In an ongoing discussion about young adults leaving Christianity, the Barna Research Group reports this week that "despite strong levels of spiritual activity during the teen years, most twentysomethings disengage from active participation in the Christian faith during their young adult years."The report states that six out of 10 twentysomethings involved in a church during their teens fail to actively pursue Yeshua into their early adult years. Not only are twentysomethings vacating the church, the report states, they are also not returning. I find this trend, as well as the attitude behind it, disturbing:
Loyalty to congregations is one of the casualties of young adulthood: twentysomethings were nearly 70% more likely than older adults to strongly assert that if they “cannot find a local church that will help them become more like Yeshua, then they will find people and groups that will, and connect with them instead of a local church.” They are also significantly less likely to believe that “a person’s faith in Yahvah is meant to be developed by involvement in a local church.”
While churches may be partially to blame for failing to retain young adults, young adults themselves are also guilty. Yeshua loves the church. Ephesians 5 informs us that he intimately loves and cares for the church; He has chosen her as His bride — His partner. ("This is a great mystery," Paul says.) Spiritual gifts are meant to be exercised to strengthen the church (1 Corinthians 14). Abandoning the church equates to divorcing Yeshua. This statement may sound inflammatory, but the privatization of faith — the idea that I can be a Yeshua follower free from the accountability of a body of believers — is not a biblical concept.
And the fallout is evident. Recognizing the damage has already been done in the current twentysomething generation, David Kinnaman, the director of the research, suggests focusing efforts on teens. Speaking of strategies churches need to employ, he says:
Another shift, is to develop teenagers’ ability to think and process the complexities of life from a biblical viewpoint. This is not so much about having the right head knowledge as it is about helping teens respond to situations and decisions in light of Yahvah’s principles for life.
Perhaps it's not too late for twentysomethings to do the same — within the context of the church. What do you think?
2 comments:
This article definitely struck a chord with me because this research group's findings are quite accurate. First let me make note that I am speaking from my own experiences and no one else's. I think that the disengagement of the Christian faith during a person's twenties largely comes from a young believer wanting to experience the world and "find ones self." Now, as a young believer off in college, I can say that it is extremely hard to stay grounded in Yahvah during this new course in my life. There are so many opinions and ideas
being thrown at you daily that cause you to think and question various aspects of life. The constant struggle to follow the Word versus the world. There are so many people around me dipping and dabbing into every new trend or idea because they are in search of answers to the new problems faced as they enter into adulthood. The Barna article states that "most [twentysomethings] pull away from participation and engagement in Christian churches, particularly during the “college years."" And this results in "twentysomethings having significantly lower levels of church attendance, time spent alone studying and reading the Bible," etc. Being on campus at SB, I feel like I'm thrown into another world that supercedes the reality of the world in which I live. Drugs, sex, homosexuality, pro choice versus pro life, athiesm, islam, capitalism v. socialism, War v. peace...these are only a few issues that I constantly deal with on a daily basis. This "other world" pushes its competing ideologies which causes so much confusion in the "twentysomethings' " lives which leads them to disengage from and maybe even question the Word that they may have been taught during the years of adolescence. We have first hand proof that these unscene forces affect the lives of many young believers who are in their twenties. Just think about those who have gone off to school or who have reached their twenties and are no longer with us. It hurts to see that this study has discovered that a large number of young adults have strayed from Yahvah and separated from their Christian faith. But I constantly thank Yahvah for keeping
me because the enemy has been in my face constantly trying to keep me from walking the straight and narrow pathway of Yahvah. Not at all am I saying that I have been perfect because I am far from it. But Yahvah has given me wisdom and the Holy Spirit to discern the spiritual forces around me. The enemy is fighting harder and harder because it knows that I have THE NAME and knows that my purpose has been to bring forth fruit (Thank you Bishop!). So with that said, it takes and enormous amount of spiritual strength to stand firm in Yahvah as a young person goes through their twenties. Without the proper teachings and without the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, one will easily turn away and possibly never return to walk in true salvation. As young believers we must constantly pray and uplift one another during this critical time in our lives because the enemy is fighting to take our lives. I thank Yahvah for CCC, TYC, and all
the family that I have around me because I know that I would not be here at this place in my life if it had not been for this ministry.
"Barukh attah Yahvah, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher natan lanu et derekh ha-yeshua bamaschiach Yeshua, barukh hu, amein!" (Blessed are You, Yahvah our God, King of the universe, who gave to us the way of salvation through the Messiah Yeshua, blessed be He.
Amen.)
-Sunny
If we would just understand that these traps and snares are designed by satan to distract us from Yahvah, then I think we would not be deceived so often! Well said Sunny!!
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