Millennials Are Not Rejecting Jesus, Says Billy Graham Library's Dr. Tom Philips

By Dr. Tom Phillips
Christian Worship
Young people are crying out for justice and equality - they are seeking hope - they are seeking their Jesus, Says Dr. Tom Philips.  Gospel Herald

Underneath the make-up and cologne, behind our bluff and boast to make others think we have it all together, we are all a mess. "Then I said, "It's all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven's Armies." Isaiah 6:5, NLT

In the depths of our hearts, we are all crying out for hope - "God our Savior and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope..." 1 Timothy 1:1, NLT

Millennials today are no different. In the depths of their hearts, young people are crying out for justice and equality - they are seeking hope - they are seeking their Jesus. 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28, NKJV

Millennials today have to find Jesus for themselves. Jesus has not changed, but years of perception and perspective within the confines and traditions of another generation's church has layered pieces of culture over Jesus. Millennials are seeking for the organic, the real. They are looking for faith that is their own. 

"Thus says the Lord... 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'" Jeremiah 33:3, NKJV

Older generations have not seen Jesus incorrectly; they have just seen Him through a lens of their culture. Millennials are not rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting a coloration, a cultural adaptation, of Jesus that does not fit them. 

"Jesus answered, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" John 14:5-6, NKJV

The answer IS Jesus. Millennials must see through culture, community, church, and family, to the Person who will never ignore them - Jesus.

"For Jesus Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" Hebrews 13:5-6, NKJV

Jesus personally responds to each of us who seek Him. He reaches down to those who seek Him, who have hearts for Him, and He draws us into His heart.

"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord." Jeremiah 29:12-14, NKJV

As the Lord responds to seekers and leads us into His heart, we discover Him, and we become pinpoints of light that spark new fires in the darkness. 

"But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light, and your God your glory. Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended." Isaiah 60:19-20, NKJV

Dr. Tom Phillips is Vice President of the Billy Graham Library for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is the author of "Jesus Now" published by BroadStreet Publishing. Tom has been the Vice President of Crusades, Executive Director of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove in Asheville, North Carolina, a Senior Crusade Director with the BGEA for many years, directing crusades in several cities in the United States and Canada.  He has also served as the Director of Counseling and Follow-up, working in that capacity in the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Mexico, Brazil and the Far East.  He has played a key role in the development of current materials and programs. 

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