Various reactions have arisen from the Pew Research study on religion. In this article, Youth ministry leader Alvin Reid, a former Rooted speaker, offers a helpful, constructive, and honest analysis of the numbers. He gives particular attention to how we can apply this information to younger generations.
“First, the huge crowd of believers today who simply think the status quo of Christianity–show up at church regularly, live morally, and be a good citizen—is compelling to just about no one. I would argue it’s actually turning away a lot of younger adults. Nor should it be compelling to us, because that’s never been why Jesus died. In our increasingly hostile world toward the faith, we shouldn’t be surprised at the numbers of nominal “Christians” who walk away. But we should be surprised at our inability to engage people in our time with a compelling vision of the Gospel. It’s not time to panic, but it’s certainly time to pray. We need to wake up.”
Join us for Rooted 2015, an intimate youth ministry conference, where we will explore how the good news of God coming to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ offers student ministers and teenagers, hope, healing and connectedness.
