Times of testing

That was quick.

Only five years ago Pew Research reported an increasing number of American youth (ages 18-25) who claimed no religious affiliation. A year ago in January NPR ran a story based on a Pew survey about how “Religious ‘Nones’ are now the largest single group in the U.S.,” outnumbering both Catholics and evangelical Protestants. The term “Nones,” applied to this age group (millennials and Gen Z), required clarification: Only a small percentage were atheists, a slightly larger number were agnostic, and the majority might be described as having no opinion. They were just unattached to any systematic belief or religious institution. NPR also reported that these unaffiliated (or apathetic?) citizens tend to be young and white and were less likely to vote, volunteer, or participate in community activities. Males were more likely to describe themselves as atheists, females as “nothing in particular.”

That was then. This is … well, it’s hard to say just what this is. In late February another Pew survey indicated that the decline in religious commitment has slowed or even flattened. By vast majorities, Americans still believe in the human soul or spirit, in God or a higher power, and in an afterlife. They reject scientific materialism and embrace some form of spiritual reality.

Even more surprising, barely nine months after reporting on rising “nonery” among American youth, The New York Times noted that an increasing number of young men were going back to church. By March, that news was everywhere, reported with cautious optimism by most conservatives and anxious watchfulness by liberals who equated male Christianity with white nationalism and patriarchy.

But there’s more: In December The Wall Street Journal reported that “Sales in Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions.” The article quoted TikTok celebrity Cely Vazquez, on the occasion of purchasing her first Bible. As the star of one season of Love Island, Vazquez had the influencer fame many adolescents dream of, but “I felt something was missing. It’s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible.”

That general anxiety is especially widespread among the young, leading to the increased rates of depression and “suicidality” we’ve all heard about. Something is indeed missing, and those seeking meaning and comfort might hear it quietly murmuring on the sidelines. At “The Morning,” The New York Times’ daily newsletter, associate editor Lauren Jackson has been conducting a yearlong project called “Believing,” in which she interviews celebrities, religious figures, and random Americans about their faith journeys. “Many ‘nones’—people who have no religious affiliation—that I spoke to seem to have a dawning recognition that, in leaving faith, they ‘threw the baby out with the baptismal water.’”

One of her interviewees, a young man depressed and anxious during the pandemic, found his way to a men’s Bible study. Bible study led to baptism, after which, he recalled, “My mental and physical health improved dramatically.” Lauren also quoted Michele Margolis of the University of Pennsylvania on the deep needs of the human heart that millennials and Gen Z are discovering: “We want to feel connection. We want to feel like life makes sense.” Younger Americans have been told to follow their own hearts and create their own meaning, but that, Margolis observes, is “really hard.” Try impossible.

It’s not surprising that a revival of religious longing would stir the young, restless, and disillusioned. No trendy philosophy or political cause will satisfy. The news is encouraging, but it should drive us to our knees. Two questions we must ask: What is God doing? And how should we respond?

“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). Though not yet destroyed, the foundations are being shaken, politically, culturally, and spiritually. It’s hard to know what to even think, much less do. Yet, “the Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man” (verse 4). These are extraordinary times of testing—not only for the world facing the consequences of its godless theories, but for the Church as well. “You are the light of the world”—let the pure light of heaven shine through us.