(ABP) — If there were an 11th commandment, for Millennials it might be “thou shalt ban pious slogans from thy midst.”
In fact, faith-based lingo — like “everything happens for a reason” and “God is in control” — is coming under increased scrutiny as younger Americans increasingly cite it as a major turn-off to congregational life.
Baptist minister Michael Gregg saw that clearly in a recent Washington Post blog titled “5 churchy phrases that are scaring off Millennials,” which he reposted on Facebook.
He said the blog reminded him that outsiders looking and listening in on the church may be confused or offended by deep spiritual concepts reduced to pithy sayings.
“When you hear ‘God is in control’ you have to think, what about all the bad things that happen?” said Gregg, minister of educational life at Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta. “Those are the kinds of things Millennials are asking.”
Addie Zierman, the author of the Nov. 7 Washington Post blog, wrote, “Here is what I can tell you about Millennials. We grew up on easy answers, catchphrases and cliché, and if we’ve learned anything, it’s that things are almost always more complicated than that.”