Most Of Gen-Z Not Connected To Any Religious Community, Preferring Making Their Own Spiritual Path.

Studies show that the Gen-Z youth is experiencing sensory overload in light of world events; Causing them to build their own spiritual path. Often leading to new age spirituality, the kids don’t even understand that it’s anything but “new”. Undoubtedly, there is a movement under the surface influencing the youth to steer toward new age spirituality and away from Christianity.

A new study investigating the disconnect between young people and traditional religious institutions in times of uncertainty has shown that most Gen Z or people aged 13 to 25 have no links to any specific religious community and are instead creating self-driven pathways of faith for themselves using both religious and non-religious sources.

The study looked at the reasons why members of Gen Z would opt for what the researchers called “Faith Unbundled” and what solutions can be put forth to address this.

“An analogy may help to illustrate Faith Unbundled. Think of how music streaming services like Pandora or Spotify unbundle albums: a person can enjoy specific tracks without buying the whole album,” researchers at Springtide Research Institute wrote. The new study was titled “The State of Religion & Young People 2021: Navigating Uncertainty” and was released this month.The researchers explained further how Pandora or Spotify empowered users to create their own playlists by “unbundling” albums and collections of songs from different artists or albums and creating their own “bundle,” versus listening to music the way the artist intended it to, in his or her own album. Springtide Research Institute authors said, “In essence, young people with unbundled faith will partake in religion, including practices, beliefs, and communities, to the degree that suits them, with no formal or permanent commitment.”

The research pulled on data gathered over an entire year’s worth of surveys, with 10,000 polls asking questions about Gen Z-er’s beliefs, practices, behaviors, relationships, and qualitative interviews about the same themes. The study found that members of Gen Z who identify with a religion are not in fact members of any spiritual or religious community. Moreover, a significant portion of them were constructing their own religious or spiritual pathway through “unbundling.”

According to the Christian Post, only 68% of respondents in the study who identified as Protestant said they were a member of a spiritual or religious community. Respondents who said they were Roman Catholics saw a drop among those who said the same at 56%, and among Mormons, the figure was 55%.

Respondents who said they were “just Christian” not only rejected affiliation with every organized Christian group but also said they were a member of or participated in “some kind of religious community” (52%). The other 48% said they did not participate or served as a member of any religious groups.

An overwhelming 58% of white religious young people said they were not involved in any religious community. Like-minded Hispanics showed a slightly lower number. Meanwhile, 59% said they did not participate in a religious or spiritual community. In terms of race, only black Americans and Asian Americans had a slight majority in those who said they did participate in a religious or spiritual community.

Additionally, the survey showed that while a majority (71%) of Gen Z respondents consider themselves to be religious or spiritual, they prefered to confide in their family and friends first instead of religious institutions during challenging moments in life. Up to 49% said they turned to family, 55% said they turned to friends. The poll also showed that they would be as likely to turn to “no one” as they would turn to someone from a religious community.

Often times, youth are easily led to download an astrology app.  Astrology is like a blueprint of someone’s personality, determined by the position of the planets, the sun and moon at the very moment said person was born. If you’ve read through the bible, you’ll find that nobody is finding their personality by stargazing. But it’s used as a band-aid for the sensory overload that society is to them. They use it as a tool to understand their here-and-now, their place in society and the ongoing challenges and pressure these generations are facing. But they’re too stubborn to look to the bible for answers.

Generation Z has been in a constant state of activism since they realized that they had voices as well. But their lack of perspective and scope of the circumstances are clear. The youth haven’t endured war, they are reaping the benefits off of the backs of those who laid down their lives for their freedom. This lack of respect calls for a brief lesson on history. Gen-Z wants no part in educating themselves to the views of their predecessors. This is where your ideologies become unsafe to society. If you cannot keep an open mind and take heed to sacred spiritual text, then why would you then attack it when we simply don’t want humanity to move in this direction.

Our guiding doctrine tells us not to do the exact things that much of our youth does on a regular basis. The solution to the mass miscommunication is communication. Well spoken, well thought out education. When I proclaim my Christian faith, I sometimes am scrutinized for being some sort of bigot. Instead of lashing out, I simply state that i’m open to any questions they might have as long as they don’t ask with a hateful heart. In which case, you’re talking to someone who only wants to dismantle your faith & doesn’t care to hear the gospel. If knowledge is power, why are the activists shying away from it? Because it’s clear that the blind are destined to lead the blind. There are smart kids out there, and they’re receptive to the word of God. Because they know that their thoughts aren’t original, and that history repeats itself. Stay inquisitive in the word of God, and the world around you.

Source: ChristianityDaily