A new report has been released by Barna Research Group (https://www.barna.com/research/missing-church/) relative to worship habits of Millennials and Generation Z (18-35 year olds). Among those who claim to be Christians, 33% attend worship once a week while 10% used to go but no longer attend. Yet, almost half (44%) say that attendance in worship is not essential to their faith. What that suggests is that someone has fallen down on the responsibility to teach what worship is and why it is important.
Why Millennials attend worship is another interesting study. Largely it seems related to personal spiritual development. Sixty percent of Christians say they go to worship to grow in their faith and learn about God. Those are the two top reasons why they attend worship. Other reasons include “receiving relevant teachings (40%), wisdom on how to live faithfully (39%) or wisdom for applying Scriptures (35%).”
Notice how self-oriented these reasons are. Notice they are largely about “me:” for me to grow, for me to learn about God, for me to receive relevant teachings, for me to gain wisdom to live faithfully, for me to gain wisdom in applying Scriptures. That suggests another area of weakness in someone’s teaching: Worship is not primarily about me. It’s about God. What about worshipping God because He deserves it? What about worshipping God primarily to show our thanksgiving to God for who He is and what He’s done? That seems to be the primary motivation for worship in the Scriptures.
It seems ironic that even though there is a high level of interest in learning, still, 39% say they already know all they need to know. Nearly half (47%) say church teachings have flaws or gaps. This is a broad-based Protestant and Catholic response but it should challenge us in Christ’s church to see that our teachings need to focus on the biblical text as much as possible, to show and explain why we believe what we believe. Few of us want to be shackled to rituals and traditions. But if aspects of our worship are Scripturally prescribed, rather than ritual, we need to understand that from the biblical text.
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These same individuals were asked what was missing from “church.” Almost one out of five (18%) say their friends were not a part of their church experience. We all know that religion and spiritual experiences have declined among this generation so it comes as no surprise that many worship without their friends. Among the factors that were listed as “missing” from their church experiences were: relationship workshops (14%), support groups (13%), and social gatherings outside of worship (14%). Most of these factors were not reasons for participating in worship. Only 14% say they attend because someone cares deeply about them.
It is instructive to see what people understand and expect out of worship. We should not take polls to see how we need to manipulate worship in order to meet people’s needs. If we approach worship as God designed it, then His way will meet the needs of His human creation. But, knowing what people expect can help us understand where we can meet them and bring them to where God wants them to be.
Paul Holland
