How can I effectively encourage Millennials to step up and move forward in their calling?

Take an interest in them! Engage with them. Encourage them. Tell them how valuable they are. Tell them that you think they are cool. Commend and affirm them. If you see them worshiping, tell them privately, and tell them in front of their peers how much you are blessed by them.

Invite them out for pizza. Tell them about a concert you enjoyed, and ask them about what they enjoy. Ask them about what really makes them go “Wow.” Ask them about what makes the angry. Listen to them. Don’t tell them what they ought to do. Ask them what you should do!

Yes, ask them what you should do. Tell them that you are older and you see that they are not the “Church of the Future,” but they are the Church NOW. Ask them, “How can I help you in this church that is YOURS now?” And when you ask them, listen. Find out what they need.

Any time and every time I interact with young people I remind them that “I’m outta here, and its your baby now. . . .” They will often look at me incredulously, but after about 3 or 4 such encounters they will finally begin to see that they really do need to step up and move forward.

Here is a recent video of Simon Sinek on the subject concerning some of the reasons he sees behind Millennials’ challenges. His perspective is not one of a Christian seeking direction and solace from our Lord, but proposes a worldly solution which I see as more of a band-aid fix.

An important difference between worldly and Christian perspectives is highlighted at the beginning of the talk, when he says “there is a missing piece” (actually four pieces) to their lack of happiness. A Christian’s perspective is that we need a missing “peace”, gained only through our belief in our Saviour Jesus and our trust in a loving God, and which should be our message to our younger generation of believers to help them run the race in His service.

Hope this adds to our understanding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ev7GXzFTPg&vq=small

It has a lot to do with empowerment. Not so much telling them that they are capable as giving them permission to stumble their way through pursuing their calling. Millennials are innovators, and not given enough credit as such, not often listened to and appreciated for their innovation. keys have been handed to them, but the long road of effort seems daunting. Ideas and aspirations need refinement, something that we can gently guide them toward.
Without a nearby reward — something that they can see coming in the near future to reward the effort — it’s hard for a younger person, who has grown up in an age of instant gratification, to NOT become disenchanted with playing the “long game.” When the fruit of their labor is somewhere off in the unseeable future, and their elders are demanding immediate results, we are inadvertently attempting to undermine the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification and maturation that undergirds the fulfillment of a calling.

I Cor 15:58 is not exposited enough anymore. We naturally seek the path of least resistance, looking for the easiest, safest, fastest way to accomplish something, too often forgetting that the journey to accomplish that which God has called them too is it’s own reward.