There is a lot of talk about Jesus these days.

You hear his name from the pulpit, from podcasts, from skeptics and searchers alike. According to Barna’s Spiritually Open series, even non-Christians hold generally positive views of Jesus. They like His message. They’re curious about His life. They’re open to hearing more.

So why aren’t more people following Him?

This moment — this strange, fractured cultural moment — might be one of the greatest spiritual openings of our lifetime. But it’s also a moment marked by profound loneliness, disillusionment, and distrust. We are, as a culture, spiritually open… and emotionally abandoned.

We are, perhaps, here for such a time as this.

The Gap Between Curiosity and Commitment

According to Barna, only 20% of U.S. Christians are what they call “resilient disciples.” That number should stop us in our tracks. Because the rest — while they may still identify as believers — aren’t living lives that non-Christians find trustworthy or compelling.

In short, we talk about Jesus, but we don’t always embody Him.

And that gap — between message and model, between preaching and practicing — is where trust is lost. Especially among the next generations.

Millennials, in particular, are spiritually alert but emotionally weary. They’re drowning in information, overstimulated by opinion, and increasingly isolated in their private struggles. Their lives are digital and disconnected. Many are quietly battling anxiety, depression, and a deep hunger for truth that feels real.

They’re not rejecting Jesus. They’re rejecting what feels like a performance of faith instead of the presence of Christ.

A Bridge Between Generations

Those of us over 60 remember the seismic shifts of the 1960s and ’70s. The chaos. The protests. The yearning. The Jesus Movement rose out of a generation disillusioned with the world’s systems but desperate for something bigger than themselves. Sound familiar?

Today’s Millennials are asking many of the same questions we asked. They’re expressing it differently — through activism, art, therapy, and technology — but at the core, it’s the same ache. The same spark. The same need for someone to see them.

We cannot afford to ignore that.

We also can’t wait for the perfect conditions or a polished strategy. We have to get uncomfortable. To step out of our disengagement. To make room for conversations that matter more than sermons, and relationships that last longer than a Sunday morning.

We have something they need — not because we’re superior, but because someone once showed up for us.

Who was it for you? Who stood beside you when the crack in your concrete life began to open and something tender and green began to push through?

Now it’s our turn.

Look around. Who’s blooming quietly in a hard place, hoping someone notices?

Faith That Goes the Distance

The world doesn’t need louder Christians. It needs resilient ones.

Resilient faith shows up in the silence. It builds bridges, not stages. It listens before it leads. And it knows the difference between being right and being redemptive.

And we, the Church, must stop thinking of discipleship as a program or a product. It’s a life. It’s one person showing another how to follow Jesus — in failure, in forgiveness, in joy, in doubt.

Millennials are not a problem to fix, they are pioneers — navigating a new world, shaping a new culture, asking ancient questions in modern language.

And we? We are the ones who can meet them there. Not with all the answers, but with presence. With grace. And with Jesus, who sets people free.

Don’t Give Up

Laquita S. Beeches, one of the faithful voices from the Greatest Generation and a cherished member of the Catch Ministry, reminds us often: “Do not give up.”

And we won’t.

Because the same God who met us in our searching days is still here — reaching through generations, healing through connection, building something stronger than culture: the Church.

So here we go again. Not out of obligation, but out of call.
Not because it’s easy, but because it matters.

For such a time as this.

Your Turn

If you lived through the Jesus Movement — or were changed by it — we want to hear your story. Tell us:

• Who was there for you when you first came to Christ?
• What did it feel like to be truly seen?
• How did Jesus meet you in the mess and bring you to new life?

Drop us a comment, a story, a memory — and together, let’s keep the fire lit. Because real sinners, saved by a real Savior, have real work to do.

For such a time as this.