CXIV. Millennial Christianity

There is definitely a generation gap when it comes to life in the United States. There are four prominent age groups in today's world. Strangely enough these generations are gapped due to worldly events. These events shape the value system and the direction the country goes when they are in charge. Each generation has an issue with the others. This has probably always been true throughout human history but the past 100 years has proven to be spiraling out of control.

The oldest, that are disappearing quickly due to natural causes is what many will call the Silent Generation, or the Baby Builders. Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1914 and 1945. The events that define this generation are the two world wars. Those who were born in the era had their parents go to a world war; one that was supposed to "end all wars", one that included 3 continents for the first time in history, one that included machines as weapons, and one that saw the human race fight in the air for the first time. It was a time of change. The end of their generation saw them fight in their own war; one that was even worse, one that showed us how bad humans have become. We harnessed the power of the sun and almost wiped out a whole people. We saw governments rise to the extreme. We saw the world divide and the goodness of people was tested. This generation lived through the great depression. They know how to live on a budget and get through it if they could not afford it. They survived. They found fun wherever they could. They danced with swing music. They knew the value of work and how to persevere. They are the ones if you go to their homes they have stockpiles of items they feel they need and even some they do not. They value family. They sat at the table. They listened to the news on radio and discussed what they heard. They know what it is like to love a country and value its freedom. They remained loyal to values. Presidents born during this time period were Kennedy, Carter, and Bush. These were the last of the presidents who actually served a full-time stay in the military. They ruled with their values. They took their generation and tried to preserve it like the way they were taught. And most of all this generation loved God. They took the Bible literally. Many didn't question anything the word said. Unfortunately, they didn't understand what the word said either. But they tried.

The next generation, those who are in charge of the world today (and now you know why it is in despair) is what many will call the Baby Boomers, also as the Hippy "free-love" generation. Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1945 and 1965. The events that define this generation is the beginning of the atomic era and ended with the start of the Vietnam War. Those in this era saw reasons for war change. It was fight for democracy and beat the bad guys. But this group only saw one thing--kill the Asian Communists, including that of the Soviet Union. They grew up in the scare of the Red devils. They did not know why they were fighting them. Instead of hearing the news on the radio, they started to see things from the TV set and things in life started to take on different meanings. Instead of hearing about war, they saw it with their own eyes. They started to question things that people fought for in the generation before it. Instead of surviving, they wanted to live more. They found ways to escape the way the world was going. Marijuana was rampant. They took time to find things they wanted to do instead of things they needed to do. The invention of the credit card, do it now worry about it later, became part of the lifestyle. They started to question everything in life. They did not like the way things had gone. They started to change everything. Politics, music, love, family, education, and things like that became less valued. You could hear sex, drugs, and anti-war messages in their songs.  They became more self-righteous. Tradition and authority were challenged. Their "do it now, worry about it later: attitude changed society. Divorce rates started to rise because those who were high in the '60s and '70s because they were loving the one they were with, now realized to survive they had to sober up, but when they did they realized they didn't love the one they were with. AIDs and other STDs were now prevalent because their lifestyles were starting the worrying part of their do it now attitude. Abortion rates grow due to the legalization of it in 1973, but the worse part is the reason they were doing it...hiding their past and their lifestyles, instead of taking the responsibility and owning up to what they do. Presidents born during this time period are Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump. And with that one can see why things are the way they are. They used drugs. They didn't serve full time in the military. They divided the country. The worst part is they changed the idea of God and His importance. They started to raise families in the absence of one moral standard. Because of this generation every thing started to have gray areas. Right and wrong started to be blurred. Raising a family now had "procedures" instead of values. They felt like they saved the world but only widened the gap between the savable and the non-savable.  To them the Bible and its values are not needed.  Humanistic ideas took precedent over any religious idea, hence the rise of new age and "spirituality" instead of actual faith.

