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Engaging youth with the gospel now and into the future
Engaging youth with the gospel now and into the future
By Anna Grummitt, Youth Editor, Centre for Public Christianity (CPX)
Attitudes towards Christianity are shifting rapidly among Australian teenagers, and it is crucial that Christian communities adapt to this changing culture in order to effectively communicate the gospel to young people, now and into the future.
To do this, we must be aware that for the majority of Australian teenagers today, religion, including Christianity, has become a distant foreign land.
A recent study of attitudes to religion among 13 to 18-year-olds (the AGZ Study), revealed that more than half of Australian teens identify as “religious nones” – that is, they don’t see themselves as belonging to any particular religion. Only 12% said they frequently attend any kind of worship service. And while some teenagers did recognise the positive contributions of religion to society, 44% thought religion caused more problems than it solved.
The majority of Australian teenagers today feel little or no connection to Christianity, have limited understanding of the Bible, and are uncertain or suspicious about religion’s place in the public square. Therefore, we must strive to communicate the timeless truth of the gospel to young people in a way that is clear, and that does not assume any prior knowledge.
It is also essential, going forward, that we show young people how the Christian message is relevant to them – that it answers their deeply felt needs and longings.
Today’s youth are in the midst of an anxiety crisis, and often feel lonely and disconnected from others. In the 2018 Mission Australia Youth Survey of 28,000 teens, mental health was the issue most frequently identified as being of national importance – and the percentage of those who saw it as important had doubled since 2015. Smartphones and social media have made today’s youth far more globally connected than teenagers in the past, however a recent international study by U.S. research firm, Barna, revealed that only
33% of young people agreed with the statement “I often feel deeply cared for by those around me.”
Teenagers now also have more opportunities available to them than previous generations – but this myriad of choices often leads to them feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and paralysed by pressure to choose the right path in life. They are asking big questions - like “Who am I?”, “What’s my purpose?”, “What matters?” – and are longing, but struggling, to find adequate answers.
In this climate of rising anxiety and loneliness, the gospel is truly good news for our young people. Brian Rosner writes that “the human heart … aches for the reassurance of a satisfying story to make sense of our existence”. The Christian faith delivers this satisfying story. In order to engage youth with the gospel, now and into the future, it is vital to show them that it answers their deepest yearnings, that it speaks peace and hope into the anxieties of their lives, that it provides answers to questions of identity and purpose, and that it holds out a vision of true freedom and flourishing that is unlike anything else they might find.
As our society becomes increasingly fractured, we also need to find ways to show youth that in Christianity they can find authentic, personal community. Our Christian communities should be places where they’re deeply valued and cared for, and feel a close sense of connection to those around them.
Increasingly, faith-based schools may become one of the few places where many young people can regularly hear this message of hope, and experience a meaningful connection with a community that embodies this vision. For this reason, we must prioritise school-based ministry that helps students to see the truth, beauty, and goodness of Christianity. To truly engage with youth today and into the future, we need to show them that Christianity is both true and good – for them, for our society, and for the world.
