A Generation of Atheist?

Some of my fondest memories as a parent are of the early years when I would sit down and read to our three children.  Most of the time, they would be Bible stories. I think we wore out a couple of the Arch Books.   As I recall The Boy Who Gave His Lunch Away and The Runaway Prophet were a couple of the favorites.  I also recall family devotional time after dinner.  The attention spans were short, so we usually did more singing than reading.  Jesus Loves Me, was always the favorite but His Banner over us is Love and The Butterfly Song were not far behind.

With Mark and Katie I even continued that tradition into high school.  Then we would gather around 10 PM, just before they went to bed.  I usually let them choose the devotion.  Usually they would use a book that contained short devotions by famous Christian singers like Rebecca St. James, Stephen Curtis Chapman and Amy Grant.  Somewhere upstairs we even have a book of devotions written by teens that includes one written by Mark.

These thought came to mind recently as I read a report from The Barna Group that indicated Atheism is on the rise in America.  Sadly, a growing number of teens are now claiming to be Atheist.  While 6% of the general population claimed to be Atheist, 15% of the members of Generation Z (born since 1999) deny the existence of God.  I was left to wonder how many of those young people had Bible stories read to them during their early years.  How many of them had parents who still took the time to talk about spiritual issues with them? 

Part of the study identified the feelings that people have toward the church.  I found the opinions of Millennials and members of Generation Z especially disturbing.  Some of the responses included:

“I have a hard time believing that a good God would allow so much evil and suffering in the world” (30% of Millennials and 29% of Generation Z),

“Christians are hypocrites” (31% of Millennials and 23% of Generation Z),

“I believe science refutes too much of the Bible (24% of Millennials and 20% of Generation Z).

In reflecting on the above, we need to remember that this is the generation that has grown up post 9/11.  They have only known a world where terrorism is in the news almost daily.  It is only natural for them to ask, “Where is God in all of this?”  The same kind of questions might be raised as they try to rationalize what they learn in science class, with what they learned in Sunday school.

The passing of the torch of faith is a life-long process.  It includes making sure they have proper instruction in the faith and surrounding them with a community of believers who model discipleship.  It also means providing a forum for them to discuss the issues that are important to them, even if we don’t have the answers.