Despite research that continues to show an increasing proportion of Americans disengaging from Christian values, the majority of adults report being at least somewhat concerned about their children’s spiritual well-being.
Overall, 73% of parents reported concerns over their kids’ spiritual development and formation, with 37% reporting being very concerned and 36% saying they are at least somewhat concerned.
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The statistics intensify, though, for Christian parents, with 80% of this cohort expressing they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned over kids’ spiritual development. That compared to just 58% of non-Christian parents who said the same when asked about their level of concern over the issue.
More specifically, self-described Christians are significantly more likely to say they are “very” concerned (42%) when compared to non-Christian parents (27%). And that percentage increases to 51% when surveying practicing Christians who attended church at least once in the past month and who agreed faith is very important to them.
Likewise, many Christian parents are also particularly worried about their kids abandoning the faith.
“Over two in five self-identified Christian parents (43%) are ‘very’ concerned about this, while about one-quarter of non-Christian parents (26%) says the same,” Barna reported. “Practicing Christian parents express the most concern (58% very, 28% somewhat) and want their children to stay true to their Christian faith.”
You can read more about the research here.
The data is especially fascinating, considering other studies emerging about worldview and Christian parents’ lack of readiness to give kids a biblical understanding of the culture around them.
As Faithwire previously reported, The American Worldview Inventory 2022 recently found that, while 67% of parents of preteens claim to be Christian, a tiny percentage hold a biblical worldview. Overall, just 2% of parents of preteens — and 4% of Christian parents of preteens — actually have a biblical worldview.
The implications are, of course, essential to comprehend.
“A parent’s primary responsibility is to prepare a child for the life God intends for that child,” Dr. George Barna said in a statement on the data. “A crucial element in that nurturing is helping the child develop a biblical worldview — the filter that causes a person to make their choices in harmony with biblical teachings and principles.”
“Sadly,” he continued, “the research confirms that very few parents even have the worldview development of their children on their radar.”
Despite discouraging data abounding when it comes to parents and biblical worldview, it is noteworthy the majority of parents do worry about their children’s spiritual health and that Christians, in particular, see the issue as profoundly pressing.
Perhaps the cultural crisis before us will spark parents to take more seriously their own biblical literacy so that, in turn, their children will be prepared to encounter the world around them.
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