4 Spiritual Crises Among Millennials, Part 2

Spiritual Crisis #1: Devoid of God and Truth

Accepting truth outside of their personal experience and opinions is not something most Millennials are willing to embrace.

“Truth is what you believe it to be. You have your truth, and I have mine.”

That’s the answer given to me after striking up a conversation with a young businessman while we sat next to each other before bordering our plane.

The idea that truth is absolute, objective, and universal is held in contempt in the postmodern culture we live in today.

When a person feels the need to believe in something, that belief originates from the framework of ideas. As those ideas materialize—it gives birth to a particular worldview that will determine how they think, act, and live.

With the denial of objective truth, Millennials are quick to believe in sentiments that hold no substance and are mesmerized by social justice initiatives that conceal their real agenda.

Today’s enticement to placate personal preference as the way to determine truth has found its way as the mastery interpreter of reality and Christianity. Ultimately, humanity is free to choose and act however they desire because no absolutes exist to govern their affairs.

Though most Millennials affirm God’s existence, an overwhelming majority reject the notion that God is Truth and is the Ultimate Standard of justice. Therefore, you are left with Jesus as a way to God. Not the only way.

As mentioned above, a big reason the “religiously unaffiliated” has drastically risen among the Millennial population is due to the contradictions, hypocrisy, and biblical illiteracy repeatedly witnessed among their parents.

Despite holding to Christian beliefs, the parents failed to behave according to their religious convictions. Resulting in the lack of transferring a grounded faith to their kids.

Currently, by all estimates, roughly 20% of Millennials self-identify as atheists. According to research from Dr. George Barna in November 2021, 40% of Millennials are what he terms “don’ts”—meaning they don’t know if God exists, don’t care if God exists, or don’t believe that He exists.

By his most recent count, 67% of Millennials claim to be Christians, but only 2% actually possess a biblical worldview.

Casual Christians

When you take a closer look at Millennials who self-identify as Christian, the dominant group are, for lack of a better word, casual Christians.

Millennials have grown up with a kind of ‘Kardashian faith” that mirrors little of biblical Christianity. Half-sister to the Kardashians, Kendall Jenner, on her website, sums up perfectly the casual Christian’s point of view,

I was definitely taught — even by my sisters — to believe in God. Also, to believe that He has a plan. Even though I’m more spiritual than religious, I pray every night and I 100 percent identify as Christian. It’s most important to me, though, just to be good in your heart and do good in the world.

Kendall’s description of her faith is where we find most Millennials who self-identify as Christian. They are more spiritual in their beliefs with a sprinkle of Christianity on top.

Casual Christians have received a hefty dose of secularism and evolutionary theory that runs contrary to a biblical creation model. The indoctrination of naturalism has led Millennials to flock to mainline Christian denominations that are far more liberal in their views of the Bible, theology, and social issues.

As Joe Dallas rightfully points out,

To these groups, binaries such as male and female are anathema. Traditional sexual mores are bigotry. Traditional evangelism is thinly disguised nationalism. The larger issues they believe we all should address include social justice, ending racism, slowing global warming, redistributing wealth, and ending all vestige of oppression. Enlightened people are expected to follow their lead in pursuing these goals above all others.

Casual Christians have played a significant role in contributing to the decline of Christianity and its influence in the culture. They have refused to bring clarity to the gospel and avoid at every measure getting into exchanges that might be deemed offensive.

Spiritual Crisis #2: Bible Famine

When surveying Millennials, three out of 10 believe that the Bible is a trusted and reliable source containing eternal truths.

In 2014, the American Bible Society, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and the Barna Group commissioned an online survey of Millennials ranging in age from 18 through 30 in the United States.

The purpose of the survey was to provide a well-documented analysis of how Millennials view the Bible and their shift away from it as a sacred text. The research uncovered many alarming beliefs of Millennials. But one portion of the study stood out to me.

More than six in 10 non-Christian Millennials have never read the Bible (62%), but what do they think about those who do read it? For most, it seems to evoke feelings of alienation and distance. When they see someone reading the Bible in public, non-Christian Millennials say they assume the Bible reader is politically conservative (22%); that they don’t have anything in common with the person (21%); that the Bible reader is old fashioned (17%); or that they are trying to make a statement or be provocative (15%). Fewer than one in 10 non-Christian young adults indicate any kind of positive response, such as encouragement (7%) or joy (7%). Only 9% of non-Christians say they feel curious about what’s in the Bible when they see someone reading it—a disappointing statistic for those who hope their Bible reading could spark spiritual conversation with non-Christians.

