Take a group of 100 young adults, under the age of 30. Put them in a room, and ask them how they feel about Church. The Church. Church with a capital-C. Here’s what you’ll learn:
• 46 of these young adults are generally annoyed by Christians. (I can relate.)
• 67 of these young adults think Church is filled with hypocrites. (They’re right. All humans — and therefore all Christians — are pretty much hypocrites.)
• 77 of these young adults think Christianity is more about organized religion than a life lived loving God and loving people. (Again, I’m not sure I’d argue much with that.)
• 90 of them would argue that they can have a satisfying relationship with God outside of regular church attendance. (Wait: I’m not as on-board with this one.)
What all this means is that a lot of college students and 20somethings are making the decision to either leave or avoid the church — even if they remain Christians, and even if they grew up attending church. Dan Kimball’s book They Like Jesus But Not the Church explored this phenomenon a couple years ago, and a new book called Lost and Found, by Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes takes another look at it (the stats above come from Lost and Found).
Why bring this up? Because I’m writing an article about the topic for a magazine for college students, and I want to tell some stories. I need to talk to current and recent college students who read the stats above and think, “That’s me.” If you are in college (or are a recent graduate) and you have purposefully disconnected from the Church, I want to talk to you — especially if you still maintain a connection to Christianity.
I know this fits some of you regular readers. Tell your story in the comments, or shoot me an email.
And even if you’re not a college student, I’d love to hear your story. Leave a comment and let’s discuss.