Millennials – The Unaffiliated

The world’s third largest religious group is “The Unaffiliated” or “Nones”. They include people from every walk of life and from every country.  There are six countries where the Unaffiliated are a majority. They are the Czech Republic, North Korea, Estonia, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. Sixty percent of all the Unaffiliated people live in China. Except for Japan and Hong Kong there is limited access to the internet. One third of the millennial generation  in the United States are unaffiliated. Two thirds of this group say they believe in God, but feel like religious organizations are too concerned with money and power.  They are too focused on the rules and too involved in politics. More than half say they have a connection with nature. One third say they are spiritual and approximately twenty percent pray every day.

This is a great concern for the religious affiliated today because their denominations are dying. Their political influence and control over the masses is losing its grip. I personally feel this is a good thing. We have been in political gridlock for years, and our society is not about what is right or wrong, but what is right or left . Those who have the political power in the United States do not seek election to serve their constituents, but to serve themselves to wealth and glory. Our concept of freedom has been compromised by a bunch of greedy hoodlums and our majority representing democracy has been high jacked by a few rich individuals who represent special interest groups. Our nation is now run like a corporation instead of a republic which stands for one nation under God.

We got this way by removing God from our government, our schools, our work places and our homes. The moral decay which followed is understandable considering we are no longer a praying and worshiping group of people. It amazes me that seventy-five percent of the unaffiliated believe they are religious, but are willing to accept homosexuality and abortion.  The “Nones” are a group of people who spend a lot of time contemplating the purpose and meaning of life, but are not willing to search out a relationship with God. Two thirds of the unaffiliated believe that religion is losing its influence on people, and at the same time over half believe this is a bad thing. This is a group of people who are no longer interested in joining a church, but by an overwhelming majority believe  that church brings together community bonds, plays an important role in helping the poor and needy, and  strengthens morality.

We have almost given up searching because nothing out there appeals to our spiritual needs. We sit back and look at what is available today and recognize the obvious faults in the system, but feel powerless to do something about it. I am not going to say we have given up, but many of our generation have stopped looking. We tell ourselves there is no absolute truth. What is good for one person is not necessarily good for the next person. Most stories that you hear about in the news today is not what the majority of Christians believe. The media casts a dim light on believers of Christianity just like it does all religion. The media looks for faults or glitches in a belief system and they have trained us to do the same. Most people today do not follow the directives of Christianity. They are not interested in the principles. They are only interested in what the church can do for them.

First and foremost True Christianity is not a religion. Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, and Baptist denominations are religions. These organized groups have rituals, rules, and ceremonies. If you are a member of one these groups you will generally lean in one direction or the other politically. You will have similar demographics. You will be for or against many of the issues that fill the front pages of national  newspapers. You will stand, one way or the other, for or against abortion, homosexuality, and marriage. These organizations are run today just as they have been for hundreds of years. If you traced the history of the people who attend these organized meetings you will find that the same families that go today were going one hundred years ago.

  True Christianity is a way of life. It is a relationship with our Heavenly Father  made possible by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  It is a personal relationship that in its basic sense has no need for other people at all. It is a one on one relationship with our Creator through daily Bible study and prayer.  A true Christian has surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and is willing to accept the path that God has chosen for him. In all things Christians go to prayer for guidance, forgiveness of sins, and to remove our problems from our shoulders and to place them onto God’s. True Christians believe that every word in the Bible is true without exception. We view the Bible as God speaking to us and prayer as our speaking to God. For the blessed few who live according to the will of God, they are spoken to directly.

True Christianity is service to others.  It is amazing to me that God takes the weak things of this life and makes them a great service unto Himself.  When I accepted Christ as my Savior, He took what I had created of myself and wiped it clean with the sacrifice that He made on the cross. He transformed me into His servant and a son of God through the process of regeneration that takes place through the Holy Spirit.  He takes someone without any skills for service and transforms them into a servant leader. Now reflect that into your own character and tell me what you come up with. Ask yourself, “Am I ready to be a leader for Christ?  Am I ready to surrender everything I have to serve Him?” The answer to these questions is yes. The fact of the matter is, you don’t have anything. Everything you think you have will be gone one day anyway. Don’t rely on your own ability. I promise you in the end it will fail you miserably.

  True Christianity is a personal ministry.   To develop a personal ministry you will need to be willing to sacrifice because there is no success without sacrifice.  It costs you time and that means you pay with your life.  When you give your best to God, He returns much more to you than you have given. You will never reach your full potential if you do not keep God’s agenda ahead of yours. You can choose to stand on the sidelines all your life or you can choose to be a part of a ministry and accomplish great things through and for Jesus Christ. Everything in this world will cost you something. The price for staying on the sidelines is failure and that is poverty, depression and rejection.  You have to be willing to make sacrifices for God and your ministry. You have to be willing to keep growing for the sake of your sanity. You have to be willing to stand up and fight for what is right.   We measure the success of our ministry with souls reached for Christ. We reach these people through our own personal growth which comes from daily Bible study and prayer. That is the key to our success as Christians.

  True Christianity is worshiping God. When you accept Christ as your Savior you naturally seek out those who have similar beliefs. Finding a Biblical based Christian Church is one of the greatest rewards of fellowship you might find. It gives you a place to worship with others and to get involved with ministry.

  Therein lies Our Dilemma. We were placed on this earth to change it for the better, one person at a time. We can’t just sit back and watch the world crumble underneath our feet. We build our relationship with God through Bible study and prayer. After we are comfortable with the basics of Christianity we are instructed to go forth into all the world and teach the gospel. Don’t let public opinion, organized religion, or friends keep you from what is rightfully yours. Your relationship with your Heavenly Father was given to you at a very high cost. Stand up for Christ because that is exactly what He did for you.