There is a growing body of research demonstrating that there is a significant disconnect between professing faith in Jesus Christ and actually following Jesus.

A 2005 study by the National Study of Youth & Religion entitled, Portraits of Protestant Teens revealed a great deal about the contemporary approach to youth ministry and its shortcomings.

The study revealed that 59 percent of Protestant teens (13-17) report regular church attendance, meaning they attend church at least 1-3 times per month while 41 percent of all teens reported regular church attendance. The study participants identified affiliation with nine Protestant denominations with Southern Baptist being the largest group represented in which 65 percent of teens reported regular attendance.

Forty-seven percent of Protestant teens reported active involvement in their church’s youth group compared to 38 percent of all teens. The majority of Protestant teens also reported that they attend Sunday School “a few times a month,” participate in youth retreats, rallies, and conferences.

In all, 90 percent of Protestant teens say they believe in God compared to 85 percent of all teens; only 12 percent of all teens say they are “unsure about the existence of God.”
Clearly this generation is not irreligious, quite the contrary. However, further research begins to reveal this disconnect that I mentioned earlier. According to the study, only 55 percent of Protestant teens believe in life after death – a belief held by 50 percent of all teens including the non-religious.

In a further contradiction, 69 percent of Protestant teens say they have made “a personal commitment to live for God” and yet only 32 percent read the Bible once a week or more and 19 percent report having had sexual intercourse in the last year compared to 22 percent of those who are un-churched. Additionally, 63 percent of Protestant teens report cheating in school compared to only 58 percent of all teens and 41 percent say that morals are relative – that “there are no definite rights or wrongs for everybody.” Barna Research further underscores glaring contradictions between the beliefs of most professing teens and accepted biblical doctrines.

Sociologist, Dr. Christian Smith reported in an even earlier, much larger, study gleaned from in-depth interviews, which he published in his book, Soul Searching that “we suggest that the de facto dominant religion among contemporary U.S. teenagers is what we might call “Moralistic, Therapeutic, Deism.” This of course has very little to do with historic, orthodox Christianity.

These findings are consistent with my own experience as well, as I travel and speak with teens and young adults around the country. Most have little idea why they believe what they believe or how to integrate these beliefs into a coherent view of reality that guides their lives in every area.

The reasons for this unorthodox view of Christianity and the paradox between professed beliefs and biblical doctrine may be given by the teens themselves. More than one-third of Protestant teens say that Church “does not make them think about important things” and 51 percent say that church “is not a good place to talk about serious issues.”

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