Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults are Leaving the Faith…and How to Bring Them Back
Drew Dyck
Moody Publishers, 2010, 196 pp. $13.99, MoodyPublishers.com
Young Christians are a dwindling breed. Youth are falling away from the faith in unprecedented numbers, and traditional strategies to woo them back aren’t working anymore.
Drew Dyck, editorial manager for Christianity Today International, has seen this phenomenon first-hand—sometimes in people near and dear to his heart. He knows youth aren’t leaving Christianity for just one reason: There are many catalysts that send them away, and Dyck outlines six of the most common: The Postmodernist, the Recoiler, the Modernist, the Neo-Pagan, the Rebel and the Drifter.
Each type of lapsed Christian (or perhaps, people who rejected Christianity from the get-go) have viable reasons why they’ve rejected the faith, and each requires a different approach for those who might hope to woo them back. You may be able to open a door for postmodernists by confessing your deeply personal reasons for why you believe. If you talk with a neo-Pagan, you may need to brace yourself for a sudden onslaught of vitriol.
“This book is about lost sheep,” writes Dyck. “But it’s also about the Good Shepherd.” Generation X-Christian isn’t so much a blueprint to bring lost believers back to the fold, but rather to create an environment where the Good Shepherd can do His work.
