The statistics are alarming: over 70%, that is almost 3 out of every 4, young Christians walk away from their faith when they are in the first years of college! These are young adults who were born and raised in Christian families. They went to church with their parents and likely attended church classes and youth groups. Perhaps they even went to Christian schools or were home schooled. Still, by the time they get to ‘live on their own’, which in most cases is when they go to college; they walk away from their faith, likely to never return again. This is a grueling statistic. This is not just another poll we can ignore, but this is a society changing phenomenon. I know this to be true, not just from looking at it, but also from living it. I was part of this ‘walking away from the faith’ phenomenon in the 1960ies and 1970ies in the Netherlands. Being raised in a Christian family and spending my young years with my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles ‘in church’ I, and most of my fellow students, lost my faith in high school/college. The result: the Netherlands, which was once founded on solid Christian values and considered for centuries to be a sound Christian nation, is now a country where about 50% of its citizens claim to be atheist and there are now possibly more active Muslims than Christians! When a whole young generation changes their values and beliefs it will only take about 20-30 years (one generation) until the whole population has changed its values and beliefs, simply because the young people of today will be the parents of tomorrow, raising their children in their worldview which obviously is anything but Christian. Unless we change this trend America will in the next 20 or 30 years, go through a silent revolution that will reshape this country into a completely secular nation that has lost the values of the Bible and will be no different from what we see today in most western European countries. Why do young Christians walk away? Why is this happening? I think the main reason is simply because ‘we do not know what to believe and why to believe it’. The average Christian today has a real challenge trying to explain what he or she actually believes and why he or she believes it. Confusion reigns at extreem levels. For instance Barna research data shows that about 40% of self-proclaimed Christians believe that Jesus committed sins while He was on earth. A whopping 59% of Christians believe that “Satan is not a living being but just a symbol of evil”, 58% of Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity”, and 39% of Christians think that “the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths”. Mind you, this is what ‘Christians’ believe! These are the beliefs of people who proclaim that Jesus is their personal savior but at the same time 4 out of every 10 of them thinks that Jesus himself was a sinner. They don’t even realize how inconsistent that is, since Jesus is God Himself (as part of the trinity) and cannot sin and if He would have sinned, He would have died for His own sins and not ours. As said, today’s Christians do not know what to believe and why to believe it. Knowledge and understanding of basic common doctrines, known by every Christian before us, are fading away fast. Mostly it seems that we’re so confused by the worlds mixed signals that we just do not know (and/or care) anymore what to believe. The indoctrination with the concepts of evolution starts at elementary school and continues through the high school and college years. So what do you expect a young person to believe about a God who created the universe, our planet, all life forms and ultimately us in His image? How can a young person believe in the teachings of the Bible like the 10 Commandments if at the same time he/she lives in a ‘Christian’ nation where abortion, divorce, gay marriage, lies and deceit, self-adoration, sexual immorality and so on, is the completely accepted order of the day? And do not even get me started about the messages the average Christian hears on Sunday morning from the pulpit, where it seems that the only objective of most of today’s sermons is to ‘make you feel good’. Today’s criteria for a ‘good’ church to attend is a place with exciting and entertaining worship, followed by a well delivered, partly funny and partly interesting ‘sermon’ that will bolster our idea that God will do anything to make us happy and is still so desperate for us to be saved that we can do whatever we want.

Europe lost its 'generation of young Christians' in the 1960ies and 1970ies. Now in most western European countries (UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France etc) church weekly attendance is below 15% and still dropping.   In most western European country less than 30% of the population even believes that God exist (and this includes the Muslim population) By its nature, TRUTH is: 1) intolerant 2) does not have to be liked 3) does not have to be the majority opinion Nederlands - Dutch   Related Articles Creation versus Evolution Studying the Big Bang A Rare and Privileged Earth First Life (Abiogenesis) No Evolutionary Mechanism Windmill Ministries - home Does God exist? Is the Bible true? Is Jesus God? Book - DVD store Search our resources:

What is TRUTH? Does it even exist?

What happened to the truth? Is that not where it is all about? Is that not why Jesus said: “I am the way, the TRUTH and the life; nobody comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), or why Jesus answered Pilate: “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to me.” (John 18:37), and why the Bible tells us: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said: “If you hold on to my teachings you are really my disciples. Then you will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will set you free.” (John 8:31-32.)

Do we even still know what truth is? Our post-modern society tries very hard to convince us that absolute truth does not exist: “truth is whatever works for you”. That’s what young people get brainwashed with in just about every philosophy and worldview class in college. You are a bigot if you would dare to believe otherwise. Well I have news for you: if something is TRUE, it by definition makes other things FALSE. If it is TRUE that Christ is the only way to the Father, it implies that anybody who claims that there is any other way is WRONG. If it is TRUE that God created our universe it automatically implies that evolution is NOT TRUE. If the Bible indeed is the complete and true Word of God, it implies that any other book that claims to be the word of God is false.

Truth – just by its nature – is intolerant, not necessary liked and it does not have to be the majority opinion. You might want to take about this last sentence for a few moments; it has quite some serious consequences for anybody who believes to know something to be true.

Truth exists. We just need to find out what is true and what is not. Everybody, Christian or not, will have to find their own answers to what is true or not. And these answers will define how people live their lives: as a Christian or perhaps a Muslim or a Hindu or even an Atheist.

So what do we need to do if we want to save the next generation of Christians?

1)      As always, change starts with you. You first need to know WHY Christianity is true. Not just so you can share with others but also so that many of us will actually really start believing it ourselves. You need to study and understand some of the basic arguments for the truth of Christianity, including: the evidences for the existence of God like the origin of time, space, matter and energy; the uniqueness of planet Earth and how rare life is in the universe; the origins of life and so on. Also, you need to understand what makes the Bible a historical, accurate, reliable collection of books written by eyewitnesses giving honest testimony and confirmed by archaeology and non-Biblical contemporary writers. And you need to know and understand the evidences for Jesus divinity: the miracles He performed, His fulfillment of hundreds of Old Testament prophecies and above all the very compelling and convincing case for His resurrection from the death.

2)      Next, you need to study and understand the basic teachings of the Bible about sin (how any sin separates us from a holy God), salvation (how and why we only can be saved through the blood of Christ), the Trinity (the oneness of God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit) and God’s ‘rules’ for family relationships and how to live a God-pleasing life. And off course apply all this in your own life!

3)      With the foundation of knowing ‘what to believe and why to believe it’ in place, you are ready for sharing and teaching. Your main area of influence is your spouse, children and parents. Despite of the strong influence of school and peers on young people, still the parents have the most influence on how a young person develops. So start with sharing about your faith with them and (almost most importantly) change your life to reflect your reverence for God and your gratefulness for your salvation through Christ. A testimony is only effective if words are supported by a living example.

4)      Lastly try to reach out to the (young people) community. Spent time with children, teenagers and young adults and encourage them to ask questions about their faith. You will be amazed how many and what kind of questions and concerns they have. Young people are still very open-minded. They are not set in their ways yet, so they are willing and often eager to learn and adapt their ways. Research has shown that the main reasons they abandon their faith is because they do not have answers to questions or just do not care about it anymore. Asking questions and encouraging discussions combined with critical thinking are great ways to get their attention.

And finally, do not underestimate the power of Prayer. Even if you are not able to do anything else, please pray for the future of the next generation of Christians in this country and most of the other ‘western’ countries.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)