Washington D.C., Feb 13, 2019 / 03:06 am (CNA).- Millennials are notoriously blamed for being killers of previously-thought-necessary industries and activities: Applebees. Napkins. Golf. Mayonnaise. Lunch. And so on.
For the ever-shrinking number of millennials who are practicing Christians, could evangelization be on the chopping block next?
Recent data from the Barna group, which researches the intersection of faith and culture, shows that of millennials practicing their Christian faith, almost half – 47 percent – believe it is at least somewhat wrong to “share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith.” This is significantly higher than the number of Gen X-ers (27 percent), and Boomers (19 percent), who said the same.
But while at a glance this statistic may be alarming, given the missionary mandate of the Church, there might be more behind it than just another hit on the millennial kill list.
Elizabeth Klein is an assistant professor of theology at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado. One of the main goals of the institute is to prepare students to respond to the New Evangelization – a term popularized by Pope John Paul II that emphasizes a renewed call to share the Gospel with the world.
Klein said before sounding the alarm about the death of evangelization, the statistic should be read in light of the others also shared by Barna – that 96 percent of millennials believe “part of my faith means being a witness about Jesus,” that 94 percent said that “the best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to know Jesus,” and that 73 percent said “I am gifted at sharing my faith with other people” – higher than every other generation included in the data.
And in 2013, 65 percent of millennial Christians said they had shared the Gospel with someone in the past year, compared to the national average of about half of Christians in general.
“I thought it was interesting that they didn’t highlight that millennials in fact evangelize more than the older generations do,” Klein said of an article from Christianity Today on the data.
Furthermore, she said, the phrasing of the particular question about evangelization probably also affected the way millennials responded.
“I thought the phrasing of the specific question – it’s about people who already have a religious faith, so I thought that was a big factor,” Klein told CNA.
“I think millennials are more likely to see someone of a different faith as more of an ally maybe than in the past,” she said, “because we are in such a post-Christian, post-religious world that anyone else who is practicing a faith may be more likely to be seen as someone you have a lot in common with, rather than the chief object of evangelization for millennials,” which would probably be atheists or fallen away Catholics, she said.
Vince Sartori is a regional director with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which trains students and missionaries on college campuses to form disciples through friendships and Bible studies. Evangelizing in a millennial culture is at the heart of the group’s work.
Sartori, who served as a missionary on two different campuses before becoming a regional director, said he has noticed a hesitancy in millennials on campus to engage in evangelization.
“I think some of it comes down to a misunderstanding of evangelization versus proselytization,” Sartori told CNA.
Proselytization, Sartori said, happens when “the person is preaching or going out to be heard, not listening to someone but rather just trying to get a point across.”
Evangelization, on the other hand, is “about building trust, encountering a person, understanding a person, and introducing them to Jesus and proposing ideas, as opposed to just telling them something.”
Sartori said the way millennials answered this question also reflects the current political climate and a culture that prioritizes people’s comfort over everything else.
“In this culture of ‘if you disagree with me you hate me,’ I would say most millennials would say: ‘I’m not trying to convert anyone,’” Sartori said.
“But I would hope everyone is trying to convert someone, it’s just that there’s a right and true way, and then there’s a way that’s just kind of yelling at people, and that’s obviously not what I’m about and not what anyone would desire. And I think in general millennials are really sensitive to that.”
Klein also said that millennials are reacting to the polarization that characterizes the political and social media world of today.
“Actual authentic dialogue has in fact broken down, and I don’t think that’s a delusion of millennials; things are often so polarized that it is very difficult to have a dialogue which is perceived as open and a back and forth, and not somehow inauthentic or aggressive” she said.
“It’s not that they don’t want to share their faith, but it seems that sharing via dialogue or speaking makes people uneasy, and I don’t think that’s inexplicable, that seems to make sense,” she said.
Part of the training of FOCUS missionaries is teaching them how to evangelize, Sartori said – which includes building friendships and trust with people before proposing that they consider going to church or learning more about Jesus.
“The three habits (taught to missionaries in training) are the things we emphasize that help us to go and do evangelization,” Sartoir said. “The first is divine intimacy (with God), the second is authentic friendship, and the third one is clarity and conviction for what we call spiritual multiplication. So this idea that you’re investing deeply in a few people, and sharing your faith in a way that they can then go and do that with others.”
