Watch This (10 of 13)
Series: Philippians
Robert Dawson
Philippians 3:17-4:1
A couple of years ago ''Christianity Today'' ran an article, ''The Leavers.'' It highlighted a very disturbing and frightening trend in our country today. Sociologists, people who study people, are seeing a major shift taking place among young adults in the U.S. as they distance themselves from Christianity.
Over the last twenty years the percentage of Americans claiming ''no religion'' almost doubled, climbing from 8.1 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. (Findings released in 2009 from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). The trend wasn't confined to one region. Those marking ''no religion,'' called the ''Nones,'' made up the only group to have grown in every state, from the secular Northeast to the conservative Bible Belt.
Those who marked ''no religion'' on the surveys were most numerous among the young: a whopping 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds claimed no religion, up from 11 percent in 1990.
The study also found that 73 percent of those who marked ''not religion'' came from religious homes; 66 percent were described by the study as ''de-converts.'' Other survey results have been grimmer. Other surveys say that ''young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate (30 to 40 percent have no religion today, versus 5 to 10 percent a generation ago).'' At the May 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, top political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell presented research from their book American Grace, released last month.
Those findings - which I believe we can all see and our experience in our homes and our churches bear this out - are not just shocking, they are terrifying. How many of our kids - here at FBCLP - when they move beyond High School into college or young adulthood can we consider active or even committed? How many of our twenty somethings and early thirties can we say a ...
Series: Philippians
Robert Dawson
Philippians 3:17-4:1
A couple of years ago ''Christianity Today'' ran an article, ''The Leavers.'' It highlighted a very disturbing and frightening trend in our country today. Sociologists, people who study people, are seeing a major shift taking place among young adults in the U.S. as they distance themselves from Christianity.
Over the last twenty years the percentage of Americans claiming ''no religion'' almost doubled, climbing from 8.1 percent in 1990 to 15 percent in 2008. (Findings released in 2009 from the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS). The trend wasn't confined to one region. Those marking ''no religion,'' called the ''Nones,'' made up the only group to have grown in every state, from the secular Northeast to the conservative Bible Belt.
Those who marked ''no religion'' on the surveys were most numerous among the young: a whopping 22 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds claimed no religion, up from 11 percent in 1990.
The study also found that 73 percent of those who marked ''not religion'' came from religious homes; 66 percent were described by the study as ''de-converts.'' Other survey results have been grimmer. Other surveys say that ''young Americans are dropping out of religion at an alarming rate of five to six times the historic rate (30 to 40 percent have no religion today, versus 5 to 10 percent a generation ago).'' At the May 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, top political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell presented research from their book American Grace, released last month.
Those findings - which I believe we can all see and our experience in our homes and our churches bear this out - are not just shocking, they are terrifying. How many of our kids - here at FBCLP - when they move beyond High School into college or young adulthood can we consider active or even committed? How many of our twenty somethings and early thirties can we say a ...
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