Many young people say they value daily Bible study, but not so many actually do it.
What’s preventing Christian youth from finding passion and power in Scripture? What role do parents and youth leaders play in igniting passion for God’s Word? How much of this problem stems from simple lack of education, and how much stems from an institutionalized devaluation of Scripture’s power in our churches and individual lives?
We address these questions with this exclusive excerpt from Mike Nappa’s new book The Jesus Survey: What Christian Teens Really Believe and Why.
Teens and Bible Study: Hit or Miss?
Through The Jesus Survey, I wanted to know if Christian teenagers believed that daily Bible study was important for Christians. Next, I wanted to find out about their daily personal experience with the Bible outside of their church experiences. My first inclination was to ask a question that would help determine whether or not our youth group kids inwardly value something as basic as daily interaction with the Bible. After all, if Bible study is not important to Christian teens, that’s significant.
As with all the survey questions, I listed a one-sentence statement for question 23: followers of Christ should study the Bible daily. Then I asked teenagers to indicate whether or not they agreed with this “values” statement. For question 24, I asked them to respond to this statement regarding their personal actions related to the value of daily Bible study: I study the Bible daily.
I evaluated whether to include the word daily as a clarifier. After all, the general term regularly would be similarly insightful, or even the phrase “at least once a week” would be revealing. Yet, a teenager who is exposed to Scripture at church once or twice a week could easily, and truthfully, say that he or she studies the Bible “regularly” or “at least once a week” without ever engaging the Bible personally.
Question 23: Followers of Christ Should Study the Bible Daily
After their landmark research in the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), Christian Smith and Melinda Denton articulated the key relationship of teen faith with traditional practices of Christian faithfulness. According to these researchers, Christian parents and church leaders should strive to help young people practice faith skills like Bible reading and prayer “in the direction of excellence in faith, analogous to musicians and athletes practicing their skills.” Why is that so important? Well, as Smith and Denton report, “Even basic practices like regular Bible reading and personal prayer seem clearly associated with stronger and deeper faith commitment among youth.”
I believe these researchers are somewhat right and somewhat wrong in their assessment of this issue. Basic faith practices like Bible study and prayer are associated with what we would term a deeper, more grounded faith. Smith and Denton’s conclusion, however, appears to be that this happens because kids are first taught to read the Bible and pray, and then voila—strong faith results.
In contrast, I’ve found that when teens are taught first to outwardly practice faith, then that faith expressed—in Bible reading, prayer, or whatever—tends toward a dry, debilitating experience that often falls dangerously close to legalism. However, when kids are taught first to inwardly value faith practice then Bible study and prayer become much more natural expressions of that value and yield life-giving spiritual growth—and that’s why it then becomes associated with stronger faith.
Teenagers’ responses to question 23 were mixed. Nearly three out of four (73%) of survey respondents indicated that daily Bible study is at least somewhat important in a Christian’s life. But just under one out of three teenagers (31%) was willing to “strongly agree” that followers of Christ should study the Bible daily. Meanwhile, nearly the same number of Christian students (26%) rejected the assertion that Christians are obligated to study God’s Word daily.
If I’d used a term like “regularly,” perhaps more kids would have agreed with this statement. However, I wasn’t interested in assessing vague feelings from kids on this issue; I wanted to know if Christian teenagers involved in Christian churches thought that daily Bible study was important in their spiritual lives.
Not surprisingly, belief in Scripture’s trustworthiness greatly impacts whether or not our teenagers value studying the Bible daily. Among Unshakeable teens (who believe the Bible is completely trustworthy) nearly two out of three (63%) “strongly agree” that “followers of Christ should study the Bible daily.” Not even 1 out of 4 of the rest of youth group kids surveyed indicated such unreserved belief. Among Uncertain students (who are unsure of the Bible), only 22 percent expressed high value in daily Bible study; that number dropped to merely 17percentamong Unsettled kids (who are confused or conflicted about the Bible’s reliability). Barely 4 percent—that is, one in 25—of Unbelieving Christian teenagers who think the Bible is not trustworthy affirm daily Bible study’s strong value.
The main reason for this seems obvious: if the Bible is untrustworthy, it is irrelevant. So why bother to study it daily? During follow-up interviews, an Unbelieving 11th-grade girl shared:
“The culture and time period when the Bible was written was so different from ours today, in respect to technology and society. This fact makes it hard to compare the situations in the Bible to current everyday life.”
