Article Review – Barna Group study shows teens hesitant to evangelize; InterVarsity proclaims the opposite
In the summer of 2010 the Barna Group published findings from a study they had conducted regarding how the faith practices of teenagers have changed over the past decade (http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/403-how-teenagers-faith-practices-are-changing). They reported a significant drop in the percentage of teenagers who had shared their faith in the past 12 months: 63% in 1997 down to 45% in 2009. Are there really nearly 50% fewer teenagers sharing their faith – only one time – over the course of a given year?
What are we (Youth Leaders like you and me) doing with the teenagers in our ministries? We meet with them weekly, in most cases multiple times, over the course of six to seven years. Surely there is some measure of fruit from our labor. Then again, maybe this statistic is an accurate measure of our performance.
The study may also be implying that we are simply creating holy huddles for our teens to attend. They also discovered that the number of Christian teenagers that engaged non-Christian teenagers is slipping. Teens can’t share the Gospel with someone who doesn’t know Christ unless they are connected to other teenagers who don’t know Christ.
There is a mentality that’s out there that tells us we need to protect our Christian teenagers from the evils and dangers of the world. I see it in some Youth Ministries, I see it in some churches, and I see it in some who choose to homeschool their children. As a parent and as a Youth Leader, I get it. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. We have a desire to protect our kids. When I think of my two sons as well as the teens in my youth group I don’t want any harm to come to them, ever. The flaw in this line of thinking, when taken to the extreme, is that if we protect all of the Christian teens, who does that leave to advocate for the lost teenagers in the world? We need to be in the business of equipping teens for evangelism and not protecting them from pagans.
No matter where the blame belongs, undoubtedly there is enough to go around, we can’t ignore the problem of fewer teens sharing their faith and fewer teens interacting with lost teenagers.
Mission Network News published an article responding to the findings of the Barna Group and offers a different perspective (http://mnnonline.org/article/14487). Terry Erickson, National Director of Evangelism for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, states that they have seen record numbers of conversions over the last five years. He does acknowledge that younger college students tend to struggle with sharing their faith for a few reasons that are not too foreign to what I have observed as a Youth Pastor: tolerance (they don’t want to offend) and apathy (they just don’t care).
There’s a chance that InterVarsity is seeing this trend move in a positive direction because their ministry attracts the 45% of teenagers that share their faith. They could simply be efficient at recruiting the teenagers that are more like to evangelize. However, what they have seen as keys to success in the area of evangelism at the collegiate level should translate directly into our Youth Ministry settings. Erickson credits prayer, primarily, as well as involvement in spiritual disciplines such as Bible study and worship, as indicators of students who are more likely to impact the world around them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In light of this observation we need to teach our teens the discipline of praying, specifically for their lost friends. We need to teach (not talk at) them biblical truths and give them a solid foundation to stand on so they are prepared to share their faith and explain what it is they believe in. And we need to foster a lifestyle of worship and interaction with God in them. Being a Christian isn’t assimilation into an old, dead religion but a vibrant relationship with the one, true, living God! At the very least, teaching our teens how to pray, giving them a strong biblical foundation to better understand their faith, and providing opportunities for intimate worship is a starting place to get them prepared for sharing their faith.
So, Youth Leaders, what are we going to do to change these statistics over the next decade? What are you doing to inspire and equip your teenagers to share their faith now?
