Nearly half of millennial Christians say that evangelism is wrong, a new study shows.
According to Christianity Today, the Barna Group released new findings last week which show that 47 percent of millennial Christians believe it is inappropriate to share their Christian faith with people of a different religion in hopes that they will eventually convert to Christianity.
Despite this, Christianity Today reports that the Barna results found that Millennials still believe they are “good evangelists and still see themselves as representatives for their faith.
According to Christianity Today, a previous study showed that born-again millennials were becoming more evangelistic while other generations’ evangelical habits were declining. The survey also found that born-again millennials were the age group most likely to share their faith. According to the new Barna survey, however, that number is on the decline.
The survey also found that millennial Christians are on par with Generation X, the Baby Boomers and elders in their belief that being a witness about Jesus is a part of the Christian faith. 96 percent of millennial Christians said that they agreed with this statement while 97 percent of Gen Xers agreed and 95 percent of Baby Boomers and elders agreed.
Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and elders each outscored millennial Christians by three percent with only 94 percent of millennial Christians believing that “the best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to come to know Jesus.”
Conversely, millennial Christians are far more confident in their abilities to share their faith with others than their three counterparts. The survey found that 73 percent of millennial Christians agreed or strongly agreed that they are “gifted at sharing” their faith with other people, whereas 66 percent of Gen Xers agreed or strongly agreed, 59 percent of Baby Boomers agreed or strongly agreed and 56 percent of elders agreed or strongly agreed.
David Kinnaman, the Barna president, says that he believes the decline in evangelism is due to the rise in the “cultural expectation against judging personal choices.”
The survey found that 40 percent of Christian millennials agree with the statement, “If someone disagrees with you, it means they’re judging you” – this is two and three times more than those in Gen X, Baby Boomers and elders.
Kinnaman said, “Cultivating deep, steady, resilient Christian conviction is difficult in a world of ‘you do you’ and ‘don’t criticize anyone’s life choices’ and emotivism, the feelings-first priority that our culture makes a way of life.”
“As much as ever, evangelism isn’t just about saving the unsaved, but reminding ourselves that this stuff matters, that the Bible is trustworthy, and that Jesus changes everything,” he added.
Photo courtesy: Simon Maage/Unsplash
Comments are closed.