An Unshakeable young man from a non-denominational church in Pennsylvania echoed this girl’s insight. “Most people find the Bible boring,” he said, “or that it doesn’t relate to them.”
The failure of Christian leaders to demonstrate Scripture’s authentic relevance in their own lives may play a part in this devaluing of daily Bible study among teens. One youth worker from a United Methodist Church in Alabama mentioned:
“There is so much in the news every week about a pastor caught embezzling, cheating on his or her spouse, or making inappropriate statements guised as a message from God, that teenagers have lost trust in religious leaders. That loss of trust…gives them the sense that the Bible must not be much of anything.”
Kenda Creasy Dean, commenting on Anna Carter Florence’s work on this topic, says:
“The issue is not whether young people can read the Bible (they can). The real issue is…well, really, why would they want to? What have they seen in the church that would suggest that the Bible is a source of power and wonder? When have they seen their parents derive life and joy from reading Scripture? “We have been duped into thinking that the issue is Bible drills instead of instilling a love of reading the Bible,” Florence claims. ‘We have been scared into sharing information about the text instead of our passion for it.'”
Interestingly, adult leaders as a whole overestimated—sometimes by double digits—how much value their teenagers placed on daily Bible study. When asked to predict how kids in their youth groups would answer question 23, a significant number were wrong.
Whereas 73 percent of students strongly or even somewhat valued daily Bible study, their leaders nearly unanimously predicted more than four out of five kids (83%) would respond that way. Additionally, leaders predicted that 40 percent of Christian teens would strongly value daily Bible study, yet less than one out of three (31%) responded that way. Also, about one of four kids (26%) rejected the value of daily Bible study, but their leaders predicted a number closer to one in six (17%).
Question 24: I Study the Bible Daily
Having established, at least generally, the intellectual value Christian teenagers place on daily Bible study (31 percent highly valued Bible reading; 73 percent placed some value on it) I desired to see how many actually live out that value.
Apparently the word daily affected many responses. This showed up primarily in “somewhat” answers. For instance, a 12th-grader who marked “somewhat agree” to question 24 noted beside her answer, “It’s not like I don’t agree, I just don’t always have the discipline to do it.” An 11th-grade girl who marked “somewhat agree” here then wrote, “I try!” next to her answer. A 12th-grader agreed that Christians should study the Bible daily, then opted to skip question 24, saying, “I think that it is not possible to answer yes or no to questions such as 24.”
Although I disagree with this excuse for not answering it, I understand why the teenager became uncomfortable. No one likes to be confronted about possible hypocrisy soon after being asked to affirm what is supposed to be one of your core values.
After evaluating responses and comments to question 24, I discussed them with colleagues and reached the following interpretations. Teenagers who read the Bible nearly every day most likely marked “strongly agree” in response to this question. Those teenagers who want to study the Bible every day but don’t always live up to that personal expectation most likely marked “somewhat agree.” Those for whom Bible study is more the exception than the rule likely marked “somewhat disagree.” And those who simply don’t study the Bible—and aren’t afraid to admit it—marked “strongly disagree.”
In 1991, it was reported that eight percent of Christian teenagers said they read their Bibles every day.11 Some 20 years later, we’ve effectively cut that number almost in half. According to respondents in The Jesus Survey, barely 5 percent—about one in 20—study their Bibles daily. Whereas in 1991 more than one in three (35%) of Christian teenagers indicated they had good intentions and opened their Bibles “a few times a week or less,”12 today barely one in four (27%) says this. Meanwhile, 67 percent of teens today report that they seldom, or never, study Scripture as a part of their daily lives.
This downward trend is troubling and reverses a slightly upward trend reported by Barna Research Group. According to their studies, in 1990 33 percent of Christian teens “read from the Bible (excluding while at church)” during a typical week; by 2000, that number had slowly risen to 36 percent.13 As of 2010, the percentage of teens who turn to the Bible regularly appears to have dropped to slightly below 1990 levels, at 32 percent.
These results show a clear disconnect, as it applies to Bible study, between values and actions among teenagers in our youth groups. Actually, this reveals a chasm of inauthentic reality in the ranks of our youth groups. It also indicates that kids don’t believe what they say they believe or perhaps feel exempt from living what they say they believe.
