There’s a lot of talk about how churches are missing the mark with the Millennial generation. Frankly, I don’t see any consequential difference is the stresses and strains of this group compared to my generation. You’re always going to have the old looking down on the young, questioning whether they’ll ever amount to anything, much less lead.

Amazingly, with time, the transformation occurs, and the responsibility comes and is shouldered, and yes, even the Millennials will become calcified in their ways some day, and will have to ratchet down the hopping that comes with a Hillsong concert due to threat of injury. They’ll even scowl under their breath at the repetitiveness of the words in the new songs, and the fact no one wears flannel shirts and skinny jeans anymore on stage. There’s nothing new under the sun, so said Solomon.

What has evaporated, worldwide, and in this country, is any semblance of morality. Sadly, this anything goes, live-and-let live mentality is pervasive in the church, so that the focus is more on social aspects rather than on becoming holy. The Word does not shift with the times.

What I expect out of a Millennial in the congregation is a young man or woman immersed in the Word of God, studying it diligently, obediently working out the requirements for righteousness, for example, those that are outlined in the Beatitudes, in their lives. That’s what I expect of myself as a white hair, and that’s what I expect out of you.