When seeking information or advice, almost two-thirds of American “Millennials” – those born between 1980 and 1991 – prefer to rub shoulders with many people who have personal experience rather than a single recognized expert.
These and other findings are from a wide-ranging August 2009 LifeWay Research study of 1,200 Millennials in the United States. The study forms the basis for the upcoming book “The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation” by Dr. Thom Rainer and his son Jess Rainer.
According to the study, men (45 percent) and Asians (53 percent) are more likely than other Millennials to prefer learning from one recognized expert.
Sources of influence
Among all Millennials, the biggest sources of influence on their lives are parents, friends and extended family. The vast majority (88 percent) say their parent or parents remain a positive influence on their lives, including 51 percent who call them a strongly positive influence.
Those who indicate they trust Christ as their Savior, churchgoers and those who have some sort of religious beliefs are far more likely than others to say their parents are still a strongly positive influence on their lives.
More than half (55 percent) of Millennials with at least one living parent say they continue to get a lot of guidance from their parents, and another 31 percent say they get some guidance.
“One of the largest bridges spanning any generation gap is the desire of children to remain connected with their parents,” said Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. “The influence of parents on adult Millennials is still strong as their children move through adulthood.”
Eight in 10 Millennials say their friends are a positive influence on their lives, although only 33 percent called them a strongly positive influence. Nearly eight in 10 say they get much, or at least some, guidance from friends.
Most of those surveyed also say their extended families are positive influences – 42 percent saying somewhat positive and 33 percent saying strongly positive. One out of four Millennials indicate they get a lot of guidance from extended family members, while another 44 percent say they receive some.
Religious beliefs and the influence of media
Thirty-eight percent of Millennials say their religious beliefs have no influence on their lives. Thirty-two percent indicate their beliefs have a strongly positive influence, while another 26 percent call the influence somewhat positive.
African-Americans who trust Christ as Savior and those who have some sort of religious beliefs are far more likely than others to say those beliefs are a strongly positive influence in their lives.
Half of the respondents say a church or house of worship has no influence on their lives. Twenty-two percent indicate a church has a strongly positive influence, while another 21 percent call the influence somewhat positive.
Only 18 percent of all Millennials indicate they get a lot of guidance or advice from sacred texts such as the Bible, Torah or Koran, while another 24 percent get some. The most common answer (37 percent) is none at all.
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4 comments:
This is sad. The outside world looks at the church and says these people that call themselves christians are just like me. Why bother even going?
"Half of the respondents say a church or house of worship has no influence on their lives"
LOOKING AT THE WAY SO MANY CHURCHES HAVE GONE AND ESPECIALLY THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, THIS, UNFORTUNATELY IS A GOOD THING. THE MILLENIALS MAY WELL HAVE AVOIDED THEIR HERESIES, APOSTASIES, IDOLATRY, IMMORALITY, AND REBELLION AGAINST GOD.
"Only 18 percent of all Millennials indicate they get a lot of guidance or advice from sacred texts such as the Bible..."
THIS IS THE REAL SAD PART. WE ALL NEED INSTRUCTION FROM SCRIPTURES AND FROM WISE PEOPLE IN GOD'S WORD.
Derrick,
In my experience one or two things happen. The "outside world" has negative expectations of Christians and when we have negative expectations, it is easy to find an individual or a group that meets our expectations or who lives up to our prejudices. If we believe that pastors and churches are only interested in money, we can easily find a church where the pastor or the church is only interested in money. This does not mean that all pastors and churches are only interested in money. But having made up our minds that is what they are interested in and finding a pastor or church that substantiates our prejudice, we are not interested ininvestigating any further. We have already made up our mind and no one is going to unmake it for us. We can easily find churches that have their share of hypocrites and thereby reinforce our prejudice that all Christians are hypocritical. We can also find churches that are judgmental, unfriendly, superficial, and so on that will substantiate our stereotype of Christians and the church.
The other thing that happens is that outsiders do not really take the time to check "the church" out, get to know people and their struggles and how their faith in Christ helps them in their struggles. They take only a superficial look.
Christians are like other people. They have their shortcomings and failings. They are far from perfect. Christ can make a difference in our lives but that difference is often an accumulation of little differences. It is not a spectacular difference.
Only a few churches teach the doctrine of "Christian perfection," that we can become totally godly in our life time but even those churches are hard put to come up with examples of "Christian perfection."
Christians are works in progress. They must struggle with temptation and sin like everyone else. Over the years I have seen a number of people come to faith in Christ and watched their lives undergo a transformation. With God's help they have overcome addiction. They have become more generous, loving, and self-sacrificing. But do they become perfect? No.
I was taught that the church was a mixed bag. Jesus tells this parable about a field in which there are weeds growing among the young wheat plants. Every church is like that field. It has both wheat and weeds. We do not know which is which and God in his time will sort things out. What we may mistakenly think is a weed may actually be a young wheat plant. As pastors, teachers and ordinary Christians our job is to tend every plant as if it is young wheat. We are to build up each other in the Christian faith and life.
My own experience is that this is best done in small groups and in mentoring relationships. In small groups Christians learn to live their faith. The word "disciple" means "learner" and as a disciple we never stop learning, even when we become a pastor or teacher. We not only learn but we must apply what we learn, practice it. Too often we become sponges that absorb more and more but never put into practice what we are absorbing. God, however, calls us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers. This is an important lesson with which many Christians are still struggling.
In a way we are all like small children. We do not expect a small child to do everything perfectly the first time. If we do and the child fails, the fault is not in the child whatever we may believe. It is in us. We have unrealistic expectations.
Jesus teachs us that we are to forgive and to forgive again. We are not to just give the other person one more change. We are to keep giving the other person one more chance over and over again. I do not expect the "outside world" to live by Jesus' teaching. But when an outsider does that for the local church spotted and blemished as it may be, he has begun to walk with Jesus and become his disciple.
Robin
Thank you for your response. I am grieved that so many people my age do not know or care to know what the Scriptures say. Before God saved me I spent the first 22 years of my life in a church that didn't teach the Bible. They would just have a topic and throw out a verse here and there. I didn't read the Bible and I lived my way and I see the same thing happening today. What grieves me most is that they are blinded and seduced by false doctrine when we have free access to the Scriptures that were once illegal to posses. I like reading your blog each day and look forward to learning from your articles.
Regards,
Derrick
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