The 20s Generation—Lost Christian Worldview and Lost Biblical Foundation

God will preserve His Church. No principality or power will ever be able to stop His work, halt the preaching of the gospel, demolish His Church in general, or ruin any particular soul that is built upon the rock that is Christ. At the same time, this does not mean there will not be great failings within the Church, just as we saw great failings with God’s people in the Old Testament and in the Middle Ages.

—from Ready to Return

In my eye-opening best-seller Already Gone, I explored, using primary research from Britt Beemer and his America’s Research Group, why two-thirds of young people are leaving the church and what we can do to stop this mass exodus. This book served as a sharp wake-up call to many churches and parents, and prompted us to create Answers Bible Curriculum to help parents, Christian schools, and churches address this problem head-on.

Well, I am very excited to announce our newest resource, a sequel to Already Gone, to help you understand what is happening in the church with the 20s generation (the millennials), and how to reverse a dangerous trend with them: Ready to Return: Bringing Back the Church’s Lost Generation.

This new book will look at why an alarming percentage of those who have grown up in the church are rejecting what God’s Word teaches and are instead adopting a secular worldview steeped in the ideas of today’s culture. Many have lost a Christian worldview because they have lost the biblical foundation beginning in Genesis. Sadly, you will be shocked to learn what primary research from America’s Research Group has revealed about what twenty-somethings—even those still remaining in the church—believe. Compromise with the world is rampant, and we can’t ignore this pervasive problem! The 20s generation in the general population is transforming the culture—and the twenty-somethings in the church are going to fundamentally change the church in the wrong direction if the trend is not reversed.

For example, our research revealed these views among twenty-somethings who currently regularly attend church (those who were surveyed by ARG had to attend church at least three times a month to be considered regular church attendees):

• 65% believe if you are a good person you will go to heaven
• 50% do not believe in a young Earth
• 43% do not consider themselves born again
• 30% believe people don’t need to go to church
• 23% believe God used evolution to change one kind of animal to another kind
• 19% believe humans evolved from ape-like ancestors
• 40% support gay “marriage,” and 10% aren’t sure (in other words, 50% would not stand against gay “marriage”)

These beliefs—which are far from what Scripture teaches and a truly Christian worldview—are very alarming! And remember, it’s those millennials inside the church who have these beliefs. There is an urgent need for pastors, parents, and every Christian to do something about this massive problem so we can bring this lost generation back to the Word of God. That’s why this book doesn’t just diagnose the problem and explain why it is happening; it also gives real-life remedies.

As the body of Christ, we can bring back this lost generation to have a truly Christian worldview so they can be the salt and light needed in this world! A lack of effective biblical apologetics in homes and churches, compromise with secular beliefs, the devastating effect of secular education, and failures on the part of previous generations have all contributed greatly to this dilemma. But this failure is not the end of the story. Fathers will be challenged concerning God’s role for them in the education of their children.

No wonder two-thirds of young people have left the church by college age. This new book also provides remedies for those who have read Already Gone. The 20s generation within and without the church are fundamentally changing church and culture in our Western world.

Our book will powerfully show what your church can do to be a landing pad for a disillusioned generation whom the Lord is calling back to the authority of the Word of God.

I am very excited about this new book, and I strongly encourage you to order a copy for yourself and one for your pastor today. You can learn more about Ready to Return in the next issue of Answers magazine.

Actually, the books we have now produced in this trilogy (based on detailed research by Britt Beemer’s America’s Research Group) really portray the state of Christendom in America (and in fact the Western world) in the 21st century:

1. Already Gone—why two-thirds of young people leave the church by college age, with very few returning
2. Already Compromised—the sad state of the majority of Christian academic institutions (colleges, universities, seminaries, and so on) that are rife with compromised teaching beginning in Genesis
3. Ready to Return—Bringing Back the Lost Generation—much of the 20s generation inside the church have lost a Christian worldview because they have lost the foundation of the authority of the Word of God beginning in Genesis

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.