"The astounding arrogance of individualism"

Cole Carnesecca concedes that there is much truth in what Rachel Held Evans writes about "why Millennials are leaving the church," but he also perceives a problem:

.... When Evans states, rather emphatically, that,  “We’re not leaving the church because we don’t find the cool factor there; we’re leaving the church because we don’t find Jesus there,” I start to get nervous.

This statement is at once true and not true. It’s true in that there is obviously much that churches can do to better engage with Christ, with the fullness of who he was and what his message required. But it also reflects the astounding arrogance of individualism. The assumption underlying that statement is that the individual is the arbiter of truth in the world. It implies that millennials would know Jesus when they saw him, and the church needs to change itself until they can see him there.  What it leaves out is the idea that millennials need to conform themselves to the church to find Christ there.... [more]

Millennial Presumptions