After you turn 65 you can do whatever you want... (no offense)

Traditionalist/Silent generation (born prior to 1946) and baby boomers spend a lot of time complaining about millennials. They label millennials with a variety of stereotypes: lazy, entitled, unmanageable, selfish, etc,. The majority make up of those who attend United Methodist churches are people in their 50s and 60s while the millennial generation continues to decline.

And yet the baby boomers generation continues to salivate for "millennials" to show up, "we want more young people!"

Yet there is a deadly cancer that has infected most UM churches. It is none other than entitlement. To attract a new generation means the willingness to change. Yet the mantra of the baby boomer generation is that I can do what I want when I want it. I don't care what others think. I don't care whose feelings I hurt. In fact, I don't really care what Jesus thinks. He is just a mask I keep so I can be around friends. 

I try to see in the heart of people their best intentions. And maybe I thought I could just look away from this baby boomer problem.  

The reason millennials don't want to go to your church is that surprisingly they don't want a vision that is all about me. They want a vision that brings about hope in the midst of disparity. And they can see right through the baby boomers. They can see right through the entitlement. They want a vision that matters and that they can feel a part of. 

If baby boomers want more young people to come to their church. I have a solution. It is easy. Abandon the mantra of I can do what I want because I have earned it. Throw it away. Make it into a pretty wreath. Burn it in a fire. I don't care. Adopt a mantra that makes a difference and brings about hope to communities. Then... just then... maybe... millennials will begin to show up.