For instance, 73 percent of Christian teenagers indicate that they value daily Bible study, agreeing to some degree that “followers of Christ should study the Bible daily.” Among these teens, however, only 7 percent also indicate that they study the Bible daily. And 57 percent of these teens deny making Bible study a part of daily life, even though they just said all Christians should do it. Additionally, among teenagers who “strongly agree” that all Christians should do daily Bible study, only 12 percent indicated that they study the Bible daily by answering “strongly agree” to question 24.
Guys and girls are equally likely to study their Bibles daily. Obviously those who do so (5percentof each gender) are overwhelmingly in the minority. Among those who are least likely to study the Bible, guys win the slacker title, outnumbering girls 70 percent to 66 percent.
Generally speaking, the low number of Christian teenagers claiming to study the Bible daily remains remarkably consistent (4-11%) across a number of significant subgroups within the survey sample, including geographical region, experience with the Holy Spirit, those who hold beliefs like “Jesus is God,” and Unshakeable teens who believe the Bible is trustworthy. This suggests that avoiding Bible study is not simply an accident or oversight of teen faith, but is the normative experience for nearly everyone in our youth groups.
An Unshakeable high school senior attributed that situation to time constraints and lack of relevance for most of today’s teens. “They do not want to put the time into studying and learning the Bible,” she said during a follow-up interview. “They don’t think it is important at this point of their lives” (see fig. 7.7).
The most significant departure from this norm shows up when looking at data derived from Confident Christian teenagers who adhere to four core Christian beliefs: (1) the Bible is trustworthy in what it says about Jesus, (2) Jesus is God, (3) Jesus died and rose again, (4) Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Among Confident Christian teens, 19 percent report that they study the Bible daily, as evidenced by a “strongly agree” response to question 24. Although this is still significantly in the minority, it is nearly five times the rate of the remaining Christian teenager population. Additionally, another 56 percent of Confident Christians appears to be making an effort toward daily Bible study evidenced by a “somewhat agree” response to question 24. Therefore 75 percent of Confident Christian teens appear to be at least attempting to study the Bible daily. Among all other teenagers, that number is only 29 percent. This appears to show that right belief translates into real experience.
In general, our teenagers value daily Bible study, but—except for Confident Christian teens—aren’t experiencing it and aren’t committed to it. What’s preventing Christian youth from finding passion and power in Scripture? What role do parents and youth leaders play in igniting passion for God’s Word? How much of this problem stems from simple lack of education, and how much stems from an institutionalized devaluation of Scripture’s power in our churches and individual lives?
Each of us leading Christian families and churches need to ask ourselves: Should I, as a follower of Christ, study the Bible daily? What kind of example am I giving teenagers when it comes to living out the value of Bible study in my life? Our answers may dictate the way our teenagers answer these questions—now and in the future.
Summary
• Many Christian teenagers (73%) value daily Bible study as a part of the Christian life. Of this number, nearly one in three (31%) “strongly agree” with this view.
• At the same time, more than one in four students in our youth groups reject the idea that Christians should study God’s Word daily. This seems unexpectedly large because the teenagers surveyed self-identify themselves as Christian and are at least occasionally involved in church youth groups.
• Belief in the trustworthiness of Scripture greatly impacts whether or not our teenagers value daily Bible study. Among the general youth group population, only 31 percent of Christian teens believe such Bible study is important. Among Unshakeable teens (who believe the Bible is trustworthy), that number increases to 63 percent.
• Despite what they say they value, nearly all Christian teenagers fail to crack open their Bibles outside church. Barely 5 percent—about one in 20—study the Bible daily. Meanwhile, 67 percent of teens report that they seldom, or never, study Scripture. This reflects a slight downward trend from teen studies conducted ten years ago.
• Right belief translates into real experience. The big exception to findings of The Jesus Survey shows up among Confident Christian teens—who strongly adhere to four core beliefs outlined earlier. Among those students, nearly one in five (19%) reports that he or she studies the Bible daily. Additionally, three out of four (75%) Confident Christian teens appear to be at least attempting to study the Bible daily.
Mike Nappa is a bestselling, award-winning author of books for families and leaders. This article is adapted from his book The Jesus Survey: What Christian Teens Really Believe and Why, with permission of Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan. © 2012 Nappaland Communications, Inc. MikeNappa.com.
