Millenials? Seriously?

~Tracy Frederick

Have you considered Romans 15: 1-3a? I mean, deeply...really deep:"We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself.."I've been reading a lot lately about millenials. You may not be familiar with this word but those of us in education are all too familiar with it. It is the new word to describe our 18-20 somethings. You know, we’ve had genXers, baby boomers, generation Y and now the millenials. Many of us in education are always trying to figure out ways to connect with our students more as we try to prepare them for their future careers. It seems that each generation has their own quirks, and we try to adjust accordingly. But, I hear new words in our conversations that are used to describe the students we have now: entitled, arrogant, aggressive, lazy. Now, we don’t think these students are all bad, but there are trends. In a recent article I read about millenials, the authors said that these kids have been constantly showered with praise to increase their self esteem. They have not been taught to respect or believe authority, but to challenge authority figures and that they are the authority in all things. However, the good part is they do things for others, but they also expect to be rewarded for any and all service to others. They are lazy and are used to their parents doing much of their work for them. Yep, that’s what I see in my students. I hope this isn’t leaking into the Lord’s church. But, I fear that if we aren’t diligent, it just might. The Lord is very clear- Christianity isn’t about ME, it is about others, doing for others even when we don’t want to. It is about giving of ourselves when others can’t. It is about putting self last. It is about being as humble as our Lord. Wouldn't it be great if we were not defined by the labels of this world? If our friends and neighbors couldn't describe us as our generational quirks, but our spiritual ones?