And now, the recent data issued by the Cultural Research Center shows that only 29% of Millennials have a favorable opinion of the Bible, and a meager percentage look to the Bible as their primary source to guide them to make the right moral decisions.

Spiritual Crisis #3: Directionless

I sat down with Trent, a 28-year-old math whiz and part-time YouTuber.

“It’s been hard trying to figure out what I’m going to do for the rest of my life,” said Trent with a stoic look.

I asked Trent if most of his friends feel the same way. He shook his head in approval.

“What’s causing you to be so stressed and worried about your future?” I asked

Trent gave a few standard answers. Paying bills. Finding the right job. Stuff like that.

But I knew there was something more going on with Trent than he was letting on.

“Hey, Trent. Do you mind if I ask you something personal?”

“Sure,” Trent answered, with a slight hesitation in his voice.

“When you get overwhelmed about work or paying bills, or even when you have to make an important decision in your life, how often do you talk to God about it?”

Trent looked me over before responding.

I think he was making sure he could trust me with what he was about to say.

“I don’t know. Not much, I guess. I mean, I know I need to reconnect with God. And, yeah, I’m lonely and all. I do need some divine intervention in my life because, like, yeah, man, I’m pretty directionless in my life right now.”

When you factor in the Y2K scare in 2000, the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the recession in 2008-2009, the trillions of dollars of government bailouts, the millions of jobs lost during the COVID pandemic, and record-high inflation—Millennials and Gen Z have had
to reevaluate their careers and plans for the future.

Whether it’s a single mom in her mid-30’s trying to raise her kids right or a Starbucks-loving 20- something who finds himself in debt to his eyeballs in student loans—you will discover that 75% of Millennials are wandering through life dazed and confused about their purpose in life.8

But finding purpose and meaning in life goes much deeper than choosing the right career path.

Much of the confusion, frustration, and anxiety has led to a substantial increase in mental health issues and suicides.

The rise of mental health issues and suicides does, however, speak to the godlessness pervading this young generation.

In his monumental volume, God, Revelation, and Authority, legendary theologian Carl F. H. Henry poignantly characterizes the utter depravity that consumes a person’s soul without God.

The modern loss of the God of the Bible has at the same time therefore involved a vanishing sense of human dependence on anything outside man himself; man sees himself as living on a planet devoid of any intrinsic plan and purpose, and supposedly born of a cosmic accident. He himself must originate and fashion whatever values there are. The current existential emphasis on man’s freedom and will to become himself, particularly on freedom and responsibility as the very essence of human life, regards external authority as a repressive threat. Man’s unlimited creative autonomy is exalted; this “authentic selfhood” consequently requires the rejection of all transcendently given absolute norms, for they are seen as life-draining encumbrances.9

The spiritual wantonness that besieges Millennials has reduced them to thinking their “authentic selfhood” is the best complement to living a happy and fulfilled life. And yet, the opposite of such pitiless aggrandizing emerges. Instead of being self-congratulatory for rejecting God and his moral absolutes—Millennials feel disoriented and are overcome by shame and regret.

All of this leaves Millennials hoping to find some form of satisfaction, whether in a relationship, spending hours upon hours on social media, or self-medicating themselves to dull the emotional pain.

Spiritual Crisis #4: Faithless Parenting

The most staggering statistic I have read in recent years came from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University. In Dr. Barna’s research, he found that only 2% of parents of children under 13 possess a biblical worldview.

I have to say, when I read that stat, I was shocked, angry, and sad all at the same time.

Not only that, but the report went on to add “that parents who have biblical beliefs do not follow through with consistent, biblical behavior.”

Consider, for a moment, the profound implications this will have down the road.

Essentially, 98% of self-identified Christians are modeling and teaching their kids a nominal Christianity—at best!

In an intriguing piece, the Deseret News put out new findings from the Survey Center on American Life that focuses on how busy family schedules leave no time for religion. The article states, “In addition to creating a lot of stressed-out kids, modern parents’ fixation on achievement is reshaping families’ relationships with organized religion. Young adults today heard less about faith from their parents during childhood than previous generations and spent less time in church.”

Let’s not be fooled when parents who profess to know Jesus also say they are too busy to attend church or can’t find the time to read the Bible. They may say they believe, but their actions don’t match their speech. That is a form of rejection—a rejection of Christianity.

If parents continue down this slippery slope, I fear there won’t be many parents in the not-too- distant future who will be teaching their kids about the Christian faith.