Millennials, like the rest of us, are human beings. I know that\u2019s not a terribly surprising thing to say, and I haven\u2019t actually heard anyone deny that fact. But with the coming of age of each new generation, it seems there\u2019s always a flurry of books and articles competing both for the honor of naming that generation and of describing what\u2019s unique about them. And of course, so long as we\u2019re okay using sweeping generalizations, each generation does tend to exhibit characteristics setting it apart from those who came before and will come after. Usually that has to do with the historical and cultural context in which they came of age. So one generation was deeply affected by the post-World War II world, the next by the upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s, the next by the Cold War, and on and on.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll leave it to the professionals to do the work of describing exactly what\u2019s affected millennials and how it\u2019s affected them. As a Christian pastor, my task is to do the even harder work of reminding people\u201d\u201dincluding millennials themselves\u201d\u201dthey\u2019re not that different from the rest of us. The world has been around for a very long time, and the deepest problems plaguing millennials today have plagued every generation throughout human history. What\u2019s more, the greatest solution we can offer millennials is the same as it\u2019s ever been. That doesn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n