“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
And he began to teach them many things.” ~ Mark 6.34
I read the verse above as part of my morning devotions today. It lingered in my mind as I went into the office and saw a new research report about young people. This report is entitled, “Relational Authority: The State of Religion & Young People 2020.” It consolidates data taken from over 10,000 young people ages 13-25 through quantitative surveys last year.
At first glance, the results of this report are deeply troubling. Young people today are describing staggering levels of loneliness, living in a world saturated with connectivity but perilously lacking connection. 40% say they feel (at least sometimes) that they have no one to talk to and that no one really knows them well, and 70% of respondents report having three or fewer meaningful interactions per day.
40% of today’s young people are religiously unaffiliated. Of the 60% of young people who are religiously affiliated, 52% report having little to no trust in religious institutions. In fact, it appears that institutional trust is at an all-time low. On a scale of 1 (no trust) to 10 (complete trust), organized religion scores a 4.9 - coming in ahead of media (4.4), congress (4.2), and big business (4.1), but behind such institutions as public schools (5.1), the medical system (5.2), and banks (5.3). A church’s impact on the lives of its young people is not automatic. It takes careful cultivation.
24% of young people say they never feel their life has meaning or purpose.
But hopeful patterns emerge throughout the study. While 24% of respondents say they never feel their life has meaning or purpose, this number drops to 6% for those with just one adult mentor. While three of five young people without a mentor report astonishing amounts of loneliness, this number plummets in correlation to the number of mentors in their life. In fact, the study reached a startling conclusion: a young person’s mentor relationships were a better predictive marker of their sense of community and purpose than their stated religious affiliation.
While I lament these realities, they don’t surprise me as someone who works with young people. These trends aren’t new. As a Christian, these trends make perfect sense. We are called to live in covenantal community. We are called to be disciples and to be disciple-makers. Baptismal vows don’t happen in a corner through hushed tones. We all take part. We are all participants in the culture, environment, and lives of young people. Knowing that is one thing. Doing something about it is another thing entirely.
There are many opportunities at our church to do the needful work of caring for and mentoring our young people. Perhaps God might move you to engage such opportunities (or to at least pray about them). Perhaps he might spur you on to receive mentorship yourself from someone else. I’m convinced that these trends and needs don’t just apply to young people. We all need to participate in discipleship in a way that gives and receives.
God’s Word offers us a sweet reminder. Jesus is the good shepherd who heard our lonely cries with a heart of compassion and pursued us. He is the one who has earned and cultivated our complete trust. Jesus offers us perfect purpose. Each of us can find the care of a shepherd in him. But we can also learn from his compassion and tender awareness of his sheep. As he makes disciples of us, he calls us ourselves to be disciple-makers. (Matthew 28.18-20) If you want to be changed, become a disciple. If you want to change the world, become a disciple-maker.
~ Pastor Hill
