• 61% dropped out of church after going regularly

• 41% went through period of significant doubt

• 35% went through period when felt like rejecting parent’s faith

NOMADSA type of faith journey in which a person wanders or drifts from active involvement with a church or faith community. Nomads typically think of themselves as Christian, but they try new faith experiences or practices or allow their faith to become disconnected from spiritual priorities (p. 245)

At some point during their teen or young adult years, nomads disengage from attending church or significantly distance themselves from the Christian community. They demonstrate an up-and-down, hit-or-miss faith, like Katy Perry and Stephen Colbert, who put their faith on the shelf for a time. Most, however, do not discard it entirely (p. 63).

PRODIGALSA faith journey in which a person gives up on the faith of their childhood, i.e., someone who describes himself/herself as an ex-Christian.

Many prodigals are quite nuanced and logical in their reasons for disengagement. Most are more defined by and committed to their distance from Christianity than they are to their current spiritual perspectives. In other words, one of the identity-shaping characteristics of prodigals is that they say the are no longer Christians (p. 66).

EXILESA faith journey in which a person feels stuck between the comfortable, predictable world of church and the “real world” they feel called to influence. Often there is a disconnect between their calling or professional interests and their understanding of their Christian faith. While the journeys of prodigals and nomads occur during any kind of cultural setting, exiles are most common during periods of profound cultural, spiritual, and technological change (p. 246).

Exiles are not inclined toward being separate from “the world.” They are skeptical of institutions but are not wholly disengaged from them.Young exiles sense God moving “outside the walls of the church.”They are not disillusioned with tradition; they are frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of religion.They have not found faith to be instructive to their calling or gifts.

take heed how you hearHOW TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

recognize the source of growth The seed is the word of God. (v 11) I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So

neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Peter 1:23).

accept responsibility to hear The ones along the path are those who have heard; then

the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved (v 12).

And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away (v 13).

accept responsibility to hear And as for what fell among thorns, they are those who hear,

but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (v 14).

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience (v 15).

accept responsibility to hear He who has ears to hear, let him hear (v 8). To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom

of God, but for others they are in parables, so that “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand” (v 10).

Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away (v 18).

bear fruit with patience but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares

and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (v 14).

As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience (v 15).

He who has ears to hear, let him hear (v 8).

Pray to God for a good heart

Put away worldly entertainment

Develop a taste for God’s Word

Approach with a spirit of meekness

Put yourself under the knife

Apply immediately Meditate Stretch yourself

I have trouble reconciling the disconnect between what the church is saying and what its members are doing. I fail to understand the application when the church tells me to live in accordance with the Bible, but the “scripture” I see its members live by is titled “If I Work Hard I Am Entitled to Whatever Makes Me Happy.”I understand the concept of providing for my family, but I’m disappointed when conversations about new granite countertops seem to carry more weight than those about following Christ.

I see so much work for financial gain, by both church members and churches themselves, and I don’t think that is what I should be pursuing for the sake of Christ.If I can speak for my generation, we are presented with this dichotomy: your hard work has afforded us incredible opportunities, while at the same time your priorities and actions speak volumes. I’ve become thoroughly convinced that having more of anything other than love for God and neighbor will leave me dissatisfied with my relationships and possessions.

I wonder how radical the church would be if our actions spoke louder than our words, and those actions reflected the Greatest Commandment.

I want you to be someone I want to grow up to be like. I want you to step up and live by the Bible’s standards. I want you to be inexplicably generous, unbelievably faithful, and radically committed. I want you to be a noticeably better person that my humanist teacher, than my atheist doctor, than my Hindu next-door neighbor.I want you to sell all you have and give it to the poor. I want you to not worry about your health like you’re afraid of dying. I want you to live like you actually believe in the God you preach about.

I don’t want you to be like me; I want you to be like Jesus. That’s when I’ll start listening.