Millennials and Jesus: Affirmations

Stephen Mattson, who teaches at Northwestern in Minneapolis and writes for Sojourners, affirms millennials as like Jesus in four ways:

1. Jesus avoided labels.

a large part of his ministry was breaking down preconceived titles, trying to bring about a world where there would be no differentiation between Jew or Gentile. He promoted the idea that loving God trumped racial, ethnic, social, religious, and political identities….

2. Jesus avoided theological certainty.

…Much of Jesus’ teaching was confusing, complex, and often created more questions than answers, and that’s OK. Even His own disciples were constantly misinterpreting his words, and they were continually asking Jesus for clarification and understanding. Knowledge and wisdom were not the disciples’ strong suit, but they followed Jesus despite their fears, doubts, defeats and failures — and so should we….

3. Jesus was groundbreaking.

4. Jesus believed love trumped theology.

Over and over again, Jesus repeatedly reveals the redeeming power of love. Within a culture and world that was steeply embedded with a strong concept of what was considered right and wrong, Jesus throws everything off by promoting love over rules, forgiveness over revenge, humility over power, and redemption over bondage….