The millennial, the 20 something to early 30 something who grew up in the world of the first cellphone, the first portable computers and the Kardashians. If you looked up random facts about Generation Y, you would discover that we have the highest number of facebook friends, and we take the greatest amount of selfies. You would also discover based on whatever source you chose, that 50 % of us are uninterested in politics and 30% of us are religiously unaffiliated.
I distinctly remember the panic in the church as it became more and more evident that more of my generation no longer had an interest in church. Sermon after sermon analyzed why generation Y was forsaking the God of their fathers. I took the sermons in stride, obviously I was in church every Sunday, so clearly these issues did not apply to me.
If you've read my other blog posts, the picture should be clear by now: church girl, goes to college, rebels, remembers God, returns.
I became part of the same statistics that I had mockingly ignored.
My question then became "why God?"
Other than the obvious answer ' the devil', why was my generation so thirsty for everything besides God. Why was my generation rebelling with such determination? Why did we constantly run away from the only thing that actually makes sense in this world?
The millennial is a unique group of people caught between the constant need for affirmation and the desire to stand out. We want so terribly to be accepted and at the same time we need to feel different, unique and special. The infrastructure of our upbringing sets a foundation compromised partially of parents who are unsure of themselves in different ways, a world that glamorizes certain uniqueness and a global community where we now have a basis to judge our worth based on others.
Rebellion provides the perfect avenue to meet our need for unique attention. The millennial runs to the world to be accepted and runs from God for attention.
Truth be told, we are a bunch of insecure people constantly trying to figure it out.If you don't know the living God, you try to figure 'it' out by the world's standards. You seek wealth, physical aesthetics, material goods to affirm that you are somebody and that you have made it.
IF have a relationship with the living God, you struggle occasionally with feeling confident in yourself through Christ, but you always realize that Christ is your only standard.
The Lord wants the millennial to know that he is in constant pursuit of you.
There's no mountain too high, or valley too deep where you can escape the love of God. (Romans 8:39) The faithfulness of God means that his love is ever abiding, and he desperately yearns for a tangible relationship with each and every one of you. There's a reason you run from one vice to another and there's a reason your insecurities never quite flee.
The truth is, we are the generation that God desperately yearns for. There are prophets, apostles, teachers, pastors, evangelists that are so busy chasing the approval of the world, that their anointing is left unattended.
With the accomplishments of my generation, the globalization, the modern technology, the awareness.... I always wonder what if we were all completely sold out for Christ.
As 2017 dawns, I challenge you to be resolute about Jesus. Stop running.
All my love,
Obioma
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