“You’re listening, you’re building trust, you’re speaking in a way that they’re going to be able to hear you,” Sartori said, “but you’re also hearing where they’re coming from on things.”
Once a friendship is established, Sartori said one of the easiest ways to talk to someone about God is to ask them about the faith tradition they had while they were growing up.
“It’s the basic questions of like – did you ever go to church growing up? Something like that that’s less attacking than, say, ‘How do you feel about abortion?’ or something that’s more politicized or a hot topic,” Sartori said. “You want to do something that’s a softer, more inviting conversation, so you can just understand the person.”
After a conversation about faith has been opened, then it can be time to invite someone to events at a parish or into a Bible study, if the person is open to it.
“While there’s an urgency for someone to accept the Gospel as quickly as possible, we also want to propose it and not impose it, so we’re not going to rush into anything on that,” Sartori said.
Klein said millennials are also most likely to be tuned into the need for authentic witness – that someone must be living a personal life of holiness and friendship with God before they can propose it to someone else.
The article on the Barna research from Christianity Today ended with: “Younger folks are tempted to believe instead, ‘If we just live good enough lives, we can forgo the conversation entirely, and people around us will almost magically come to know Jesus through our good actions and selfless character.’”
“This style of evangelism is becoming more and more prevalent in a culture constantly looking for the fast track and simple fix,’” it said, quoting Hannah Gronowski, the founder and CEO of Christian non-profit Generation Distinct.
But Klein said this kind of attitude is overly dismissive of the importance of personal holiness.
“Witnessing personal holiness – it’s not like that’s easy, its plenty important,” she said, especially with the recent sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church.
“I don’t think that millennials are crazy to think that personal holiness is the most important thing right now, especially when dialogue has broken down and there has been a lot of – with the recent scandals – insane hypocrisy where people’s lives are not matching what they’re saying,” she said.
“I think a big part of it is…holistic Catholic formation,” Klein added. “If you’re not prepared to pursue wisdom and pursue personal holiness, you’re not going to have that authentic witness and authentic life to share.”
While that doesn’t remove the necessity of evangelizing with words, Klein said, it does point to why millennial Christians may have answered that particular question the way they did, beyond a trend toward universalism and relativism.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church itself recognizes the disconnect that may exist between a person’s holiness and the preaching of the Gospel: “On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the ‘discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted.’ Only by taking the ‘way of penance and renewal,’ the ‘narrow way of the cross,’ can the People of God extend Christ’s reign. For ‘just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men.’” (CCC pp. 853).
“It’s very clear that the Church has a missionary mandate, but I think it nuances that very well and talks about the hypocrisy that has been found,” Klein said. “I think that tension is what millennials are most keyed into, that personal holiness comes first before you can even think about opening your mouth.”
An oft-quoted line, typically attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, speaks of the tension between personal holiness and evangelizing: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words,” the saying goes.
But if that quote really came from St. Francis of Assisi, Sartori said, it came from a saint who preached the Gospel so prolifically that he was known to preach it “to the birds.”
“He couldn’t stop preaching,” Sartori said, “so of all the people to have said that, St. Francis is one of the greatest examples of preaching (the Gospel).”
So while personal holiness is a must, he said, so is preaching the Gospel with words.
“To preach the Gospel is an integral part of being a Christian,” he said, “and we can’t separate that.”
[…]
“Biden is in trouble with Catholic voters”.
The movie ‘The Way’ one of whose stars is Martin Sheen is being rereleased.
Martin Sheen played a very pro-choice ‘catholic’ president with a degree from Notre Dame in the series ‘The West Wing’.
In a scene toward the end of the series he smoked a cigarette which he snubbed out on the floor of a church during a soliloquy in the course of which he called almighty God a ‘sonofab…h’.
Now he is shilling for fellow ‘catholic’ Joe Biden.
Something doesn’t add up, or – maybe it does.
FYI – I have the original DVD and enjoy it.
Terence, I need to secure a copy of the original “The Way” myself. Last year I viewed the re-release and every change that they made diminished the movie from adding outtakes to changing at least 2 musical score. I love that movie and know it inside and out and the unfortunate changes were glaring.
Not to all: if given the choice between the two, go for the original release! It is a wonderful movie.
He is only a problem for The Faithful, although an unfaithful Catholic who desires to render onto Caesar or His/Her self what belongs to God is an oxymoron.
