Here’s the thing with this data: why should young people who believe that hell is a real place (67 per cent) and that Jesus is the only way to heaven (68 per cent) apparently give evangelism such a low priority in the survey?
There is little doubt that those who answered the questions hold to a fairly traditional mind-set; 85 per cent believe that Jesus died so that they could go to heaven and ranked Jesus’ coming to earth so that they could be forgiven as the most important theological statement on offer - this is clearly a group that endorses evangelical doctrines such as the atonement.
Should we be shocked and concerned then that the same group ranked evangelism in last place as a priority for the Church? Are our young people apathetic, uncaring or ashamed to share their faith? Maybe, but if you asked me the same questions, I most likely would have answered the survey in exactly the same way!
Do I believe in hell? Yes!
Do I believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Yes!
In a church context, would I rank evangelism behind experiencing God, community, teaching and social outreach? Most probably (keep reading…)!
Does that mean that somehow I don’t believe in the importance of evangelism, or that I don’t care whether people come to experience God or not? (For the record, evangelism is extremely important to me.)
But the survey doesn’t ask ‘do I believe in evangelism?’ or ‘am I committed to sharing my faith?’ It asks, in the context of church life, where I would place evangelism. Actually, the notion that one can survive without the other is unrealistic; in any church growth movement you will find all five aspects listed above at play. If one is lacking then growth will be stunted regardless of how you rank that aspect.
I actually believe evangelism is implied throughout the other four options, and would not want to compartmentalise evangelism as an isolated ‘thing’ within a church context (however outside of the church is a totally different conversation to be had). Experiencing God is, in my opinion, evangelistic! The psalmist invites his readers to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good!’ (Psalm 34:8) We model that week in and week out within our youth ministries, in the hope that our teens will bring their friends – why is that? So that their friends may encounter God. Ironically though, in the same survey only 15 per cent of those questioned claim that to be their main experience with their youth group, whereas 46 per cent claimed to connect with God at church. The same can be said for community and teaching, two more critical components to the growth of the church seen in the Acts 2:42-47. Who was joining the Church at that time? Non-believers - they were first generation Christians! As for social concern as long as it is deliberate and intentional, isn’t that an expression of needs-based evangelism as seen in Micah 6:8?
While I am not overly concerned about the ranking of evangelism within the context of this survey, I am intrigued by what the demographics might tell us about evangelism itself. Of those surveyed, 89 per cent called themselves Christians, and of these at the very least 73 per cent were coming from a strong church-based background (66 per cent weekly, 7 per cent twice a month). From this survey we see that three out of four of the young people who would call themselves Christians are likely to have one or both parents going to church regularly, and the other quarter may well have some (weaker) Christian home influences. So what might we conclude from this? It appears that youth ministry is focusing mainly on young people with church backgrounds.
Youth ministry over the last 20 years has become very professional with high standards, and many of those who have been trained are theologically savvy, but how many have been trained to share the gospel to an unchurched audience, and train young people to be able to share their faith with their friends? I have a hunch that it might not be as many as we would like.
It is obvious from a missiological standpoint that the most effective way to reach young people is through young people. Evangelism is often perceived to be a negative experience, and even those actively involved often view it in the same way that they might view visiting the dentist: something to be endured but not necessarily enjoyed. In Youth for Christ, we don’t see it that way. Evangelism isn’t something to endure but to be enjoyed. We remain committed to the ‘ four Ds’: demonstrate, declare, decide, disciple. We recognise that for many, sharing their faith is hard, and we are constantly developing resources as well as offering evangelism training to help churches, youth groups and young people to help. What’s more, we are not the only ones out there doing this.
To summarise, I suspect the survey is telling us that the majority of those who participated are coming from church-based backgrounds, hold to traditional biblical beliefs, are not opposed to evangelism but are not necessarily focused outwardly either. So how do we address that? By putting evangelism back on the agenda and asking tough questions which involve evaluating what sharing the gospel looks like to a young person in 2015, and then responding accordingly. Youth for Christ, and other agencies just like us, are here to help.
