What Millennials Really Need

2 min read

the millennials

Have you ever been on a mission trip to a developing country? If so, you probably fed people. In developing countries, people crave basic needs, like food and water. When you meet people’s needs, you get their attention. So missionaries often reach people for Christ by providing food or medical help.

In developed countries like ours, most people’s basic needs are already met. What people crave is higher on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: love and belonging. Family First’s mission is to reach people by meeting those needs, by providing parenting and relational truth that works. But according to the Pew Institute, many millennials don’t think they need God.

Pew’s study says 35 percent of millennials are “nones.” That means 35 percent of people born between 1981 and 1996 would check the box next to “none” on a list of religious affiliations. The same study says that among the millennials who are nones, most seldom or don’t pray. Forty-two percent of the nones who seldom or don’t pray don’t believe in God at all.

We want to reach the nones. If we want to reach the nones, we have to meet their needs. But what do they need? These 3 things.

Nones need influence.

The millennial nones are currently between the ages of 26 and 41. Their biological clocks are telling them it’s time to find “the one” and have children. For many, a history of broken family relationships has left them at a loss for how to have relationships of their own. They are craving something better. You can model it for them. By loving your family well, you introduce others to a kind of family life that many have never experienced. Millennial nones who witness you in your marriage and engaging with your children will be better equipped to be parents who engage with their own.

Nones need support.

Nones who feel supported by the truth you offer may be more likely to have minds open to the source of that truth—God. We reach the nones and others with how to love well. We lead with what they need. In our posts on All Pro Dad and iMOM, we introduce truth with stories and applications they can relate to, God’s principles for the family in today’s parables. Principles that work. Principles that change and deepen relationships and open hearts to a faith these young adults didn’t think was important to their lives.

Nones need Family First.

Nones also need what you read every day on All Pro Dad and iMOM. By helping them with their relationships, we are reaching a population that isn’t open to church and doesn’t understand the tenets of Christianity. When we satiate their cravings, they pay attention. And what they get next—an introduction to God, the source of all truth—can truly change their lives.

Sources: Religious ‘nones’ are not only growing, they’re becoming more secular and A closer look at America’s rapidly growing religious ‘nones’

What can you do this week to influence or support a millennial none? Share in a comment.

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