5 reasons non-believers aren't persuaded by millennial christians
lemme preface this by saying that what i've listed here isn't only applicable to millennial christians. however, since i am a millennial christian myself, it's easier for me to pick these attributes out amongst my own kind although i'm completely aware this can be easily applied to christians in a more general sense as well, ya feel me? the point is... here are some of the biggest difficulties i've observed amongst christians in their plight to spread the gospel, regardless of age.
5). many millennial christians can come off as hypocritical.
to be hypocritical means that you are behaving in a way that suggests you have higher standards or more noble beliefs than what is actually the case. in the case of christianity, millennials can sometimes come off this way to non-believers because we have a tendency of "telling" our friends how they need to live (and we aren't even following these principles ourselves). the irony is that we can give a thousand and one reasons as to why our non believing friends shouldn't be doing what they are doing but can give a thousand and one explanations about how our own backsliding is permissible. not to mention, we tend to be very judgmental as well...which isn't necessarily a bad thing, don't get me wrong. sometimes, judgment is necessary to evoke positive change. however, the way many of us go about it is wrong. a lot of us do it in such a way that depicts us as being "better" or "more saved" than the next person. but what this actually does is make you look kinda hypocritical...and silly; neither of which are attractive to those we are looking to bring into the kingdom.
4). millennial christians don't appear to be leading transformed lives.
contrary to popular belief. you can't be saved on only one social media platform, saints. you've gotta be just as dedicated to your christian walk on twitter, insta and snapchat as you are on your facebook. i know, i know....doing too much, right? wrong. it's called consistency and accountability of self. this is something i struggle with myself sometimes, so i know how much of a burden this can appear to be. however, it's necessary. what we've (millennial believers) have been trying to do is have our cake and eat it too. we wanna have the best of both worlds; an awesome christian life and a poppin' social life. but see, it doesn't work like that. ya gotta be white or black, no shades of gray (shoutout to j. mcreynolds). because the "do as i say and not as i do" tactic has been thrown out and non-believers today are expecting us as believers to put our money where our faith is. in other words, you can't convince anybody to lead a transformed life when you yourself aren't even fully invested.
3). many millennial christians don't talk about their faith with their friends.
to some believers, christianity is a secret. it's something that is important to them. they go to church, they are involved in different ministries, they read the word faithfully. however, nobody in their circle outside of church knows that. you know why? because they've made the choice to not discuss their religion with their friends out of fear of being perceived as overbearing, presumptuous or intimidating. this is something i've noticed particularly among believers that are around the same age as me. society has taught us that there are certain topics that we should always avoid, religion being one of them. unfortunately, some of us have taken the bait--we've suppressed our faith around certain people in an attempt to fit in when in reality, we were made to stand out.
2). millennial christians tend to be seasonal, rather than consistent.
as young christians, we are in a seemingly difficult spot. we want to travel, have fun and make money while simultaneously chasing our dreams, drinking bottomless mimosas and starting our own business that allows us to give back to a charitable cause of our choice. but, our ambition sometimes gets in the way of our faith. we get so caught up in how we are gonna make it happen on our own that we forget about the author and finisher of our faith and the reason we have the dreams that we have in the first place. we become so preoccupied with making our dreams reality that we begin to negotiate things regarding our faith...like going to church and tithing, for instance. one missed sunday turns into a month's worth and then we only go back because things started to go wrong in our own plans and now we want to "get back right with God." it's this type of inconsistency that is preventing us from being as impactful as we probably could be.
1). lots of millennial christians are too tolerant of things contrary to a kingdom mindset.
yeah, i said it. and you know why i said it? because it's true. there's no way we as believers can bring non believers into the kingdom when there doesn't seem to be a difference between the two. trust me, i've tried. one thing i have noticed is that we as millennial christians are often afraid of being different from the masses so we tend to let a lot things slide by as it pertains to those around us. we hate to be "that person" that nobody wants to be around..but there's a difference between being judgmental and holding people accountable. believers can't compromise (as we often do) and think someone will be brought to the kingdom. it just doesn't work. there's advocacy and agreeance in our silence. you don't want people to mistake your tolerance for support of their ill doing, ya know.