A generation ago, the central question was, “Is there a God?” While the question still fuels the books of popular atheist writers, Duin reported that the issue of God’s existence is not on the mind of most Millennials. Most of them, as the surveys reveal, do not question whether God is real. Instead, they question whether he is good.
.. “Their biggest complaint,” he said,“is that God acts in morally inferior ways compared to us.” In other words, young adults formed by a tolerant, open-minded culture without sexual boundaries or limitations on self-expression, believe they are more moral than God.
Much has been written about the inflated self-esteem of Millennials—a generation coddled by helicopter parents and taught by social media that narcissism is a virtue—but could their self-image really be so high that even God is below them?
.. He calls them “iGens” and believes their self-esteem is a significant barrier to Christianity.
.. The Pharisees, on the other hand, rejected Jesus because they were convinced of their own righteousness; they were perfectly healthy (or so they thought). Today, we increasingly live in a culture of secular Pharisees—non-religious people convinced of their own righteousness who view Jesus as a morally inferior kook followed only by simpletons.
.. Like Paul, today’s secular Pharisees need an encounter with God not to convince them of his existence but to awaken them to his goodness.