These two clips from a presentation by Sean McDowell not only describe the problem but also concisely explain the reason for the problem.
Now there’s a lot of reasons why a young person can disengage their faith. There’s a lot of reasons. We’re going to focus this morning on just one of the reasons that I think in fact may be the most prevalent. David Kinnaman—he’s the president of the Barna Research Group. In his book You Lost Me, he said, “I think the next generation’s disconnection stems ultimately from the failure of the church to impart Christianity as a comprehensive way of understanding reality and living fully in today’s culture.”
I think the next generation’s disconnection stems ultimately from the failure of the church to impart Christianity as a comprehensive way of understanding reality and living fully in today’s culture.
—David Kinnaman—
In other words, in his book You Lost Me, he researched students disengaged from the church, [and] listed eight reasons that he thought were the most prominent. He said but when it’s all said and done, it’s a failure of the church to help young people build a wholistic worldview that helps them make sense of the world that they live in from a Christian perspective. And I think he’s right.
David Kinnaman wrote, and I mean, it’s unbelievable—he said, “It’s a modern tragedy. Despite years of church-based experiences and countless hours of Bible-centered teaching, millions of next-generation Christians have no idea that their faith connects to their life’s work.” He’s right! I was speaking at a church in Albuquerque, I think last spring, maybe it was May, and I met two men probably thirty to mid-thirties, and they were both mechanical engineers.
I said, “I’ve got a question.” I said, “You guys have been in church?”
They said, “Yes we’ve been in church our whole lives.”
“How does your faith inform the way you think about and the way you act as a mechanical engineer?”
They both looked at me, and they said, “Huh, we’ve never thought about that!” Inside I’m thinking, What?! How could you grow up in the church and never be challenged or equipped to think about how you actually live out your profession from a Christian worldview?
Why not? Because even inside the church we think of faith as something in the privacy of our home, in the privacy of our lives, that doesn’t really shape how we think about the world and live within it.
That’s why Christian Smith—again, he’s from Notre Dame—he said, “What our interviews almost never uncovered among teens was the view that religion summons people to embrace an obedience to truth regardless of the personal consequences or rewards. The language that dominates adolescent interests in thinking about life, including religious and spiritual life, is primarily about personally feeling good and being happy.”
Isn’t that what religion is about? Come to Jesus, and He’ll fix your marriage! Come to Jesus. He’ll fix your finances! Come to Jesus. He’ll give you better self-image! Now if we do come to Jesus, it should affect our marriage, our finances, and our self-image, but that’s not why we come to Christianity. In fact when students come to Christianity because it makes them feel good or gives them something in their life, the moment there’s something else that fills up that need, they’ll be gone.
I think there’s only one real reason why someone should be a Christian—because it’s actually true!
—Sean McDowell—
I think there’s only one real reason why someone should be a Christian—because it’s actually true! Even Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “If Jesus is not risen, our faith is in vain.” It’s Christianity that uniquely is tied to objectively verifiable and testable events in history.
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