Christians, especially young people, are under societal pressure to accept non-Christian narratives often described as politically correct or ‘woke.’ The effects of these pressures have been poorly studied in young Christians.
Teleios surveyed young believers to determine their views about different topics currently emphasized by non-Christian society. Of the 440 participants the majority were: female (67%), <35 years old (79%), from the United States (52%), and evangelical (62%, an individual saved by grace having been forgiven their sins through faith in Christ) as well as social (28%, an individual who identifies mostly with Christian culture or society while not being overly religious) Christians.
The participants on average disagreed (59 to 81%) with terms often used by those who hate God to describe Christians, such as: racist, unscientific, homophobic, having too much privilege, not diverse enough, or too trusting in the Bible. Similarly, between 62 and 96% denied they personally displayed such characteristics. Further, 84% denied they feel badly/guilty about their Christian beliefs and 74% disagreed that such feelings caused them to be quiet about their faith.
Young Christians mostly understood that they should confidently stand firm in their biblical beliefs (86%), believe the truth of scripture (73%), and share it with others (72%). Only a very low percentage of respondents indicated they feel badly about their faith, should keep quiet, or embrace communism/socialism (<6%).
In contrast, a high percentage of young Christians were able to identify several important issues from the New Testament epistles that the church should exemplify, including: loving one another (82%), praying (79%), knowing God’s word (77%), upholding and teaching others God’s word (76%), and encouraging one another (73%).
Overall, participants had high wellbeing scores (4.6 on a scale of 0-6, with 6 being highest). When analyzed for each survey question, those who disagreed that Christians have too much privilege (p=0.016), as well as those who denied they were personally racist (p>0.001), unscientific (p=0.004), and not diverse enough (p=0.004) showed better wellbeing over those who accepted such labels. A p-value of 0.02 was used to declare significance.
Dr. William C. Stewart, co-founder of Teleios, Inc., noted that “This survey was quite positive, and it showed that the vast majority of high school, college age and young adult Christians, possess strong spiritual faith and values. Further, participants noted generally very good wellbeing. However, those who rejected the negative image by which non-Christian society portrays Christians, possessed greater wellbeing than those who did not. Nonetheless, there is still obvious room for education to help young people better understand what scripture says about God, Christ, the Christian life and the manner by which they relate to non-Christian society.”
In summary, this survey indicated that evangelical millennial and generation Xers generally have a positive view of their Christian identity, demonstrate orthodox knowledge of scripture and recognize the benefit of their belief system to society. Young Christians generally reject the negative view placed on them by non-Christian society and demonstrates better personal wellbeing than those who do not reject society’s negative view of Christians.
The survey does indicate the need for more education for young believers to better understand scripture and outreach to the world.
Complete results of this survey can be found here.
WC Stewart, JA Stewart, LA Nelson
