Spirituality without Religion

It seems young adults are spiritual, but increasingly not very religious. Admittedly, those terms are ambiguous. Especially when asked by pollsters in carefully crafted questions. But an August 2009 survey done by LifeWay Research is still worth our time and attention in getting a pulse of the culture around us. Here are a few of the findings with regard to millennials (those born between 1980 and 1991):

• 65% rarely or never pray with others.
• 38% almost never pray by themselves.
• 65% rarely or never attend worship services.
• 67% do not read the Bible or sacred texts.
• 50% do not believe Jesus is the only path to heaven.

The study found that 65 percent of millennials identify themselves as Christian, while 14 percent say they are atheist or agnostic, 14 percent list no religious preference, and 8 percent claim other religions. It also found:

I believe this survey is accurate. Not only have young adults forsaken religion, so have their parents. Why? Because their god is a combination of themselves and this world. That is who man is by nature. Self-centered. Self-seeking. Self-indulged.

To make matters worse, Christianity has become so dumbed down in our culture that it has little to offer anymore. Sin is no longer sin. Christ is no longer the only way to heaven. God is whomever you want him to be. In order to be relevant to a very fickle culture, most Christian churches have minimized (if not totally removed) the Scriptural truths of sin and grace, law and gospel, repentance and forgiveness. Why do I need a Savior when I am no longer a sinner condemned to hell? Why do I need the Triune God when I am a god unto myself? Why do I need to repent and believe in Christ when I am content relying on my own seeming goodness to get to my own conception of heaven?

Simply put, spirituality without religion (i.e. the one holy Christian and apostolic Church) is like Christianity without Christ. It is an oxymoron. Christians devote themselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:38). It’s what they do because it is only in Word and Sacrament that Christ’s forgiveness, life, and salvation become our own.

Reader, you are a sinner. God says so. And sin leads to death, eternal death. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man to rescue you from sin and death. He took your sin upon Himself and paid its penalty on the cross. Then He rose again on the third day to declare you righteous. Now He brings you the benefits of His death and resurrection in His Word and Sacraments that you might live in His forgiveness. Know that I am happy to tell you more about this new life in Christ!

See LifeWay Research and USA Today for more details on the aforementioned survey.