We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
(Psalms 78:4-5)
The trendline of faith slopes down. In statistical terms, there is a substantial skew over time. When broken down by age, results from the multiple surveys show that the oldest Americans — the Silent Generation, born before 1946 — are 84 percent Christian. The figures for younger cohorts: boomers (born 1946 to 1964) 76 percent; Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) 67 percent; and millennials (born 1981 to 1996) 49 percent. What has happened in our society, our country and our communities. One out of five adults consider themselves to be “former Christians.” To put this in perspective, it means that there are four former Christians for every new convert to Christianity. In fact, the “former Christians” combined with atheists and agnostics now comprise one of the largest religious groups in America, the religiously unaffiliated. And the largest percentage of them are young adults. One out of three young adults claim no religious affiliation.
Barna Research lists the top 6 reasons of why young people leave the church as:
Churches are overprotective (a quarter of young adults polled said churches “demonize everything outside the church”)
A shallow experience of Christianity
Churches appear antagonistic to science
Churches are “judgmental and simplistic” when it comes to issues of sexuality
They have questions about the “exclusive nature of Christianity”
Churches are unfriendly toward those with doubts
What has happened to our country, our community and our world. Is it simply the draw of the world or have we failrd to teach our children the glorious deeds of our Savior? Parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, mentors, neighbors, we need to spend some time teaching and showing our children the way of truth. Young adults today have had entirely different religious and social experiences than previous generations did. The parents of millennials and Generation Z did less to encourage regular participation in formal worship services and model religious behaviors in their children than had previous generations. Many childhood religious activities that were once common, such as saying grace, have become more of the exception than the norm.
It isn't too late, but the time to act is now.
Let us tell the stories of salvation sharing the failures we have overcome.
Let us teach salvation by our successes.
Let us teach hope rather than despair.
Let us not hide the gospel in our hearts but teach the gospel message.
We must pray fervently. Teach wholly. Love unconditionally, never argue while teaching and demostrating redemption and know the Word of God.
Pray without ceasing, (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
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