Reasons to Hope for a Faithful Culture

The human heart is made for truth, goodness, and beauty. While the data shows that there is much ground to make up among young people’s faith, recent trends reveal that the young are both curious and interested in religion. Recent data also show that there is a long-term desire for youth to be connected to faith and become more acquainted with Jesus.  

Events in the Catholic world have shined a light on this phenomenon as well. This August, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for 1 million young people in the outskirts of Rome. The University of Rome Tor Vergeta was the site of the youth meeting for the Jubilee being celebrated by the Catholic Church. The Jubilee of Youth, part of the Catholic Church’s yearlong Jubilee of Hope in 2025, reminds the world that young people are returning to the faith.  

Youth seek the transcendent and they desire for their lives to be transformed. This hypothesis is revealed in several recent studies and statistics. 

Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science, has proposed that the rise of the religiously unaffiliated has “hit a ceiling.” Since 2019, the numbers have remained around 35%. That is for all ages. The numbers for Gen Z are particularly hopeful. “Among Gen Z,” writes Burge, “something completely odd happened. The share who were nones in 2020 was 45%. It rose to 48% in 2022. Then, it dropped to 42% in 2023.” 

Something is happening among young people. They are seeking answers to the greater questions of life, and they are coming to terms with the fact that nothing in this world can completely satisfy us. Jesus spoke about this constantly and his words and life continue to resonate with people.  

Barna Group has also written extensively on this recent occurrence of young people and their faith. Barna has published stats on its studies regarding faith and culture for over 40 years. It has reported that 77% of U.S. teens are “at least somewhat motivated to keep learning about Jesus throughout their lives.” 

This number is glaringly hopeful. To say that I’m open to religion is one thing. To make the statement that I desire to continue to learn about Jesus for the rest of my life is much more radical. It means that faith is something that they know they will need and that they can’t ignore. It means that young people are realizing that life has no meaning without God.  

The numbers regarding the commitment of youth to their relationship with Jesus or his relevance to their lives vary. However, according to the Barna Group: “Regardless of their level of commitment to follow Jesus, U.S. teens place a significant amount of trust in religious texts and their households to learn about Jesus. Teens are more likely to report looking to these sources than to social media, the Internet, their friends or influencers.” 

Gen Zers are also trusting of the Bible. They trust pastors and their family to be the foundation for faith. This trust was more typical of previous generations and the tide is turning toward recognizing the importance of family religious history as well as church leadership. Ninety-five percent of committed Christians trust the Bible while 71% of nominal Christians are trusting of Scripture. This makes sense in light of the data findings that Bible sales increased by 22% in 2024.  

All of the above facts means that cultural trends are turning toward faith. This is a beautiful sign but also one that means we must encourage and walk with young people on their journey of faith. Answering the call to follow God can be daunting, especially in a culture where speaking about one’s faith is not always accepted. However, we must invigorate young people to trust the yearning of their hearts to live for something more.  

For this reason, Leo told the 1 million youth that they should not live a life “taken for granted and static.” The leader of the Catholic world said that they must yearn “for an existence that is constantly renewed through the gift of self in love.” To live a life of sacrifice is to be fully alive. Such an existence is oriented toward pouring oneself out for something and someone bigger than oneself. This is what it means to live the Christian life: to become like the one who died for us. This type of sacrificial love is what calls out to the hearts of young people. It is ultimately what brings the greatest joy in life.  

This truth is found in the statistics as well. Barna reported that 69% of committed Christians strongly agree with the statement, “My relationship with Jesus brings me deep joy and satisfaction.” When we are determined to live for God and for others, we are brought out of selfishness and into self-gift. We begin to live in the beautiful truth about the goodness of this one life we have been given. Gen Z is beginning to realize that, and so should we.  

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