A Parental Secret for Reaching the Millennial Generation

OK, I admit the title is a bit ostentatious. But I wanted to get your attention.

The lagging faith of the millennial generation has been widely, regularly and ominously discussed. However, the problem and solution is so much less complicated than you may think.

Reaching millennials is often cloaked as something mysterious and opaque. But that’s just nonsense. Millennials are not alien creatures; they’re our children!

First, it merits a mention that some of the strongest Christians you and I know are millennials. That said, statistically they are in the minority.

So why is there such a faith gap with this generation?

Perhaps the main reason is that many parents have not been discipling their children. That’s because …

1. Most parents have never been discipled themselves.

2. Most parents don’t understand what discipleship is.

3. Most parents don’t know how to make disciples.

4. And perhaps most telling, parents don’t understand that they have the “primary” responsibility to disciple their children.

Unsure of what to do, but knowing that the religious and moral instruction of their children is important, and knowing how helpful teachers and coaches can be, many parents turn their children over to professional youth workers.

The result? We have age-segregated our children and delegated their spiritual and moral instruction to youth ministries.

Bad idea.

Many of these youth ministries operate autonomously and separately from the larger church of which they are part.

Many millennials graduate from high school and simply go their own way. Delegation often has the same effect as abdication.

I realize these are generalizations, but we use generalizations because they are generally true.

So what’s the solution? How do we move the needle on millennial faith?

The solution is not more and better youth workers; the solution is equipping parents to do their job.

“Disciples making disciples—starting at home.” That’s our main message to men as the spiritual leaders of their families.

Regardless of how the millennial problem developed, the only solution is to disciple them out.

Yes, it’s that simple: Discipleship begins at home. {eoa}

Patrick Morley began teaching a weekly Bible study to a handful of men on Friday mornings in March 1986. This group grew to the 160 men who meet weekly in Winter Park, Fla. Since 2000, Internet technology has enabled thousands of men from around the world to participate each week by viewing or listening to the study. Pat is the author of The Man in the Mirror, a landmark best-seller for men drawn from Pat’s own search for a deeper relationship with God. For more teachings by Morely, go to pastoringmen.com, or visit his ministry online at maninthemirror.org.

For the original article, visit patrickmorley.com.