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You Don’t Know Jack [Because Jack is a Millennial]

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This is the best video that the Catalyst Road-Trip guys have done so far. Specifically, Matt Keller hits a home run during this quick, logical rant on the potential of the Millennial generation to reach the world with the Gospel. More discussion below the video.

Catalyst Voices - Matt Keller from Catalyst on Vimeo.

I have a special view on the topic of Millennials and their involvement in reaching the world with the Gospel because I am one. I’m 23 years old and I know exactly what motivates me, what impresses me, what inspires me, and what doesn’t. I also know what seems fake to me, what is unimpressive, and what is just lame.

Here are some truths about Millennials that I think many people miss.

• Once we find a cause, we’re loud about it. Seth Godin talks about how ideas spread virally. That trend is the result of our obsession with talking about the things we like. Apple, Starbucks, and RadioHead know the power of Millennial chatter.
• We are notorious for wanting to be involved in something bigger than ourselves. We want to be a part of a movement. While Gen-Xers wanted to be unique individuals, we don’t care. As examples, remember the following that Ron Paul had and the huge upswing in Global Awareness of everything from AIDS in Africa to healing the Middle East and saving the Tibetans from China’s tyranny. It’s huge and Millennials eat it up.
• We’re not turned off by preachers who yell out of excitement for the Message they’re preaching. There’s a terrible misunderstanding that Millennials don’t like loud preachers. This assumption comes from the previous two generations and they’re affinity for quiet, contemplative speakers.
• We like high-quality music, but not necessarily familiar music. Millennials listen to vast amounts of music. More music than any generation before. In fact, I’m listening to music as I type. With MP3 players, music phones, integrated hard-drives in our cars, and three kinds of radio, music is in our blood. That means we know the difference between good music and bad music. We’re also used to listening to music we’ve never heard before, just to experience something new.
• We’d rather be authentic than talk about being authentic. That’s all I have to say about that.
• We don’t care about big buildings. By “don’t care,” I mean it doesn’t make a difference to us. Gen-Xers get mad about churches with big buildings. Boomers don’t think a church is a “real church” until it has a big building. Millennials just don’t care either way.
• We don’t think coffee shops are cooler than other places to sit and talk. They’re just a place to get coffee.
• We participate in social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Virb, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. because we like being a part of a larger group than our immediate surroundings.
• We find most forms of evangelism to be manipulative and agenda-driven.
• We don’t care about lights and staging as much as we care about what’s being said. If the lights and staging rock, but the sermon sucks, we’re not coming back.
• We don’t want to be “equipped” or “trained” to share the Gospel. We want to be inspired and then talking about it will come naturally.
• Eloquence sounds pompous and insincere. Except when it’s someone super-old. They’re supposed be eloquent.

Do you have anything to throw into the list? Do you disagree with one or more? Let me know in the comments.

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