RISE OF THE “NONES” Part 2 of 3

The “rise of the nones” is not new.  It’s not a new wave of religious rejection.  They’ve been in and out of churches for a long time.  The difference now is that it’s culturally safer than it used to be. 

Possibly the first recorded “none” was a young man named Eutychus who was in the church at Troas and then dropped out of it… literally.  Here’s how Luke recorded it in Acts 20:7-9:  On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.  There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting.  Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.  Paul went downstairs and found the young man.  He took him in his arms and reassured the people, “Don’t be alarmed, for his life is in him” (Acts 20:10 HCSB). 

Kenda Dean, professor of youth, church, and culture at Princeton Theological Seminary has found that most young adults in the United States say they are at least nominally Christian.  They’re Christians by name, but their way of living suggests otherwise.  They say they identify with Christ, but they’re not committed to following Him.  At the same time a third of them say they are religiously unaffiliated (nones).  Like Eutychus many were once in church.  Author Elizabeth Drescher says 70 percent of nones grew up in Christian homes.  They started out in church, but then they vanished.

Drew Dyson, a pastor and a student at Princeton Seminary, found in his dissertation research that churches which emphasize meaning, belonging, and radical hospitality help young adults who have experienced “faith drift” to think again about being participants in the mission of God.

Churches which work at deepening the faith of nominal Christians tend to pull “Eutychus” into the center of the room by surrounding him with faithful mentors to encourage his spiritual growth, connecting him with God and other Christ-followers, leading him to understand God’s purpose for his life, and involving him in reaching out to others and serving them.

There is hope for the nominals and the nones.  But we must be diligent to draw them away from the window and deepen their faith.  They’re not dead.  They’re still alive.  There is still hope.  “… for his life is in him.”  Be watchful, be loving, be involved.  Their eternities matter.