The majority of young people who grow up in the church will stop going. They will quit on Christianity.
Think about that for a second. That’s a real statistic. I am not making it up. I’ve heard it cited anywhere from 60 to 80%. That’s 2 out of 3 young people who grow up in the church will walk away from the faith when they are in there 20′s. The truth of this is absolutely heartbreaking. It is so sad to consider that so many students are on the dreadful path to apostasy. This means all of our efforts at Sunday School, Youth Ministry and personal discipleship have been an epic fail!
This is the conclusion of the new book Already Gone. The book is written by Ken Ham, the founder of Answers in Genesis. Ken worked with his friend Britt Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group, to interview 1,000 people in there 20′s who used to go to church and find out why they quit. Many of them blame it on hypocrisy in the church. Others have different moral standards like pre-marital sex is acceptable. Most of them do not believe that everything in the Bible is true.
Reading this book gave me an in-your-face reminder of the challenge for youth ministry today. In fact, working with high schoolers for the last seven years has shown me the reality of these statistics. I can literally see the faces of students who have fallen away.
At True North, we are ready to redouble our efforts at training the next generation of Christians. We want to teach them the truth of the Bible. We want to challenge them to live out what God says. We want to show them an example of authentic Christianity.
This year specifically we are teaching through the book of 1 Peter in our series DON’T STOP STANDING! The theme verse of the book is:
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. (ESV) -Final Greetings
I am praying that God will rise up a group of young people who will not give up, but that the students growing up at Compass Bible Church will keep standing for Jesus for the rest of their lives. I pray that their faith will remain strong until they receive their heavenly inheritance in the presence of our Lord.
This is what I am fighting for every day in our ministry.
Please join me in being a prayer warrior for our young people.
If you want to watch the introduction to our Don’t Stop Standing series please go here: http://www.compasschurch.org/hs/sermons/dont-stop-standing/video
Yes, Bobby, I will join with you in prayer for our young people, for Revival in the high schools, a Revival that sticks and doesn’t quit! And may they never turn from the Lord God Almighty but spread the Good News . . . that it will be contagious! And I’m praying for you and Lucas and your families . . . that your strength may be renewed every morning to keep on doing the good work that the Lord has called you to do!
Amen Brother!
I’ve always thought the truth was a good thing for our kids and I thank you for your boldness in sharing it…
I also believe that our walk is the giant elephant in the room that we sometimes ignore. This is where the ugly hypocrisy of the modern day church is at its worst and I thank you for your strength in that area…
I suspect that whatever we say, our kids will test against our action… thus our walk is the key.
Thank you and your bride, (as well as the Pace Clan) for being the leaders that you are. Y’all sure make it easier at our home and for our kids to be bold.
May God protect and bless your ministry.
This is intense!!! Great blog Pastor Bobby! I am stoked to learn more through 1 Peter at True North! I am for sure praying!!
The key, according to Josh Mc Dowell, is having our youth take their beliefs and turning them into convictions. Then they will not fall away.
I don’t think I’d given it as much thought as it deserves until you stood up at True North United last week and told us about how difficult it is sometimes to be a high school pastor. After that I started to think about how hard it would be to see people you had gotten to know as “Christians”, who you thought were your brothers and sisters in Christ, your friends, turn their backs on the Lord and want nothing more to do with Him, or with you. To see someone you had grown to love walk out of your life on a note like that… I haven’t experienced it yet, but I can only imagine how it must feel. To know that the path they’ve set before themselves is ultimately one that will end in destruction.
I will continue to pray for everyone and everything we do at True North. Living your life as a Christian is not easy, not by a long shot, but it is definitely worth it. I hope that everyone going to True North, and everyone reading this, realizes that.
Loving the series so far! 1 Peter is great! Perfect so in high school I can keep standing in Christ!
Thanks for everything you guys do in urging our youth to make the commitment for accountability………………and raising up the “Street Cred” new generation group of Christians….. We are so thankful for you all!!
This is a devastatingly true fact in the church today. Thank you for your commitment to teaching what the BIble has to say about real faith, so that none of the True Northers are deceived about having a right standing with God simply because they go to church, went to Christian school, or grew up in a Christian home. It is a privilege to serve alongside you and Christa to disciple the students of True North and help them understand the importance of staying standing so that they do not become one of the sad statistics in their 20′s.
Joining you and the H.S. leaders in prayer for these True North students !!! We thank God daily for you and Christa’s sacrifice to these students.
The interesting thing about the book you referenced is that their research was from people who had grown up in Bible teaching churches. Also, most of the children were “already gone” at least in spirit before they reached the high school group. The major reason was that they had lost confidence in the Bible because when they asked questions they didn’t get good answers. Parents and Sunday School teachers need to take the questions children ask seriously and then give good, biblical answers. Much to pray about.
Matt 7:13-14
Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.
For the gate is small, and the way is narrow tht lead to life and few are those who find it.
verse 21 Not every one who says Lord , Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
verse22 Many will say to Me on that day Lord, Lord , did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?
verse 23 And then I will decare to them, I never knew you, Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.
I think that survey gives a glimpse, but the Bible tells the truth there are only few that enter the narrow gate that leads to life….the gate is very wide that leads to destruction.
You know us by our fruit…..those who do the will of the Father who is in heaven.
Standing in prayer with you all. 1 Peter 1:13 Gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.( 1 Thes 1:5)
Did the survey go beyond the 20′s year old group? Did they look at older groups to see if they came back to the church? Was career focus a contributing factor? Were the percentages the same for male and female? Did the study/survey look at all regions in the USA and internationally? With all of the distractions in Southern California or any major metropolitan area did the data reflect a greater rejection of the Church? Very curious because that is a startling statistic! This certainly provides additional insight why our seminaries are producing a generation of weak graduates/leaders as cited by Pastor Mike recently. Our family will be praying for all youth ministries at CBC with the hope that teaching strategy and tactics at CBC will buck the trend.