Young Evangelicals, we are told, leave the faith because Evangelicals have changed political and social behaviors. There is little evidence for that. What evidence that is offered—Trump’s supposed popularity—is more evidence of Evangelicals not changing their political habits than of them changing. . . . Continue reading →
Millennials
A Message To Millennials (And Zoomers) About Marriage
Millennials seem to have given up on marriage. In their defense, a Millennial might argue, “We’re just being consistent. The Boomers showed us that marriage is a joke. They gave us “no-fault” divorce, the Gen-Xers were a half-way house and we’re consistent. . . . Continue reading →
Millennial Perfectionism And The Social Media Covenant Of Works
If you are a Millennial, relax. This is not another critique. I do spend a fair bit of time with Millennials, however, and I have observed some interesting trends. One of these observations was reinforced recently in an article by Thomas Curran . . . Continue reading →
The Gospel For Discontent Millennials (And Everyone Else)
HB reader David wrote to ask about a social program in which his congregation is involved and his question is one that I get regularly. My reading and experience with Millennials, i.e., those born between 1982 and 2004, tells me that there . . . Continue reading →
What Is The Church’s Big Mac?
The end of the semester is followed by the holidays so I just saw this post (HT: Aquila Report) discussing the declining fortunes of McDonalds restaurantsamong Millennials and comparing them to the church. The author notes “More people are wanting a customized, . . . Continue reading →
Why Millennials Have Trust Issues
The answer to why high numbers of Millennials don’t trust other people lies in understanding the nature of trust itself and the social context in which Millennials find themselves. To trust someone, you need to share common bonds of affection, values, and . . . Continue reading →
Your God Is Too Small (To Reach Millennials)
Chasing coolness won’t work. In my experience, churches that try to be cool end up with a pathetic facsimile of what was cool about 10 years ago. And if you’ve got a congregation of businessmen and soccer moms, donning a hip veneer . . . Continue reading →
Being “Nicea” And Leaving Church
Two recent podcast episodes that I found helpful on two topics about which I’ve been giving some thought: millennials and niceness. The first is Theology You Should Know with my friends Jared Beaird and Dan Borvan. Both have written for the HB. . . . Continue reading →
You Are Not Special
Messages To Millennials (3): Work
In part 2 we looked at the way, according to a recent Pew Study, Millennials relate to the visible, institutional church. The third major topic is work. As Bradford Wilcox summarizes the results of the study he notes that 80% of those . . . Continue reading →
Messages To Millennials (2): Church
In part 1 we looked at the some of the challenges Millennials face relative to marriage. According to the recent Pew Study, Millennials identify with organized religion at a lower rate than previous generations. To quote Billy Joel, they “didn’t start the . . . Continue reading →
Messages To Millennials (1): Marriage
On March 7, 2014, the Pew Research Center published the results of a new Survey: Millennials in Adulthood. Bradford Wilcox has a summary in the NRO. According to the study, Millennials have become disconnected from some basic institutions: marriage, church, and work—though not . . . Continue reading →
Telling The Truth To A Skeptical Millennial Village
Most of the students I teach are so-called Millennials. A few generations ago Americans were raised by parents. Then they were raised by the television. This generation was raised by the computer and related (mostly mobile) media. As Thomas de Zengotita has . . . Continue reading →
Office Hours: The Experience Economy
In the medieval and Reformation periods the West had an agrarian economy. In the Modern period we had an industrial-manufacturing economy. By the 1980s we had a service economy. Today, according to Jim Gilmore and Joe Pine (Strategic Horizons LLP), we live . . . Continue reading →
A Year Without The Internet
Paul Miller writes: I was wrong. One year ago I left the internet. I thought it was making me unproductive. I thought it lacked meaning. I thought it was “corrupting my soul.” It’s a been a year now since I “surfed the . . . Continue reading →
Recovering Nature
Helping Millennials to Look Beyond the Screen
Until very recently presidents and presidential candidates, even if they didn’t believe it, had to say that they were in favor of marriage as historically understood and opposed to homosexual marriage. Now, they don’t. What changed and how did that change come . . . Continue reading →