Engaging the Millennial Culture

I was attending a conference in Austin, Texas a few weeks back.  My scheduled required me to be back in Dallas, so I left the conference at the end of the second day.  My intent was to catch a quick fast food dinner and then make the three hour trip home.  I had seen a number of restaurants in the morning on my way to the meeting, and was pleasantly surprised to see a Rosa’s Café.  When it come short-order Mexican food you cannot top Rosa’s.  They also make their own tortillas always served fresh and warm. 

The restaurant was filled with families and relatively busy.  After retrieving my food I set off in search of a table.  I spotted one toward the back and sat down.  I had my computer with me and figured I could get some work done. Before I could get settled in I noticed a young man sitting by himself at an adjacent table.  The tip off was he smiled and asked how I was doing.  Opportunity!  “Mind if I join you,” I asked.  He pointed to an empty chair but apologized that he was about to head off to an appointment. 

He reported that he had recently moved to Austin to be close to his sister.  He had lived in California but both his parents had died within the last two years and there was no other family there.  He was working at a Best Buy but was hoping to start school in fall.  When I inquired what he wanted to study he said he was a musician and wanted to learn production.  He was living on his own and enjoying the music scene in Austin.   He was hoping to make connections in school that could lead to a gig with a band.  Eventually he asked what I did, and seemed a little surprised when I told him my passion was millennials and helping churches understand and connect with them.  “I’ve never been real religious,” he noted.  “I have always gotten the impression that the church people felt they had all the answers and life is more complicated than that.”  I told him I understood but to not sell the church short.  “There are churches that are seeker friendly,” I noted.  “They really encourage discussion when it comes to issues,” I continued.    

That is the way the conversation ended.  He had his agenda and in the end I had mine.  But I sensed that he was a sincere young man who was struggling not just with life issues but with the death of his parents.  The best I could hope for was that he sensed there was at least one older adult who was concerned about him.  I did give him my card.  Maybe he will call me, but probably not.  Either way I hope he began to see that someone who called themselves “Christian” was concerned about him. 

There are probably many young adults who pass through your life on a regular basis who need to hear the same message.  I recently read an article on connecting the great commission with contemporary culture.  The author was Trevin Wax of Lifeway Christian Resources.  Trevin Wax identified three steps that need to be taken to effectively reach members of our contemporary culture.  The first of those is to seek to understand the people and the culture.  Nothing is accomplished if we observe and make comments from afar.  Before we can effectively impact the millennial culture we need to learn to seek,learn and understand that culture.  That requires stepping outside our comfort zone but I sincerely believe that is what we are called to go.  The future of the church as we know it hinges on our willingness to do that.