Millennials are more ambivalent towards faith and are attaching less importance to the practices and truths of the Christian faith, in particular, than any generation in history, according to a new report from George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University.
The generation’s ambivalence, furthermore, is driving the growth of the nation’s fastest-growing faith group, the ‘Don’ts’—those who don’t know, don’t care or don’t believe that God exists. A whopping 41% of Millennials fall into this category.
The report also indicated that, at the center of this troubling trend lies more than just a deluge of media and messaging from the culture at large. Where a majority of those surveyed communicated a positive view overall of Jesus and the Bible, a deep and widespread distrust of organized religion—and pastors and church leaders, in particular—was revealed.
Barely half of those participating (54%) in the research for the Millennials in America report said they trusted Christian pastors to do what is right or to tell the truth “at least sometimes”. More than one-third (37%) said they would not afford pastors even a minimal level of trust, claiming to trust pastors “not too often” or “never.” Only one in four young adults (26%) said they would “always or almost always trust pastors of Christian churches to tell the truth or to do what is right.”
Overall, the report identified nine types of cultural influencers—pastors included—and of those listed, the trust afforded all other eight types of influencers scored well above that of Christian pastors.
The reasons for the growing distrust and disconnect are many, and the information, Barna says, suggests that pastors would be wise to humbly examine their practices and reputations.
Overall, Barna says, the research confirms that Millennials are struggling to make sense of both this world and the next and unsure of who they can trust.
“They live in the crosshairs of cultural influencers whose extreme messages about independence and self-reliance conflict with the biblical themes of Christ-dependence and personal spiritual insufficiency,” Barna explained. “The documented growth of angst and turmoil experienced by Millennials is an unavoidable result of denying God’s existence and sovereignty. Sadly, we’ve set our young adults up for failure.”