The younger unchurched are more open to hearing about Christ than expected.
That is the good news delivered by Ed Stetzer and Co. in his new book Lost and Found: The younger unchurched and the churches that reach them. In it he makes the following revelation when comparing the younger unchurched (20-29 year olds who have been out of church, save special occasions, for at least six months) to the older unchurched (30+ year olds with the same requirements): “While many have told of the resistance of the younger unchurched, the loss of faith, and the close-mindedness about Christianity, we found the opposite. The younger unchurched are more open to hearing about Christ, not less” [p.55]. In fact, Stetzer says that their research shows 89% of unchurched twenty-somethings would be willing to listen to someone tell them about Christianity. To a point, the remainder of the book is focused on how Christians can maximize this opportunity.
When I first heard about this coming title last fall I could not wait until it was out. I have read and benefited from several of Dr. Stetzer’s previous books and by the preliminary description thought this one sounded a little like another book I really enjoyed over the last year, that being Dave Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons release unChristian. After reading it, I would have to say that this was an accurate thought, and that I actually prefer Lost and Found to unChristian in many ways, the least of which not being that it is ideologically more comfortable to me as a Southern Baptist reader.
Lost and Found is basically broken into three parts: a statistical portion where the results of the surveys are gathered and presented; an analytical part where the four key areas of importance for reaching the younger unchurched are explored; and a practical part where they lay out what churches who are currently having success at reaching the younger unchurched are doing right.
The statistical portion was interesting, at least to me, simply just to see how my generation (I’m soon to be 24) views God, Christianity and the Church. It would be easy just to rely on stereotypes or probe easily identifiable opinions, but the questions that were asked (either in a survey North American Mission Board or by LifeWay Research) did more than that; they unpacked the layers of underlying beliefs which may fuel more favorable surface level claims. For example, not only did they ask if the younger unchurched believe that God exists (81% said yes), but they asked if they believe this to be the one God of the Bible (57% agreed) and if they believe that the one God of the Bible is no different from the gods or spiritual beings depicted in other religions (58% said they hold this belief). So, what looks good on the surface, that 4 out of 5 people believe in a god or supreme being, and even a slight majority believe this to be the biblical God, more than half believe that, basically, all gods are the same. Not only is this disconcerting, but looking at the numbers you realize that there had to have been some respondents who believe both in the one God of the Bible and that he is also the same as Allah or the multiple Hindu gods. This makes a big difference in how one will proceed with the information gathered, and so is a major plus in the methodology of Stetzer and Co. It was also intriguing to see how the belief breakdowns of the younger unchurched compared to those of their older counterparts.
Check back tomorrow to read part 2 of my review on Dr. Stetzer’s new book, Lost and Found.
