Seven out of 10 teens and young adults drop out of church during high school or college, according to data from LifeWay Research, but the figures are a bit misleading.

About two-thirds of these youth return to church eventually, and Christianity Today‘s Ed Stetzer writes that youth aren’t turning away from God as much as almost accidentally letting church slide.

“In most cases, our surveys show a lack of intentionality in dropping out,” he writes. “Eighty percent of young people who dropped out of church said they did not plan to do so during high school. It’s not that most rejected the church. Our teenagers aren’t primarily leaving because they have significant disagreements with their theological upbringing or out of some sense of rebellion. For the most part, they simply lose track of the church and stop seeing it as important” to their lives. (Christianity Today)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Follow him on Twitter.