The next generation, those who are the parental ages of today is what many will call Generation X, or the baby busters. It is a smaller generation.  Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1965 and 1989.  The events that shaped this generation was the Civil Rights movement and it ended when the Wall fell. This is the last of those who would know what "the Wall" means. They stopped listening to the news and started to turn more towards entertainment.  The values of this generation will never be seen.  This is the lost generation.  Perhaps that is why they are called Generation "X".  They feel like they have had nothing.  Their parents divorced.  The end of this generation were children who had to start taking care of themselves.  Their baby boomer parents were too busy catching up on the work they should have been doing when they were younger.  Because of this they became self-centered and started to be introverts.  Music became angry because they hated things their parents did.  Heavy metal, rap, and punk music solidified their feelings.  Instead of working, they turned to parties and having fun.  They became skeptical of institutions.  They lost their faith on government, their parents, their education, and any value system.  They can't understand the difference between a job and a career.  There are no presidents born in this generation and perhaps never will have any.  This is the generation that has been skipped over.  They feel like they don't matter.  And in return things don't matter to them.  Marriage means nothing.  They would rather just live in the moment.  Their parents divorced, they don't even bother getting married.  They are lost in the transition of this world.  They went straight from "changing the world" to a "changed world".  This is known as the "me" generation.  They feel like they had to fight for themselves since no one else would.  They were crack babies.  Instead of marijuana they started to choose cocaine.  They worried about quantity and popularity rather than quality.  They were raised on McDonald's instead of home cooked meals because the family was breaking down.  They don't know how to be financially stable because their parents had the "do it now, worry about it later" attitude, so too many are stuck in credit debt.  They lost hope in God because their parents didn't raise them with any moral standards.  They are all over the place.  That generation feels like whatever happens, will happen.  They don't know what the Bible says because they weren't raised going to church.

The latest generation, those who are growing up and are now starting to find themselves in this world is what many will call the Millennials, even Generation Y.  Give or take a few years those in this generation were born between 1989 and will be over probably around 2009.  The events that define their generation is era of "peace" with the fall of communism to perhaps the Obama administration.  They loved him.  This group will be old enough to run for president next time.  But they will have thrown away the establishment politics completely.  People like Bernie Sanders will also not be able to exploit them next time with his promise of free stuff.  They will reject the Generation X candidates and go straight for people like Kanye West.  They don't value hard work.  They want things the way they want and cannot accept anything if it is not how they want it.  They feel entitled for everything.  They hide behind social media.  They don't listen to radio, or even use TV to get information.  They rely completely on the internet which of course has every kind of truth, lie, propaganda, micro and macro information there which can never be trusted.  If is not digital or high def then they don't want it, yet they are not willing to work for it.  The drug the use is heroin.  They cut themselves.  Thery self-mutilate.  They hate all authority.  They tend to give their views and if anyone else has an opinion they feel that opinion is wrong and you ca't tell them differently.  There is no safe place.  School used to be a safe haven, now shootings are everywhere.  They don't know how to talk to anyone since they hide behind their "profile" and "status".  Real relationships are non-existent.  They have no idea what a career is.  They think money should just be there for them or things should be free.  If it's not easy, they don't want to do it.  They have been told that whatever they do is ok.  They are winners for just trying.  They don't know how to handle trauma.  Everything to them needs drama are they don't feel anything at all.  They are on their phones for everything.  They don't even want game consoles anymore because they can get it on their phones.  School doesn't have to be with any human.  They can do all things on-line, even college.  They don't learn because the answers are out there on the internet already.  They have no motivation.  Teen pregnancies and abortions are down but teen sexual activity is up.  No one is really thinking about real lasting marriages.  They dream of it but they feel it is not a reality.  Family to them is anyone that will love them for who they are and who won't make them change.  This generation knows about God but they do know who He is.  They have a watered down version of scripture because their grandparents rejected God and their parents were never in church long enough to know anything.

What does this all mean?  Millennials are being raised by grandparents who can't control them.  The older generations are coming back to God but they can't accept all the Bible says.  This generation accepts all lifestyles because everyone is "ok".  They pick and choose what scriptures to listen to and those are the ones that make them feel good about themselves.  Liberal ideas will be the death of them and they don't know it, Conservative Paper #22.  Millennial Christianity is not the full gospel.  And because of this the truth is being suppressed by liberalism.

This is the same generation Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 3:1-9,

• But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

Not one thing in the list above is inaccurate about the world we live in.  This is the generation Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as being the last generation, the one who sees all the destruction. 

The youngest generation which is yet to be defined are still too young to know anything in this world.  As of this writing they are younger than 8 years old.  They will not have the chance to grow up.