My generation is leaving the church in droves--leaving because of hypocrisy, because of bad experiences, because frankly they can do a better job of it than some fifty-something seminarian who has no grasp on the real world. Their pastors don't understand the generation that goes to gay bars just to hang out with friends, the generation that wants authenticity above everything (or at least the appearance of authenticity), the generation that doesn't want to be looked down on because they are young. And so we leave the church, figuring that any kind of "fellowship" we might get isn't enough to make it worth our time. We value our own ideas; we have an opinion on every topic (and I speak from experience here), so anything a pastor can give us is only stuff we could figure out on our own.

So what is to be done? For without humility enough to accept fallen brothers and sisters in a church setting, my generation is rejecting the body of Christ. Screwtape, in a letter to Wormwood, tells him to stress in the new believer's mind the irksome habits of other Christians to get him to leave the church. Satan knows the power of grace-covered people meeting with other grace-covered people, for "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I." And so he--effectively--does everything in his power to limit the power of the church over my generation. And only if we have humility enough to realize our own hypocrisy can we begin to show grace to our fellow brothers and sisters.

My plea to my generation is, don't give up on the church. Don't expect to be an effective Christian if you're going it alone. Don't be so concerned with reaching your culture that you fail to realize your own need for spiritual humility and for the teaching of men of God.

And my plea to the generation before me: don't condemn us without understanding us. Flee hypocrisy--we'd rather know you admit your flaws than have us find them out later. Talk to us and don't turn on us, measure everything you teach us by Scripture so that we can't find error in your teaching.

I wish there was a solution. I wish I knew how to act and what to say to make my generation understand the church's need for them and the world's need for the church. As my pastor said, the church will never understand my generation unless my generation is going to church. So I'll continue to go to church, and continue to speak truth to my generation, and pray for God's healing hand upon them both.