Why Young People Are Coming to Church
There are many reasons, but here's one
[Note: I realize that the oldest Millennials are entering their mid-40’s, and that it’s therefore questionable to describe them as “young.” But I think the descriptor accurately applies to the trend I describe below, since it does seem to be most prominent among Millennials and younger]
What is happening with Millennials and Gen Z when it comes to God? A number of stories have reported a sharp rise in religious belief among younger generations. A surprisingly strong movement seems to be underway in the UK. While I naturally approve of such stories, I also have the same “wait and see” reaction that I have when I read frantic “young people are leaving the faith!” stories. Young people are always reacting strongly to something in some direction, usually the opposite direction of their parents, so I’m not sure that’s ever news in itself, necessarily. What I’m curious about is whether it will last, or have an impact on the wider culture.
Whether it lasts or not, it is certainly true that significant numbers of Millennials and Gen Z are exploring faith. Why? I’m certainly not an expert, and I am sure there are a number of factors at play. Let me suggest one thing, though, that I do think is happening. For Millennials and in particular for Gen Z, there is a very disturbing sense that nothing in their life is real. So much of their time is spent online, in spaces that specifically exist to help people craft the persona they want the world to see. A lot of their life, in fact, seems to reside on the internet, rather than in the real world.
At the same time, the collapse of credibility and faith in the government and mainstream media outlets is reinforcing a sense among many that, “I can’t trust what ‘they’ tell me. Nothing I see is real.” So the lives we’ve built online aren’t real, and neither are the traditional voices of authority.
Now, Millennials are old enough to remember the 90’s, before the internet swallowed everything. So for us (at 42 I am at the older end of the Millennial spectrum) we can remember a time when things didn’t feel this way. But Gen Z has only known an e-world built by YouTube, fake news, and TikTok influencers. Millennials are looking for something because they know it doesn’t have to be this way; Gen Z just hopes there’s an alternative.
Take the widespread dissatisfaction with the digital realm and pair it with a world where things have felt much TOO real for the last 25 years. The silly, time-wasting world of the internet simply feels absurd next to a world of 9/11’s and school shootings, endless wars and pandemics, political upheaval and economic distress. The world is changing and we all know it. We are entering a new era in world history and it means chaos and conflict for the foreseeable future. The digital reality we’ve spent the last few decades building simply doesn’t have anything to offer us to help navigate these historical waters. So, it’s natural that people will turn to something that claims to be bigger than history itself.
This, I think, explains at least a part of the spiritual awakening that seems to be underway. If I am right, then the unspoken (or perhaps spoken) question that Millennial and Gen Z have when they enter church is whether we are serious about this stuff. Are we for real when we say the Gospel is true? Do we really believe it? Do we really believe it’s the true way to live, that it can change our lives?
Last summer, I wrote the following in another post:
In the 1980’s, men like Bill Hybels and Rick Warren had an insight. They believed that there were huge numbers of people in the suburbs who didn’t go to church but who WOULD go to church if 1) they were invited and 2) it was accessible. Invitations are easy; how to do the latter? Well, it’s America and we love our entertainment and even in the 1980’s attention spans were getting pretty short, so they decided the music had to be great and the messages had to be interesting. And it worked.
Baby Boomers didn’t like their parents’ church. It was boring, the music was lame, and it wasn’t inviting. That generation responded by creating the Seeker Sensitive movement, and it was enormously successful. People can debate about whether such churches produce too many shallow believers, but the churches they replaced weren’t producing many believers at all.
That model of church isn’t enough anymore. Sermons about “10 Ways to Be a Better Friend” and cool, relevant music don’t cut it, not because they’re shallow but because they aren’t addressing what people need to hear. We live in a culture where absolutely everything is accessible, and so that isn’t what people want from faith.
One small example: At Seacoast, we do a series called At the Movies about once a year. Each week we show clips from a popular movie, and the sermon addresses its themes, tying them to (or confronting them with) the Gospel. The assumption is that it’s a highly invitational series: People would be more willing to try church, or invite a friend during a series like that.
After our last At the Movies series, which we did in December for the first time, I heard from a number of friends in their 20’s how much they hated that we did it near Christmas. They didn’t want something fun — they wanted tradition. They told me they wished we had just read and studied the Christmas story from the Gospels. In a world defined by frivolity and unreality, they want something timeless and real.
Does this mean that churches need to all start doing expository preaching? No. At Seacoast, most of our teachers lean very strongly into topical message heavy on practical application. Yet Seacoast attracts people, because we are serious about the Gospel, and about the Bible. We believe Christianity has something to say to our world, that it can engage with the chaos and hard questions in a real and meaningful way.
That younger generations are coming to church is itself a victory, but the important question is whether they will find what they are looking for when they walk through our doors. If we only try to offer them a better version of what they can find out there, they’ll just walk right back out. They don’t need a Gospel that fits neatly into their lives alongside everything else; they have come to disdain the “everything else” precisely because it’s so hollow. They don’t need to hear that Christianity is the “best” way to live, but rather that it’s the only way.
I genuinely believe people are looking for something that will reorder their entire lives, because they see clearly that the world itself desperately needs to be reordered. I am glad they are attending church, but I’m especially curious to see what kind of churches they will create.
Jack, well said, showing different approaches to an ongoing search.. One specifically hits home.' Yet Seacoast attracts people, because we are serious about the Gospel, and about the Bible. We believe Christianity has something to say to our world, that it can engage with the chaos and hard questions in a real and meaningful way."
Christianity is new to many young people. They didn’t grow up with it. As you mention, to “rebel” is now to move toward faith, not away from it. To the extent they find believers and their teaching to be authentic, they will be attracted to it. I was at an Asian American church in LA recently. Young people are coming to Christ in droves there.