In a world where faith is still deeply valued but traditional religious structures seem to be crumbling, "Why Millennials Love God but Hate Church" explores the growing disconnect between millennials and the institutional church.
This book dives deep into the reasons why many millennials are walking away from organized religion, despite holding onto a strong desire for spirituality and a relationship with God. It addresses key issues such as the church’s failure to engage with real-world problems like social justice, mental health, and inclusivity. It also explores how modern faith has become entangled with outdated traditions and systems that no longer resonate with today’s generation.
Offering a fresh, practical approach to Christianity, the book proposes a shift to a "Kingdom now" mindset—one that moves beyond the walls of a church building and embraces living out God's values of justice, mercy, and compassion in everyday life. Through real-world examples and insightful analysis, the author shows how the church can regain its relevance by engaging authentically with the challenges and questions millennials face today.
In a world where faith is still deeply valued but traditional religious structures seem to be crumbling, "Why Millennials Love God but Hate Church" explores the growing disconnect between millennials and the institutional church.
This book dives deep into the reasons why many millennials are walking away from organized religion, despite holding onto a strong desire for spirituality and a relationship with God. It addresses key issues such as the church’s failure to engage with real-world problems like social justice, mental health, and inclusivity. It also explores how modern faith has become entangled with outdated traditions and systems that no longer resonate with today’s generation.
Offering a fresh, practical approach to Christianity, the book proposes a shift to a "Kingdom now" mindset—one that moves beyond the walls of a church building and embraces living out God's values of justice, mercy, and compassion in everyday life. Through real-world examples and insightful analysis, the author shows how the church can regain its relevance by engaging authentically with the challenges and questions millennials face today.
When people talk about millennials, one word that keeps coming up is “authenticity.” It’s no secret that we live in an age of curated social media feeds and performative behavior, where everything is about appearances. Yet beneath all of that, our generation craves something real. We crave relationships, experiences, and communities that feel genuine. This is true not only in our friendships and work environments but also in our spiritual lives. Growing up, the church was often presented to us as a set of traditions and rules to follow. The hymns were rehearsed, the sermons predictable, and the community felt performative at times. We went through the motions, but many of us felt like we were missing something. What we were looking for was an authentic encounter with God—not just in the pews but in our daily lives. Unfortunately, for many millennials, the church seemed more focused on maintaining traditions than helping us live authentically. While we were grappling with questions of purpose, identity, and mental health, the church seemed more concerned with preserving rituals and avoiding controversial topics. As a result, many of us began looking for spiritual experiences elsewhere. Some found that authenticity in alternative spiritual practices—meditation, yoga, mindfulness—things that allowed them to connect with something bigger without the rules or judgments that often come with organized religion. Others turned to social justice movements, seeing in them a form of lived-out spirituality where empathy and action took center stage. At its core, what we’re seeking isn’t something new. We want what every generation has wanted: a connection with something greater than ourselves. But for millennials, that connection has to feel real. It has to resonate with the lives we live. The church, with its focus on tradition over transformation, hasn’t always offered that. This is why I believe the “Kingdom now” approach is so powerful. It’s about bringing faith down to earth. It’s about understanding that the kingdom of God is something we’re called to live out here and now, not just wait for in some distant future. When the church begins to speak to that deep desire for authenticity—when it shows that the Bible is full of wisdom for living well today—millennials will be more likely to re-engage.
I really enjoyed this book. I think it has two primary groups that will benefit from it - millennials who are disillusioned with organized religion but still consider themselves spiritual, and church leaders who are trying to stay relevant in a changing world and trying to retain members or seek new ones.
Even though I'm not in either category, I still liked this book. It has a lot going for it. First of all, it's short - it takes very little time to read. That doesn't mean it isn't powerful, though. The author is very concise, and manages to include a lot within a short book. For people who want to do further research on an individual topic, they can, but it makes this book a great starting point.
Secondly, it's logically laid out and written well. The chapters flow neatly together, the book is cohesive, the writing style makes sense.
Finally, it's relevant. It brings the idea of moving from tradition and what has always been done into issues that are relevant for the church - and the unchurched - today. The author touches on social justice, mental health, and many other topics that are getting more awareness today, pointing out why the church needs to address these issues.
Some church leaders might resist, with fears of changing doctrine or watering things down, but really, Christianity itself was a changed doctrine in its time, and in some ways a rather radical one, so adapting to the new generations of people doesn't mean compromising the key of what defines Christianity. If anything, making Christianity relevant to the world today, focusing on social issues with love and concern, is actually more Christian than sticking to tradition.
If you're a millennial (or any other generation) that is looking for ways to make faith relevant in today's world, this is a great starting point.