If we imagine a typical church… We can see the children playing and attending Sunday School. We see older teenagers in youth or some kind of teen service. Even college students or young adults have a specific landing spot. And then, the full-blown adults or grown-ups are sitting in the pews, of course. 

But there is a group missing from that picture. It is the awkward, in-between emerging adults and millennials who do not quite see where they fit into church… 

How do we make disciples of this generation (emerging adults / millennials)?

Our professors at Missional University have found a unique approach to disciple-making that will appeal to this age group: generational theory will need to be joined to a biblically-based and interculturally contextualized approach. 

This means three things: 

• Firstly, it is important to understand who the generation is. 
• Secondly, we have to look at what the Bible says about being this age and ministering to them.
• Third, we need to have a nuanced and contextualized approach that can be widely applied and tweaked to fit various cultures. 

What is a generation? Towards defining emerging adulthood and millennial.

“In-between”, “stuck”, “overwhelmed with decisions”, or “figuring it out”. These are all phrases that are often on the lips of emerging adults. Jeffrey Arnett, the psychologist who coined the term, describes an emerging adult as someone who is no longer a teenager, yet also not fully an adult yet. It is usually an individual between the ages of 18 to 25 today, but these ages are dependent of specific contextual factors and might change. For example, it might be the norm in a more rural setting or a specific culture to marry earlier than in another which would push somebody out of emerging adulthood at a younger age. 

The term ‘millennial’ generally describes a group that is a little bit more well-established than emerging adults. The millennials were born between 1980 and 2000 (Gen Y). They are a few years older and might be considered yesteryear’s emerging adults. 

However, because of the complicated nature of generation studies and the challenge of telling fact from fiction, people often use the terms interchangeably. In general, an emerging adult or millennial is someone between the ages of 18 and 44.

It is important to understand exactly what the defining characteristics of an age group is if you wish to do effective ministry with them.  The challenges facing emerging adults and millennials in your community are unique based on your setting or context, but there are also some generational issues that you should know of.

The challenges of leading emerging adults and millennials

Studies have shown that these age groups are turning their backs on the church – especially in the West. Church attendance clearly dips between the ages of 17 and 25. This is an international phenomenon known as “the missing generation”. And they fall away from the church from that point onwards. 

In the words of Patricia Wittberg, today’s younger generations are “much less devout and much less orthodox than their elders, and many practice their religion infrequently- if at all”.  Their attrition rate is worrying. 

There are two specific challenges that often arise in the faith formation journey of people of this age.

Challenge #1 Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Sociologist Christian Smith described the way that these generations do faith with the words: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD) – It is a religious view that is based on three pillars, namely: being a good person, making people feel good, and acknowledging the existence of God. The unique challenge facing the church today is to disciple this generation away from such an ‘I’-focus and towards a healthier view of themselves and others, in Christ.

Challenge #2 The Epistemological Turn to Postmodernism

The time that we live in affects how we relate to God. Emerging adults and Millennials live in the postmodern world where ‘anything goes’. Epistemology is a big word, but it just describes how we learn or know things. In the postmodern world, people do not agree on a single basis for knowledge. This poses challenges for how to disciple this generation, who wishes to understand everything, but will not take anything for a fact. 

These challenges indicate that the way we do ministry with these generations need to be refreshed. It is not necessarily a question of relevance, since the Gospel will not slot into any modern culture perfectly. But what is important is finding the language to effectively communicate in ways that these generations can understand. 

What does the Bible say about this age?

The idea of discipleship and walking with younger generations in order to raise up spiritual leaders is not a new concept. In fact, we see it in the Bible. Think, for instance, of Moses and Joshua or Paul and Timothy. Or consider Jesus and the twelve disciples. All of this to say, if you are considering investing in millennials or emerging adults, it will not be a waste of your time or energy.

Furthermore, this age group might be when people are the most influential. It had been called pivotal years. They are making lasting decisions that will impact the rest of their life: Who to marry, what kind of job to do, whether or not to study, when to have children… Jesus waited thirty years before starting His active ministry on earth. There might be something uniquely valuable about this stage in a person’s life.

This is what the Bible says about them, but what are they saying about the Bible? It’s important to consider that the attitude of millennials towards the church is often one of distrust. This generation is not fond of institutions and prefers things to be ‘real’ and ‘personal’. This impacts our discipleship of them when we consider the powerful tool that media offers in this regard: For instance, someone might be put off from going to church but they might still listen to podcast sermons and engage in some form of online church community. 

