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Are Today’s Teenagers The Least Christian Generation Ever?

Fox News Op-Ed by Jonathan Morrow on Gen Z

Many Christian teens are simply unprepared for the world that is waiting for them.

With the best of intentions, we bubble wrap our kids and create Disney World–like environments for them in our churches, and then wonder why they have no resilience in faith or life. Students are entertained but not prepared.

Students Are Entertained But Not Prepared

They’ve had a lot of fun but are not ready to lead. When the pressure to conform is turned up, Christian teenagers tend to wilt if they do not have the confidence that only comes from knowing why they believe what they believe.

As one teenager told me, “following Jesus today is hard because sometimes you feel like the only one.”

Gen Z has been discipled by their smartphones, taught sex ed by Google, and conditioned to assume that just because they believe something makes it true.

Gen Z Least Christian Generation to Date

Gen Z—the generation following the millennials—is also the least Christian generation to date. According to a new Barna study I led over the last 18 months on behalf of Impact 360 Institute – 34 percent of Gen Z’s religious affiliation is either atheist, agnostic or none.

In fact, teens 13-18 years old are twice as likely as adults to say they are atheist. And just three in five 13- to 18-year-olds say they are some kind of Christian (59 percent)… [Read the rest of my article on Fox News here ]

Wake-Up Call

Awareness can be a gift. But only if we do something about it. Many students are walking away in their hearts and minds in middle and high school long before they walk away with their feet in college.

It will become increasingly uncomfortable and socially costly to follow Jesus in the is post-Christian culture we are living in today. Most teenagers are unprepared. Are your kids ready?

Just showing up at church for the goldfish, pizza, and candy is not enough. We must train and disciple students for the world they are actually heading into.

If you want to give your Christian student a confident faith, then I encourage you to get them some apologetics and worldview training. I am the director of two life-changing summer experiences for teenagers at Impact 360 Institute. I think both Propel and Immersion would help your son or daughter resist the pull of secularism and relativism while building a stronger faith of their own. I hope to see them this summer!

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Three Reasons the Story of Jesus Was Not Borrowed From Pagan Mystery Religions

A Quick Response to a Common Objection

Was the Jesus story borrowed and recycled from pagan mystery religions?

Is Christianity really just a copy-cat religion?

Let’s take a quick look at this common objection. The short answer is no. Here’s why.

The Quest to Find the Real Historical Jesus

During the first quest, the history of religions school was very popular among scholars. The idea was simply that Christianity was a copycat religion that had borrowed from other popular myths and created the Jesus myth.

This claim was soundly refuted and scholars (whether liberal, moderate, or conservative) have abandoned it. However, it is a favorite of Internet skeptics and it makes the rounds on YouTube. So I do want to offer three reasons the copycat myth is false.

First, Christianity emerged out of first-century Judaism that was monotheistic and exclusive.

The Jewish people had learned their lesson about worshiping other Gods (cf. being judged by Assyria and Babylon).

They were committed to one and only one God. The Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4 makes this clear, declaring, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

The New Testament teachings were clear as well, “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Second, the alleged parallels disappear once the specifics of each myth are examined.

A dying and rising Jesus is not a meaningful parallel with crops coming to life in the spring dying off again in the winter.

As Mary Jo Sharp notes, “The suggested “parallels”—such as themes of virgin birth, sacrificial death, and resurrection— are not paralleled in the content of the texts. There is no sound evidence of overlap within the details of these two types of texts. The biblical account of Jesus cannot be grouped into the genre of mythological literature based on either story details or structure.”

Lastly, if any borrowing was going on, it was the pagan mystery religions copying from Christianity.

Gregory Boyd and Paul Eddy observe, “With the exception of Osiris, all the written accounts of these myths date after the birth of Christianity.”

If anything, mystery religions were copying from and being influenced by Christianity in the first two centuries because they had to compete to gain new converts and survive.

And when you look at all of the positive historical evidence for Jesus, it’s easy to see why professional New Testament historians and scholars have abandoned this theory.

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Quick Read > What did the historian Josephus really say about Jesus?

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What Parents Need to Know About Gen Z as Digital Natives

My recent conversation with David Kinnaman of the Barna Group about GEN Z

As parents and those who care about teenagers, what do we need to know about Gen Z as Digital Natives?

Over the past 18 months, I have had the privilege of leading our GEN Z study at Impact 360 Institute with the wonderful team at the Barna Group and David Kinnaman. The research findings are about to be released. (Sign up to watch the free Livestream here).

This will be the most comprehensive research to date on the worldview, attitudes, beliefs, spiritual and moral views, and cultural impact of Gen Z (the generation after Millenials). I have been writing about these issues and how to train students to build a lasting faith (Get your teenager ready). It’s what I wake up thinking about each day.

From the focus groups to the research design, it has been a fascinating experience! If you have a middle schooler or high schooler right now then they are a part of GEN Z. As parents, you will want to know what the world (and worldview) of the next generation is shaping up to be and what that means for how you parent your kids in today’s culture.

Here is just a short video conversation I had with David Kinnaman as we get ready to launch this research.

Check out these awesome, life-changing experiences for your teenagers!

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Why We Must Go Back Before We Can Move Forward

Recovering the Ancient Paths

Where are you going?

A new year brings with it lots of emotions and thoughts. There are plenty of pathways to choose from. The problem is that they all don’t lead anywhere worth going.

We can be busy but be aimless. Or we can move with purpose on a road that will get us where we want and need to be.

To do that we must go back. We must go back to the ancient roads that God has revealed and walk in them. We are not clever enough to find our own way. For ourselves or for our families.

“Thus says the Lord,
“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.” – Jer. 6:16

There are so many voices clamoring for our attention–social media, news, entertainment, sensuality, success. There are so many forces that seek to undermine our faith and hope and that of our children.

It All Comes Down to This

But it all comes down to one very important thing. We have to choose to walk. (more…)