the name of tradition and culture than in the name of Christ. The pomp and circumstance, light shows, fog machines, slick worship leaders and pop psychology sermons that only sprinkle in scripture if it fits the theme of “their” message. These religious buildings offer entertainment only and it’s not surprise that congregations are thinning every week. The people are starving for truth and being force fed the spiritual equivalent of sugar water. Most churches have become political tax shelters for rich white people to espouse their views on sin and the condition of the world, while they have no love in their hearts. Jesus’ name may be on the building but he doesn’t reside there. Their foundations have rotted to the core. It’s no wonder people are leaving.
John the Baptist must have felt a similar dissonance as he was proclaiming the glories of God alone and outside of the status quo in Jerusalem. John’s lifestyle and ministry was an afront to the opulence of the religious leaders of the day. He wore a garment made of camel hair as an ode to the prophets of old, and as a visual rebuke to the fancy dress of the Pharisees. When the religious elite of the day approached to be baptized by him, not out of religious zeal but out of a fear of missing out, John called them a brood of vipers. Just as snakes would escape the flames of farmer’s burning field prior to planting season; the Pharisees fled the wrath of hell by attempting to get Baptized by John. On the inverse, in the pure nature of a viper, their intentions were hidden in plain sight. At the proper time they would strike. They often used the word of God as a weapon to subjugate and extort the people of the day. Their hearts were wicked and their god was power. When truth is spoken without love it can often be as caustic as venom. There was no love in their hearts.
That brood of vipers, back stabbers, and men of “importance” saw a spectacle and not a move of God. They focused on the way John looked in his funny dress and wild message of a coming messiah, but their hearts weren’t changed. They had all the right words, but a rotten heart. It seems eerily similar to the modern American church. Many can quote book and verse but can’t find the love of Christ when it bleeds on every page. They’ve fully accepted the grace of God but can’t be bothered to love their neighbors who may live differently.
The church is often more afraid of guilt by association and labels than it is about loving the lost. It almost seems as if by having community with people who sin differently than we do that their shortcomings will somehow rub off on us. Instead of being a beacon of hope and light to a lost world we have become a bastion of bigotry and hate, all while quoting extrabiblical tropes like “love the sinner not the sin” but loving neither. The simple truth is we are ALL sinners, every single one of us. We all fall short of the glory of God. We all suck. It’s the dirty truth none of us seem to realize or want to believe despite the fact we quote it to others. We will rail against the addict for a sinful lifestyle but then turn around and give a pass to racist politicians who only use the name of Jesus for votes. They have the appearance of godliness but only care for power.
We only seem concerned about the sins of those NOT on our team. The good news is… there is good news through the Gospel of Jesus. Even though I know it’s the truth, that felt cheesy to write. I’m not here to sell you anything and I gain nothing from you believing in Jesus. Feel free to call me a zealot, heretic, or whatever name you designate for where you think I land on that spectrum. I just want you to know you’re loved. We have a communication problem and I aim to fix that. You may have heard “Jesus loves you” by someone who didn’t, but they were wrong, not their statement. Jesus does love you. He loves us all. The method of communicating that got twisted along the way.
Jesus came in all humanity and godliness to sacrifice himself on our behalf, not because he had to, but because he loved us so much. He didn’t just do this for lily white Baptists who don’t smoke or chew or go with girls who do, he died for ALL OF US. The drug addict, the alcoholic, the straight edge kid, the gangster, the gossip, the politician, the LGBTQIA+, the straight, the insert adjective for humanity here…ALL OF US. Stop making the gift given freely by Jesus something so exclusive that people can’t even access it. The world is hurting. We don’t need to be brow beaten about our sinfulness, if we’re honest, we all know we’re flawed. We don’t need fancy church services; we need the love of Christ. Period. Full stop. Stop focusing on the numbers and start focusing on the one.
Perhaps it’s time, as millennials, that we stop walking away from the church and start to become it. This doesn’t mean you have to run to your nearest First Church of Whatever down the road, but it does mean that you need to find some believers you trust and have real community. Ask questions. Take the time to actually read the Bible, instead of cherry picking it, etc. The tenets of Jesus, although they’ve been diluted and politicized and every other matter of disfunction, they’re solid. His word is solid. The red letters don’t condemn. They say to love your brother, love thy neighbor, take care of the Samaritan, only cast stones if you’re sinless, get the plank out of your own eye before lamenting someone else’s spec, and so on. None of this means we should deliberately do the wrong things, but the beauty is that if we do mess up, there’s grace. Maybe it’s time we stop walking out and start standing up. It’s not our job to change people, that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. Our job is to lead them to the grace of God and have faith in the process; all while showing the nature of Christ on Earth to the best of our ability. We are to be light in dark places.
Personally, I’m not sure exactly what that looks like because the culture of “church” in most congregations turns my stomach. Perhaps that’s just it, maybe we start something new. Something more in line with the early Church in Acts. It also could mean going back to those buildings and being the change that we want to see in the pews. It just takes one tiny ember to spark a real revival. It can even be both/and. I’m not here to tell you how to be the church, do what God puts on your heart. It’s just time we start reclaiming our place in the kingdom and stop blaming all the people who hurt us in the name of God. I’m betting you’ll do the right thing if your intentions are in the right place. People are hungry for something real, you were put here for such a time as this, so stop running and start loving people where they are. We’ve got this!
Even though I don’t know exactly what any of this should look like, I know where to begin. If I continue to pray for my enemies, try to love like Jesus did, turn my theological cheek, admit my own sinfulness, shortcomings, and humbly swallow the ocean of pride that dwells within me; maybe then I can be of service to the kingdom of God. It starts with each of us making those tiny changes. We don’t need more churches. We need more people transformed by Jesus’ love. We need to become the church. The rest will sort itself out. Millennials, it’s time to come home. We have the light, it’s time to show others the way, the truth, and the life. The torch has passed to us and it’s time to show the world the real Jesus.
If you liked this one, you may like this post from a couple weeks ago:
