First blog post! An introduction

I’m relatively new to the blogging world, so I’ll skip the pleasantries for now and jump straight to the point…

Why did I start this blog? Why be just another small voice in a very large room that we call the blogosphere, just to be drowned out by the rest of the cacophony?

That’s a great question! As it stands, I’m somewhat wondering that myself as I type this. The short answer could be that I just so happen to be sick and bedridden today, that I think too much and stare and the ceiling for too long, and that I was looking for a good substitute for twiddling my thumbs while I wait for my body to heal and feel better.

But that’s not the ultimate reason.

The reasons I decided somewhat impulsively to start this blog can be found in my About section. As I state there, I happen to be an incoming seminary student for next Fall. But in the meantime, while I just find myself working, I didn’t want to be sitting on my hands, and it was suggested by more than a few people that maybe I could utilize my knack for writing (something that I’ve neglected for a while). I don’t consider myself a particularly GREAT writer, but I know that I am capable enough, and I figure if I have something to say or add to a discussion, I might as well say it.

In the “About” section I wrote that “My hope for this blog is to represent millennials to Christians and to represent Christianity to millennials…” in response to the question “Who is this blog for?”. I would like to expand on that further, which I might add to my description later. So who is this blog for?

The Church: Anything I write is first and foremost in service to the Church, “the Bride of Christ”. But as a Millennial, I want to speak up for and represent my generation inside the Church to older generations in it–to see to it that we are not ignored or dismissed, that our concerns are not ignored or dismissed, and to show that while we have our faults (as all generations do) we have something to contribute to the world and to the Body of Christ (at least, many of us do), especially if we are guided. As I state in the “About” section, I want to show that there are theologically/doctrinally orthodox millennials in the Christian faith.

Millennial Christians: Among millennial Christians there has recently been a growing sense of discontentment, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment within American Christianity, and many have responded in various ways. One trend is to trade orthodoxy with heterodoxy and moral relativism. These groups tend to be rightly concerned about certain social justice issues, but forget that the Gospel holds propositional truth claims about scripture, salvation, and Jesus Christ as God the Son incarnate. An opposite trend is the more fundamentalist impulse of some churches whose well-intentioned but *misapplied “No creed but the Bible” stance regresses into anti-intellectualism and lack of constructive engagement with our culture. I hope to represent another approach that is separate and distinct from these two: one that adheres to orthodox, confessional Christianity (and the God that it professes) but also engages with the culture and cares about social justice.

Non-Christian millennials: It goes without saying that there are many that have been hurt by the Church, and I honestly don’t know where to adequately begin in addressing such open wounds that have been left by those who claim to profess Christianity. But I hope that through this blog, through engaging with my non-Christian friends that frequent the blogosphere, I can represent not first and foremost Christianity or even the Church (though that is true), but Christ Himself. Incidentally, I just stumbled on an article about a theologically conservative pastor who co-hosts a podcast with his atheist friend to talk about faith and life, etc. I hope my blog can accomplish something along those lines when it comes to engaging “Christ and culture” (a la Neibuhr).

In conclusion, all generations, as I said earlier, have their vices (think of the Baby Boomers and the upheaval of the 1960’s). But many, if not most, grow out of it somehow over the decades. And the fact is, we are the ones that will be leading our churches, our political offices, our schools, for the next few decades to come. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a culture, if there was a Church, that believed in us and endeavored to groom our strengths instead of solely pointing out our flaws?

All in all, I hope to show what I professed in my “About” section: that “you can apparently be a confessional, orthodox Christian and thoroughgoingly millennial at the same time.”

I have no idea what will come out of this blog, but I hope to at least show THAT to those three groups I listed above.

Which of these three groups do you belong to? And what resonates with you?

In Christ,

Michael

*I say misapplication because it is a misunderstanding and misappropriation of the historic and traditional use of “sola Scriptura”.