Interesting
So it would look like so-called catholics dont like either candidate. Well, they had better start to wake up and be truthful with themselves about the immense damage Biden and the democrats have done to the country. Millions for wars when we cant pave our roads, inflation, soaring violent crime in every city, open border issues and tax burden levied on our own poor to support illegals who have no business being here, on and on. Name one thing they have gotten right. Biden wants to give a free pass to the select group of students who took out loans, and in places like California, free college to illegals too. If you are hard pressed to buy gas, or groceries, or are afraid to go into your own city, you have reaped the rewards of voting for Biden and his ilk. Enjoy. My question to Democrat voters is , are you really that ill informed? Or is it that you just cant admit you were wrong to vote for the democrats?
So, it seems that so-called World Trade Center workers didn’t like either being burned alive or jumping from a building. Well, they had better have started to wake up and be truthful with themselves about the immense damage fire would do to their bodies and throw themselves out the windows.
Translation: You have two obvious choices. One of them is very bad. THAT DOES NOT PROVE THE OTHER OBVIOUS CHOICE IS NOT ALSO VERY BAD. What is needed is a GOOD option, not a lesser evil.
Outis;
You are correct in stating that what is needed is a GOOD option. Unfortunately one is not available this time, so – again – this is a hold your nose and cast your vote election.
Do you actually believe that voting for Donald Trump is equivalent to jumping out of the World Trade Center or perishing inside?
You know , there are readers of CWR who either have lost loved ones on 911 or are acquainted with people who have.
I know you don’t intend to cause distress and free speech is important but sometimes hyperbole isn’t the better choice.
There currently are only 2 candidates who have a chance of becoming president. I understand that in a perfect world we’d have a candidate that people of faith could endorse 100%. But these are the 2 choices we have and I know that things will only continue to unravel under 4 more years of a Biden administration. Or whichever Democrat takes his place. I want at least a little bit of our culture left for my grandchildren to inherit. Damage control is better than destruction.
US Constitution notwithstanding, non-religious things are being made to supercede religious; then the FBI and others are (supposedly) unable to resolve the divergence -or, they profess they are able to; later the Supreme Court tries to find ways to incorporate the dichotomies. As if there was any real and true answer to problems and their right resolution, through those approaches.
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/04/19/biden-administration-redefines-sex-discrimination-in-title-ix-to-include-gender-identity-2/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/04/19/fbi-investigating-threats-against-multiple-faith-communities-in-pennsylvania/
Let’s face it, the general moral decay is causing the unraveling of the democratic form of government and we are heading toward totalitarian governments around the globe. Democracy demands a common morality, which we no longer have. Democracy was the product of the majority holding and practicing Judio Christian values. We no longer are the majority so we can’t expect our views to be upheld. Sadly, to say we are now becoming a persecuted minority. But on the bright side, we know that persecution brings purging and purity to the church : the more the persecution, the stronger we become, and we can expect triumph of Jesus in the end.
We’re still a Republic but it;s not going too well since we’re headed toward socialism. Lincoln remarked in his G address:”Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”.. basically an experiment. If the CCP comes though I’m not doing what they tell me.
Outis, I agree. To vote for the lesser of two evils, is to vote for evil. At this point it may may be better not to endorse or vote for either candidate since both pose serious danger to our country and society. Is there enough evidence to convict either candidate of being a Christian? This is not to say that a goojd candidate needs to be a Christian, but I think we can insist on one who promotes and practices the Judio Christian morality which has been the backbone of our democratic society.
Yes, Outis, there is no perfect option.
But see my comment below for a description of the worst of the two voting choices.
And I didn’t even mention the most horrendous Democratic policy ever — abortion, the absolutely worst, most horrific holocaust ever visited upon humanity.
More than a *billion* — yes, that’s Billion with a ‘B’ — children slaughtered around the world over the past 51 years.
And half of Catholics voted for it.
Now, go ahead. Tell me how boorish and loud Trump can be.
Your TDS is getting a little annoying and redundant at this point. There is no “better” option – we have the candidates we have. We have a responsibility to cast a vote that is the better or the two options. If you honestly think that Biden is the better option, you have had your head in the sand for the past several years.
Athanasius, Trump Derangement Syndrome made sense when it was possible to differentiate the issues he would be leading and CHANGING. Now, however, one thing melds into another and Trump demonstrates that he is free to do as he chooses yet always now to be bound to the shuttle.
