After reading multiple books, articles, and blogs on this recent phenomena of Millennials leaving (and returning to) the church, I've come to an incredible epiphany: I've cracked the code. I've discovered the missing piece.
Why are Millennials leaving the church?
Because they're in their 20's!
I know what you're thinking, I thought it was because...
- Evangelicals are too political
- Evangelicals don't support gay marriage
- Evangelicals see the world as too black and white
- Evangelicals don't allow questioning
- Evangelicals are too legalistic
I could keep on going and going, listing off more reasons I've heard. And here's the thing: all of those are true for some people. Because we're talking about millions of people, if you list any of those reasons off, a big group of people will resonate with it. But, if you're going to analyze such a large and diverse group of people, you have to speak about something which is common to all of them. You can do a simple Google search for "Why are Millennials leaving the church?" and you'll be amazed to find countless articles examining this seemingly new phenomena of 20-somethings rebelling and leaving their faith.
He's the problem: young adults have a long history of rebelling against their parents and their religion.
Still, these doomsday predictions that Millennials are going to leave the church and never return have a problem. Bradley R.E. Wright in his great book,
Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told: A Sociologist Shatters Myths From the Secular and Christian Media
addresses this very subject.
In the 80's they didn't seem angry. They just seemed decadent. Remember glam metal? Over the top celebration of excess was the name of the game. This was a decade where David Lee Roth was cool. Where men could wear flamboyant leather outfits and choreograph dance moves and it was cool. They even made guitars with 3 necks....3 necks! You only have 2 arms!
We don't need to scare ourselves into raising the next generation. Whether they're falling away at record numbers or igniting a spiritual revival, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to raise the next generation and point them towards Christ.
I highly recommend reading this book!
A Long History of Rebellion
I can't speak for other countries, but the United States has a long history of young generations rebelling in their youth, growing up, getting jobs, and then condemning the upcoming generation as lazy, rebellious, and self-centered.
If you don't believe me, here's a great article from The Wire, called "Every Every Every Generation has Been the Me Me Me Generation,"that shows about a dozen articles going all the way back to 1908 demonstrating how each generation has viewed the upcoming generation as self-centered.
Here's a quick sampling of Time Magazine covers from the last 40 years (thanks to The Wire for pointing me towards several of these):
Let's start with our Millennials, and move backwards:
From 2013
From 1997
From 1990
From 1976 (From New York not Time, but it makes the point)
To be fair, these articles obviously aren't talking about the spiritual state of today's teenagers. They're talking about their behavior as a whole.
addresses this very subject.
Each generation has found its own unique way to be self-centered and rebellious. Over the last decade, social media has given the young an incredible platform to be narcissistic. During the 90's (my day) we started by listening to angry grunge music and then angry nu-metal. We were so angry that, during Woodstock '99, they attempted to burn the entire event to the ground during the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We were so angry over nothing that we thought Fred Durst was cool just because he screamed about breaking stuff.
In the 80's they didn't seem angry. They just seemed decadent. Remember glam metal? Over the top celebration of excess was the name of the game. This was a decade where David Lee Roth was cool. Where men could wear flamboyant leather outfits and choreograph dance moves and it was cool. They even made guitars with 3 necks....3 necks! You only have 2 arms!
Then, we get to the 60's and 70's where drug use was prevalent and the sexual revolution transformed America. If you want to mess with your head, do the math and realize that either your parents or grandparents might have been part of causing the sexual revolution and the drug culture. People love to talk about how depraved today's music is, but there are 45 year old Beatles songs which are BLATANTLY about drug use.
In Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told, the author mentions that there is an ancient Assyrian stone tabled from 2800 B.C. which reads, "Our earth is degenerate in these latter days...children no longer obey their parents." 4,000 years later, not much has changed.
What Do the Studies Actual Show?
Here's a chart from Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites...and Other Lies You've Been Told. What you see is a slight decrease in the percentage of young adults identifying as Evangelicals over the last 40 years, but the percentage has remained consistent over the last 20 years. Catholic affiliation has risen slightly.
. What you see is a slight decrease in the percentage of young adults identifying as Evangelicals over the last 40 years, but the percentage has remained consistent over the last 20 years. Catholic affiliation has risen slightly. 
Where there may be a perception that the floor is falling out for Christianity is when it comes to those associating with Mainline denominations and Black Protestants. It appears many 20-somethings over the last 40 years have transitioned from those denominations to having no religious affiliation. This seems to indicate a growing tolerance in our culture for those who don't hold any religious affliation. Therefore, those who previously only held a religious affliation due to societal pressure, no longer feel that pressure.
So, in denominations that hold to more traditional views of scripture, authority, and Christianity, 20 somethings' religious affiliation has remained steady. However, many who previously chose more liberal denominations shifted away from any affiliation. As someone in evangelicals circles, this does not surprise me.
Nothing New
Twenty somethings exploring their new found adult freedom and abandoning their parents religion is nothing new. Of course, there's also a tradition of newlyweds and new parents returning to the religion of their parents (or at least something similar, usually with better music).
It's true young adults (specifically males) are the least religious generation currently alive. However, young adults were also the least religious generation 20 years ago...and 30 years ago...and 40 years ago...
We don't need to scare ourselves into raising the next generation. Whether they're falling away at record numbers or igniting a spiritual revival, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to raise the next generation and point them towards Christ.
I highly recommend reading this book!
If you liked this blog, here's another on the same topic:
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