What does an intercultural, contextualized approach look like?

We don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to developing a way to lead diverse groups. Jesus Christ offered the primary example of how to bridge the dividing walls of hostility (Ephesians 2:14) that stand between different cultures or people groups. A key to understanding and dealing with various generations is growing in your knowledge of various worldviews.  

Different generations use different words, they dress differently, and they spend their time differently. Furthermore, the millennials in urban settings behave differently from those in more rural areas. Consider the unique needs of the group you are discipling? What are they spending their time thinking about? Are they facing the same kinds of challenges that older generations faced? 

It’s important to have a missionally driven understanding of relating to and unifying generations through the transforming power of the Gospel. When we understand that the mission is God’s (the Missio Dei), we can rely on His guidance and insight through the Spirit to show us how to care for the emerging adults and millennials in our communities. Perhaps it is time for you to relinquish control and hand back the ministry to God today. If that is you, stick around until the end for a prayer written for leaders like yourself.

In Summary

There we have it. This approach to disciple-making will connect with these generations in more authentic ways. Let’s recap the three sections that were discussed above with three questions:

• Do you understand the generation they are part of?
• Do you have a biblical discipleship model?
• Do you know how to effectively minister in their unique context?

If you want to know that your missional efforts will bear much fruit, consider investing in emerging and millennial generations. It might sound cheesy, but they really are the leaders of tomorrow. If you have been thinking about leading this specific group or ministry, we want to encourage you that you do not need to reinvent the wheel. 

The hidden key to any effective discipleship

There is one more part of the discipleship relationship that we have not touched on yet: You. It is impossible to impact people’s lives in lasting ways if you do not know yourself. Trying to do any type of ministry without having a clear idea of who God made you to be will most certainly lead to burnout. 

It is crucial for you to discover your own ministry gifts and calling first. That way, you can maximize your impact. There are many facets that form part of who God made you to be: skills, abilities, temperaments, spiritual gifts, leadership styles, and more. You need to discover what sphere of society you are called to so that you can be effective in your calling. 

Unfortunately, this is often the last thing we consider when we want to make an impact for the Kingdom. But there are three people in a discipleship relationship: you (the link), the emerging adult or millennial (the disciple), and God (the discipler). Note that you are not making disciples of yourself, therefore you are not a discipler. You yourself are a disciple of Christ, and you are sharing that with another person. It is incredibly important to point to God and not oneself when leading others, especially if you’re working with younger generations. 

In order to do so, you must know who you are and who God is. 

Concluding remarks

It is possible to do effective discipleship with emerging adults and millennial generations, and you do not need to reinvent the wheel. As long as you know your God, yourself, and the generation you are ministering to, you will be equipped and empowered with all that you need to share the Gospel in ways that are effective and lasting. 

*Missional University has courses to equip you even further in emerging leadership -at associate, undergraduate, and graduate levels. 

Prayer for leaders of emerging adults and millennials

Dear God,
Would You increase my hunger to learn more about the people You have called me to minister to? Open my mind so that I might remember all the valuable information that I can learn about how to love them well. 

Thank You for your grace and mercy with how I’ve been holding this dream. I know that it ultimately is a seed that was planted by You. 

I surrender this ministry before You and say again: It is Yours.

Amen

 

______________________

Resources used:

Arnett, J.J. 2000. Emerging adulthood – A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5). DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.55.5.469.

Griffiths, M. 2020. The missing generations: The Church in Wales and young people. Missiology: An International Review, 49(1). DOI:10.1177/0091829620937395.

Kinnaman, D. & Hawkins, A. 2011. You lost me: Why young christians are leaving church… and rethinking faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Langford, M.D. 2014. Spirit-driven Discipleship: A Pneumatology of Youth Ministry.Theology Today, 2014(71):323–336. DOI:10.1177/0040573614542309.

Mintz, S. 2015. What Are the Most Important 10 Years of Your Life? An expert weighs in on the years that make or break each person’s future.  Available Online    

Wittberg, P. 2012. A lost generation? Fewer young women are practicing their faith: How the church can woo them back. America, 206(5):13.

Missional University course catalogues for Millennial Leadership.