Did you know TDS also stands for three times a day (in Latin) as well as Time Driven Switching and Total Dissolved Solids – among other unmentionables that look as bad on Trump as on Biden. Or as nice.
Outis: Let me get this straight. You believe that the man, through his concrete actions, his judicial appointments, at all levels, his restructuring of foreign aid and his executive orders that affected the saving of more human lives than the actions of any individual in the entirety of human history is irredeemably evil in your divine assistant judgment? Or is it that you reject the Christian notion that whatever a reprobate past a man might have had, can always be redeemed?
I agree with this! We need to vote for the lesser of two evils and not throw our vote away on a 3rd Party candidate who has no chance of winning.
Of course, abortion is the key issue, along with Pres. Biden’s misguided and unscientific support of IVF, and of gender-transition treatment being made available to children (which many scientists and medical professionals have spoken against). T
But the issue of forgiving student loans–this is awful! Where is the money coming from, and what happens to the financial health of the nation when these loans are simply sent “out to the cornfield?” (See famous Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.”)?
And what precedent does this set for the “forgiveness” of other financial obligations?
What’s needed is better education of young people about their many options after graduating from high school! An expensive four-year-college is not necessarily the best way for everyone to go! Young people, especially minority young people, as well as teens whose parents did not attend college, don’t get the full information package that they need to make a wise decision about what to do after graduating from high school. E.g., many of the medical professions only require a two-year degree from a junior college–and then the option becomes available to earn the B.S. from a four-year college to move up the professional “ladder”–and sometimes, the hospital will pay for that continuing education! How many young people know about this?! Or know about the skilled trades, which require a trade school or apprenticeship (some of these apprenticeships are paid!) and earn high salaries?
Better career counselling–not LOAN FORGIVENESS, students is needed across the country!
Vote wisely, friends.
The Democratic Party is a death cult.
To Democrats, sterilizing children is even better than aborting them. Because a woman who has an abortion might someday give birth again.
But a child who is sterilized can never procreate.
Legalizing drugs; gay “marriage”; the sexualization of children; the green new poverty; the open border fentanyl conduit; the denial of the biologically determined sexes; the racist, divisive CRT curriculum — everything the Democratic Party advocates is aimed at restricting life and promoting death.
Death is the Democratic Party’s central tenet.
Catholics who vote Democratic, look to your souls.
Perhaps those who vote Republican will be held to the same standard for the accountability of their souls! Just perhaps. 😇
Perhaps you will tell us EXACTLY what it is that Trump did that was so horrific??
Moving the US embassy after decades of promises to Jerusalem? The Abraham Accords? Energy independence? A booming economy? Leadership shown during covid? Yes indeed, horrific. I have asked that question of many people but NEVER get a coherent answer.Likely because there isnt one, just ginned up media emotion based on lies, and a desire to act on pure spite, as have many of our democrat DA’s. The Russia collusion story was proven a hoax by the special counsel, who worked literal YEARS investigating.
As for J6, sorry but we have actually had RIOTS which did much more damage yet nobody was prosecuted. Many. Throwing ill old women in jail because they walked into the Capitol isn’t my idea of justice. In fact its more like McCarthyism. And nobody throws an “insurrection” without military support and arms. There were none there that day. The “insurrection” story is pure propaganda pablum fed to the ill-informed and credulous. So, what else have you got? The country was clearly MUCH better off under Trump. What we have now is crime, chaos, sexual perversion and the general destruction of our culture and civilization. You’d rather keep the country on that track than vote for Trump? I call that an ill-advised and pathetic exercise in self indulgence.
You can have as many wishes as you want about who you’d RATHER have running for office. But the reality is, this is who we HAVE. Throwing a toddler tantrum and staying home instead of voting guarantees that the party which makes lies and cheating a part of their platform, along with supporting a hundred other degenerate issues, will win. Men in little girls locker rooms,abnormal sex taught to grammar school kids, library drag queen performances for kids paid with taxpayer money, our military sitting ducks in the Middle East? Thank the democrats for that. If you support that stuff, vote Biden or Kennedy, or stay home. The moral weight of such a “win” will be entirely on you.You may get some personal satisfaction out of such an outcome but the country as we have known it will be destroyed.
Obviously, which is why we keep reminding ourselves of this all the time, unlike our lib counterparts who presume to appropriate the power of God rather than consider His wrath.
