The Bruised Generation

Cary Schmidt wrote a wonderful piece about what many younger people have experienced within conservative Christianity:

But this young man’s experiences were the polar opposite. In his approximate 30 years of life, he has yet to see a healthy church with biblical balance and a Christ-like Spirit of grace.

Sadly, I’ve heard this story FAR too often. It may not be common with you… but it is VERY common. There is a generation of Christians that are discouraged. They are bruised. They’ve been handed a warped, man-centered, skewed version of Christianity—and over time, they became beat-up and discouraged by it. The “bruised generation” loves Jesus and believes His Word, but they’ve been disappointed by fleshly models of spiritual leadership.

He does an incredible job of laying out what many have experienced, and then he turns his attention to providing a way forward. I appreciate his honesty in addressing a difficult situation.

Those of us in ministry now need to examine the situation and begin to determine why were some of those issues so prevalent. If we don't learn the root cause, even though we may despise the abuses of the past, we may be doomed to repeat it.