Most young adults today don't pray, don't worship and don't read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows.
If the trends continue, "the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships," says Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In the group's survey of 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds, 72% say they're "really more spiritual than religious."
Among the 65% who call themselves Christian, "many are either mushy Christians or Christians in name only," Rainer says. "Most are just indifferent. The more precisely you try to measure their Christianity, the fewer you find committed to the faith."
Key findings in the phone survey, conducted in August and released today:
•65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either.
•65% rarely or never attend worship services.
•67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts.
Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: Half say yes, half no.
"We have dumbed down what it means to be part of the church so much that it means almost nothing, even to people who already say they are part of the church," Rainer says.
By the way, I'm reading a great book right now co-authored by Rainer (interviewed in the article) and his father called The Essential Church. I'm looking forward to reflecting on it when I've read it all, but the biggest takeaway for me is that we don't expect much out of our church members, especially the younger generations. In short, young adults and teenagers leave because we don't set for them high expectations of discipleship and service, and they wonder what the point of being a part of a local church body is if all that's expected is to just show up once or twice a week. But more on that later on...