What will end it all for Biden is for a reporter to ask him one simple question: “Could tell us what today’s date is?” He won’t be able to answer correctly.
Either that or “What is the 4th Luminous Mystery?”
Outis has the best comment. You have to come up to it not keep trying to out-match it or trying to find something that can substitute.
The fact that a void persists for the time being even when it can be and has been spotted, is part of the formation of the action.
The first Civil War was relatively simple before the stakes got raised and things got complicated. Lincoln’s original issue was simply whether slavery should be extended into the Western territories, or not?
As for our high-stakes complications of today, one fantasy is to suppose that both presidential candidates get derailed prior to the conventions, and both parties have to scramble. Who would look good running against Harris? Probably anybody?
Another fantasy is for the defense to play the first of the three Trump trials something like this…buying silence from a prostitute (possibly to shield an election, or possibly for personal reasons, or both?); how is this tangled episode any different from Congress itself—on a huge scale and systematically—buying voter-support from client groups—with earmarks and trillion-dollar annual deficits in monopoly money instead of cathouse tokens…and now with a national debt of $34 Trillion or twice what it was only ten years ago?
I think that was actually our second civil war Mr.Peter. I hope we don’t suffer a third.
Good point about the first civil war, which could have been averted if Franklin’s Albany Plan of 1754 had been approved. Proposed was greater unity among the thirteen contiguous colonies, which might then have enabled a “commonwealth of nations.” No need, then for a War of Independence: a “civil war” rather than a total “revolution” of French vintage in 1789 and beyond.
But, as for a third civil war, what is the difference, if any, between thirteen separate but contiguous colonies and a polyhedral Church of contiguous facets but with no consistent and unifying center?
What does any of this really mean since the Catholic reliion is not viewed favorably by a majority of Catholics?
Clearly that was a typo where I misspelled religion in reference to the religion that most Catholics fail to view favorably.
Catholics should wash their hands of politics. Never did Christ tell his followers to go to Rome and write man-made laws. God gave us the Church and the Word of God to change the world. We have an allegiance to God and have no allegiance to a man-made government. Our leaders reside in our Church and not in Washington, DC. Our job on earth is to fill our Churches with Followers of Christ so everyone can hear the powerful Word of God —-that will solve many, many problems.
Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Remember? Most Catholics dont live in a monastery and dont have the luxury of pretending we dont see what is happening in front of us. Politicians who change the laws to allow men in womens locker rooms, support euthanasia, or support the surgical mutilation of children should NEVER get the support of any catholic.In addition, since our tax dollars are used to fund such perversions, it is our responsibility to raise loud objections to that. Opting out of voting is not a real option. In fact it is totally irresponsible.Further, overly generous immigration regulations pushed by liberals means the country is barely christian anymore.( Have you seen those antisemitic demonstrations on the news lately??) Those who are not Christian have little to no interest in our religious and moral point of view. You must work with the tools at hand, even if they are not perfect.
Last year the number of abortions in the USA increased and the number of people attending church decreased—-we need more people in church to fix America. The man-made government in Washington DC is not part of God’s plan.
Very noble sounding, etc.
Cliche time – for every person who, in a fit of high moral dudgeon refuses to vote for Trump – that’s one vote Joe Biden doesn’t have to worry about.
I repeat – hold your nose and cast your vote, but VOTE.
Exactly, Terrence.
If I was a Democrat operative I might consider planting comments in orthodox Christian sites encouraging high minded people to stay home on election day so as not to taint their conscience. Better to watch our nation self destruct as long as we can remain latter day Puritans.
To paraphrase the late, great Johnny Cash,I’d rather be a little less heavenly minded and do some earthly good.
🙂
The homilies aren’t exactly fire and brimstone anymore. Congregants need to walk away from mass shook up a little over guilt and feeling the need to do better, in my opinion.
Im voting for Trump simply because Deep State Washington hates him. That’s the only reason I need.
Principles over personalities! I’m voting for Trump!
I live in Canada and I for the life of me cannot figure out why a person would not vote for trump. There was peace, low gas prices etc under him. Yes he had mean tweets compare that to PF, Trudeau. His wife very lady like unlike past presidents and the ex of Trudeau who is on the trail trying to sell a book about her life with the juvenile. Trump didn’t take a pay check yet past & present president plus current cdn pM have become rich ! Crazy.
I can now see why roads to hell are paved with bishops and clergy. Their silence on these pro killing of babies is deafening.