I have noticed that my Facebook feed that there is great concern over how to keep amillennials in the Church. My own district in the LC-MS has identified this as the prime concern upon the minds of the clergy and laypeople. Let me offer three ways to keep amillennials in the Church.
1) Keep them away from false teachers.
Amillennials are really only likely to leave the church if they become enamored with false teachers like Lahaye and Scofield who embrace false eschatologies. Such false teachers encourage people to use such questionable interpretative methods such as:
- Using the unclear passages in the Scriptures to lampoon the clear passage in Scripture. Deny the clear words of Jesus through speculation into the imagery of Revelation.
- Choosing the interpretation most likely to sell books .and movies. Amillennialism does not lend itself to a sequel. It is a one and done deal by definition.
- Focusing on current events more than the events of the past such as the death of Jesus on the cross. Put the New York Times in one column and the funny parts of Ezekiel in another and have fun.
Such terrible interpretive methods can lead people to embrace all sorts of false beliefs such as:
- I don’t need the church. Jesus and I are fine. I am too busy reading the news looking for the fulfillment of ancient prophecies to come to the gathering.
- I think meditating on the basics of the faith is boring. I would rather try to develop my own formula for end time dating
- John Hagee is my homeboy.
Such beliefs lead Amillennials away from the Church.
2) Don’t outsource their instruction in the faith. Parents must teach their children.
Amillennials believe correctly about the end times. However, that can lead parents and pastor alike to think they are prepared to be thrown out into the ever-changing waves of Christian writings, movies, and music. They can believe that since they understand that Jesus will return once and all things will be made new, they will also be able to swim through all of the stuff sold in the Christian book store.
However, trends have a way of pulling people under quickly. Soon even Amillennials are weighed down by all the things floating around out in those waters. They can be tricked into thinking the faith is about hipster pastors, heart-tugging plots, and a killer 5 word chorus repeated over and over again.
Parents must keep their Amillennial kids grounded in the scriptures daily. They must make use of aids like the catechism in order to guard their children against much of what is sold in your local Christian bookstore. They should fill their minds with the awesome stories of the Scriptures and their ear with songs that calm the conscience with truth about Jesus. They must take them weekly where Jesus is in water, words, bread and wine.
Amillennials left to their own devices will usually end up alone. Someone will find the right temptation to keep them away from Jesus. And that is the definition of alone.
2) Call them away from sin and to Jesus in his Church
If Amillennials are constantly called to repentance and faith in Jesus, they will remain in church. Amillennials understand that Jesus’ imminent return means that they are always to be ready for his return. If reminded of their failure to keep God’s holy law and understand that Jesus comes to them in His Church with his grace and mercy, there will remain. They will not leave because they will understand that to be without Jesus is to be left in sin and woefully unprepared for Jesus’ return.
Failure to do this might leave Amillennials trusting in their own holiness. This might lead them to believe that they should sit at home posting psuedo-Christian memes on their Facebook feed manifesting their superior holiness and understanding into the scriptures. It might also lead them to stay away their congregations in order to not be dragged down by those who are not as good or wise as them. Such trust in one’s own piety can only lead people away from Jesus and his church.
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I hope these thoughts will help people consider how to keep Amillennials in the church. Keep them daily aware of their need for Jesus and they will stay in the Church.
What? People are worried not about keeping Amillennials in the church? It is Millennials? Well, shoot. Thankfully, the same rules apply. Jesus is the way to keep anyone in the Church that will remain. Things that will certainly not keep Millennials in the true Church include:
- Removing five overused phrases in the church
- Changing you worship to be more exciting
- Making your sanctuary more traditional
- Getting a younger, cooler pastor
- Leadership training
- Taking kids to a stellar youth conference once a year
- Being comtemporary, relevant, authentic, non-judgmental, or whatever.
We preach Jesus to sinners. Those who have ears will remain.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,[c] 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. —I Corinthians 6:9-10
If you are an LCMS Lutheran, how often have you heard an LCMS pastor’s sermon, or read an LCMS pastor’s blog article, on the sin of Divorce (divorce other than for infidelity), the sin of Adultery, the sin of Fornication, or the sin of being a Drunkard?
Now compare the number of times that you have heard or read an LCMS pastor preach from his pulpit or from his blog on the damning sins of Divorce, Adultery, Fornication, and Drunkenness with the number of times you have heard the same LCMS pastor preach about the sin of Homosexuality from his pulpit and blog. I will bet that the number of sermons condemning Homosexuality will exceed the total of all the other sins combined.
But, not only is the sin of Homosexuality preached against (attacked) more frequently from the pulpits and blogs of LCMS pastors, but the name calling against the perpetrators of this particular sin far exceeds the name calling against divorcees, adulterers, fornicators, and drunkards. “Sodomites”, “Perverts” “Boy Sodomizers”, “Degenerates” are perfectly acceptable terms for the perpetrators of the sin of Homosexuality, but the cute, little cashier at the corner market who has shacked-up with her boyfriend for the last two years is not referred to as “that Fornicator”, nor is the drunkard standing in front of the LCMS altar, pronouncing the Words of Institution, referred to as a “vile and evil Drunk”. No. The good pastors of the LCMS have decided that just one of the sins in the above Bible verse, and the perpetrators of that one sin in the above Bible verse, deserve their greatest attention, condemnation, and vilification.
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod…officially…will tell you that LCMS Lutheran Christians hate Homosexuality but love the people “afflicted” by the sin of Homosexuality. In other words, the official position of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod is: “Hate the sin, but love the sinner.” But the reality is, that a very significant percentage of pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod hate homosexuals. They really, really hate homosexuals! Homosexuals make their skin crawl and their stomachs squeemish. Yes, you read that previous sentence correctly. A significant percentage of LCMS pastors hate gays and lesbians. Don’t believe me? Look at the evidence for yourself.
I challenge you to go onto the blogs of some of the most popular LCMS pastors’ blogs and do a topic search on “homosexuality”. Read the articles, but more importantly, read the comments below the articles. In the comment section, you will find some of the most vile, vicious, anti-gay hate speech, most often written by the pastor’s gay-bashing, gay-hating, God-fearing conservative Christian readers—such as the infamous “Carl Vehse”, otherwise known (without his white robe and hood) as Richard Strickert of Austin, Texas—all written without any censoring or rebuke from the LCMS pastor/blog owner/moderator…and… sometimes you will even catch one of these Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod “men of God” spewing this vitriolic hate speech himself. Conclusion: A significant percentage of pastors in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod are gay-bashing Peddlers of Hate, and for this reason the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod must be placed on the Hate Watch lists of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, and every other human rights organization in the United States—until the leadership/hierarchy of this Christian denomination finally puts an end to this hateful, un-American, disgraceful behavior.