A Reflection on Barna's Open Generation Report

This past summer, The Barna Group conducted a global survey that included over 24,000 teenagers from 26 different countries. These teenagers were asked about how they view Jesus, the Bible, and justice. The reports were evaluated and published by Barna with webinars over each overarching topic in October 2022. Webinar replays and survey details are available on The Open Generation website.  

These studies brought some impactful discoveries that ministry leaders would benefit from. This is a brief reflection on Barna's first two reports in the Open Generation study, with a few major themes for youth workers and parents to consider.

Teenagers Call Themselves Christians but Don’t Know the Gospel

One of the most striking discoveries of Open Generation, vol. 1, was that an overwhelming majority of teenagers call themselves Christians. 52% of teenagers identify as Christians, but this study also noted that “only 50 percent among teens who identify as Christians say Jesus was resurrected; not even half (44%) say Jesus was God in human form.” 

This shows us that teenagers are claiming a Christian identity without understanding foundational truths of the Gospel. Globally, the forefront of our teaching should focus on the Gospel. As we have shared before, this does not always mean the explicit gospel invitation but the truths of our Triune God in creation, redemption, and restoration, and the reality of the fall of humanity should be weaved throughout our short and long-term discipleship strategies. 

The language we use for the Christian identity should be reconsidered as well because Barna found that “there is a considerable 30-point gap between the percentage of teens who call themselves Christian (52%) and the percentage who say they have made a personal commitment to follow Jesus (22%).” 

Throughout the study, those who have made a commitment to follow Jesus respond far more favorably to the truths of the Gospel, open God’s Word more regularly, and are motivated to help do something about injustice in the world. As youth leaders, we need to take the first step in understanding what our students mean when calling themselves Christians, leading them to a life committed to following Christ and reading his word. 

Teenagers Own a Bible But Aren’t Opening It

“Three-fifths of teens around the world (59%) say there is a Christian Bible in their home, making it the most common religious text young people have access to.” Not only do teenagers own a Bible and have more access to it than ever before, but 44% also responded they believe the Bible is holy. This statistic was not just those who called themselves Christian, it was every teenager surveyed. It seems that teenagers hold some view of respect towards the Bible, which is something church leaders should leverage. 

The next generation is open to what the Bible says, but only 40% open it more than twice a year, and only 9% open it more than once a week. Obviously, it is difficult to know what the Bible says when it is never opened.

Barna defines a biblically engaged teen as one who believes the Bible is “the word of God,” “the inspired word of God with no errors” or “the inspired word of God but with some errors,” and “reads the Bible several times a week.” 

There are some positive trends when a teenager becomes biblically engaged. They overwhelmingly affirm (over 85%) the tenets of the historic Christian faith about God, Jesus, and biblical reliability. Just as we should weave the Gospel story through our discipleship strategies, we should aim to get teenagers biblically engaged and open their bibles often. To do this, we can prioritize equipping youth to engage Scripture and train them to understand what they are reading. 

Teenagers are More Engaged When Someone Has Taught Them to Study the Bible

One final mark that stood out from this survey was that, of the biblically engaged teenagers surveyed, “Three in five Bible-engaged teens (56%) have received help studying the Bible from a parent / guardian. These teens say a pastor, priest or minister (54%), Bible study group / leader (43%) or Sunday school teacher (40%) also contributed to their understanding of the Bible.” This statistic alone should open our eyes to the necessity of training parents to study the Bible. We know that parents are the first place that teenagers will likely engage with the Bible, both from a young age and into the teenage years. Family discipleship that roots them in the Bible at home should be a priority to our ministries. 

Second, we can strive to spend more time helping students study the Bible, both in small groups and through large-group teaching. Our posture towards the Bible will influence their opinion of it, and we should begin to consider approaching teaching from the Bible with a focus on leading students to study it on their own. The study was clear that there is a disconnect between younger and old teenagers with biblical engagement, so starting young is wise and productive for keeping students in the Bible. 

Other Interesting Findings 

Statistically, western Europe is the most unengaged, non-Christian group of teenagers in the world. France, Germany, Russia, and Spain each have less than 10% of committed followers of Christ and less than 3% biblical engagement. We do not often consider these countries to be unreached, but maybe we should. These countries will likely remain unengaged and non-Christian for some time. Let’s pray for the Lord to raise up workers for the harvest who will train up young men and women to reach places like western Europe with the Gospel. 

Meanwhile, central and southern Africa are likely to be the places where Christianity will continue to flourish. Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa all boast over 50% of Christian teens who have committed to follow Jesus and over 20% of biblically engaged teens. It will be interesting to watch how the Lord will use young people in these countries to spread the good news of the Gospel. 

I would encourage all church leaders to check out the Barna reports, either by video or through their site; as I believe these studies can inform our understanding of Generation Z and AlphaGen as they grow up in our churches and community. This generation is open and ready for truth and we can be ready to disciple them through it. They are more open to Christianity and the Bible than we’d imagine, let’s respond with confidence that the Lord will continue to build his Church through the preaching of his Word. 

Editor’s Note: YPT has an active readership from youth workers around the world who have either contributed articles or expressed a shared passion for theologically-driven youth work. These men and women are ministering to youth in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Cuba, Kenya, Uganda, and the Philippines. We are thankful for and encouraged by their faithful ministry.