Millennial Evangelization

I was recently out with someone and they had asked me, “How do we effectively evangelize our generation?” This is something that I have thought long and hard about and I gave them the answer that I settled on a while back. How many millennials have been turned off from faith and for what reason? The general answer that I hear is that they had been scandalized in some way. Either they didn’t like how rough the priest was, the didn’t respond too well to their parents’ overzealous ways of trying to teach them faith, or they just simply stopped believing in God because of whatever reason. It seems to me, that millennials do not respond well on being told what to do. They buck up against it and rebel (as most young people do). This, I have noticed, is especially prevalent when millennials are attacked by what I like to call “Bible Bashers.” You know who I am talking about. Those people who are at the corner of the street yelling and screaming about how people need to repent for their sins lest they go to hell. This is such an ineffective means of ministry and it completely distracts from what the true purpose of evangelization is. Now I am not trying to discredit beautiful ministries like the 40 Days for Life campaign or other like organizations, but I do want to discredit those who attack others for their belief systems (no matter how ridiculous they may be). How do we evangelize effectively to millennials? We do this through the silent action of our prayers. The difference between 40 Days for Life and the Bible Bashers is that the people involved with 40 DfL stand respectfully outside and pray. This is true evangelization. Pope Francis is often quoted speaking about the “accompaniment” of our brothers and sisters. Well, what does that mean? It means that we walk alongside our brothers and sisters and aid them along their journey. Sure, they are going to fall along the way, but then who doesn’t? Regardless of where people are at in their life, everyone responds to time given. That time given, no matter how small is crucial.

So what does it mean to pray and accompany?

To pray for someone, it means that we seek the salvation of their soul, that we have in common with the Bible Bashers, but that is where it ends. Where the Bible Bashers act through fire and brimstone, we must act with charity and love. Yes, we are to admonish the sinner, but we also have the responsibility to pick them up just like Christ did with the woman taken in adultery in the Gospel of John:

¹⁰ “Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.'” (NRVS, John 8:10-11)

Here, our Lord both admonishes the woman, but then just as quickly sends her on her way. What do we learn from this? We learn the effective means of evangelization to millennials. When we pray for our brothers and sisters, we pray that they may sin no more. In the line of accompaniment, we must walk side by side with them. We must stand as a pillar to them and help them along the way. This is exhibited by the Apostles after Pentecost when they are out preaching, and many souls are converted. I know what you are thinking, “But wait! Doesn’t this mean that we are to be out preaching in the streets?” I would say yes and no. Yes, insofar as we are to preach the Truth of Christ, no insofar as we are not to do it in a way that is bashful (remember, we are talking about evangelizing millennials). Let us ask ourselves, “How is it that the Apostles preached?” They preached first by their actions, and then by their words. First, they had the faith to receive the Holy Spirit, and then they went out to the people. Well, this is my answer to effective evangelization of millennials. We stand boldly in our faith and live out our Catholic values to the best that we can. As we become beacons of the joy of the Gospel, we then start attracting people to us and that is when we can start to preach and catechize. We allow the people to make the conscious choice to seek us out and learn. For isn’t that what Christ did? Christ simply lived as the God made Man and people were attracted to Him. Sure, Christ had his moments of fire and brimstone, but through His gentle and compassionate approach He brought the entire world to her knees before the Throne of the Father. Our accompaniment comes from our living out our baptismal promises. Our preaching comes from the solid foundation of our own faith that we then share with others.

In the end, always seek the salvation of souls of our fellow millennials, but remember the generation’s weaknesses and strengths and play into that. Pray, Prepare, Proclaim. It’s as easy as the three P’s.

~John Paul