Evangelist: Church Failing Millennials by Not Giving Them a 'Cause
- (Photo: The Christian Post)Greg Stier speaks at the Friday evening opening session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.
WOODBRIDGE, Va.— Millennials are leaving the Church because they not being given a "cause," said youth ministry leader Greg Stier.
"I feel like one of the reasons why Millennials are leaving the church is because Millennials are causal. They want a cause," said Stier, who's leading the "Reverse" conference tour. "Generally speaking, the Church has failed to give them a cause. Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 says 'Go and make disciples of all nations;' 'I'll give you a cause.'"
Stier, head of Dare 2 Share Ministries, is currently touring the country to equip thousands of youth to preach the Gospel. His latest stop was in the Washington, D.C. area, where he spoke to The Christian Post about Millennials.
According to a recently released Barna study, only one in five Millennials considered church to have any importance in their lives.
Another recent survey, performed by Pew Research, found that 29 percent of Millennials classify themselves as "religiously unaffiliated."
In both studies, the Millennial generation was found to consider church less important and more likely to identify as "religiously unaffiliated" than older demographics.
Stier told CP that he believed the Church needs to regain "the cause of Christ, to go and make disciples." If they do so, said Stier, then churches "will attract more Millennials and every age demographic."
"The Church has morphed; instead of a mission we've turned into just a series of meetings and I think teenagers are looking for more than that," said the youth ministry head.
The "Reverse" tour kicked off in January. The theme "Reverse" is inspired by Daniel of the Old Testament. Speakers are encouraging youth to "stand when others bow, speak up when others shut up, kneel when others run away . . . to change the world!"
Stier said he felt events like Reverse help to counteract the rising trend among Millennials regarding church and religious affiliation.
"What I see here are students ignited when they start to realize 'man, I have a purpose and I have a mission and that is to share the Good News,'" said Stier.
"Find significance in the mission of Christ, find security in the Person of Christ and when we do that, I think we will reignite this next generation."
An estimated 3,000 people from youth groups across the Washington, D.C. area attended Reverse Friday and Saturday to hear speakers, see drama skits, and participate in contemporary worship. Attendees were encouraged to share thoughts and photos on social media with #D2SReverse and to follow the Twitter handles of the speakers.
For the opening Saturday morning session, attendees heard speaker Zane Black teach about the experiences of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the Babylonian captivity.
They also heard Los Angeles based artist and speaker Propaganda talk about the dangers of social media addiction and the need to form relationships with people offline.
(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST)
Spoken word artist Propaganda speaking at the Saturday morning session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Regarding the atmosphere at Hylton Memorial, Stier told CP that the turnout was "great" and that "it feels like a sellout in there."
"What's cool is it's an event that [is], I think, multi-denomination, it's multiracial, it's all about the cause of the Gospel of Christ," said Stier.
(PHOTO: THE CHRISTIAN POST)
Worship at the Saturday morning session of Reverse, a youth event organized by Dare 2 Share Ministries on the last weekend of March 2014, held at the Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge, Virginia.
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this Gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Paul preached the Gospel "in a nutshell" in verses 3 through 5 of 1 Corinthians 15. Sometimes we have to be reminded of the simple truths of the Gospel.
...And His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Verse 10b
Paul had opened up his teaching letter by exhorting the Believers to hold firmly to the word of God in which they had first placed their faith, and he ended his exhortation by encouraging the Church to stand firm on its faith foundation. Paul's message is as relevant to us today as it was to the Church in Corinth!
• Don't return to old idols; old lifestyle; empty, religious ritual; or other gods: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).
