It’s an interesting time to be alive. We are seeing a cultural shift in a way many may have believed impossible, given how seemingly slow and stilted the major structures of our society appear to be. And yet change is undeniably happening.
What is different is the general direction in which it appears to be heading. After seemingly decades of a constant leftist/progressive movement that has produced a more secularized and licentious society, people in America are emptier and unhappier than ever before.
This is especially true for the youngest generations, Millennials and Gen Z. According to last year’s World Happiness Report, for the first time since polling began 12 years ago, Americans fell outside the top 20 of the happiest nations. And the biggest driver of this decrease was data from Americans under 30.
The poll noted that young Americans view the future with a more troubled and negative outlook than older Americans. Rather than brimming with hope and confidence at the myriad opportunities available to them, they see expectations of owning a home, getting married, having a family, and having a fulfilling career as further out of reach.
However, it’s not just economic issues that are getting young Americans down; they are also increasingly disillusioned with the state of the world, with everything from wars to polarizing politics to climate change. They have grown up with a spirit of fear and dread rather than optimistic confidence.
But is this worldview of the progressive Left finally running out of steam? Was the election of Donald Trump the first death knell to a corrupt and utterly vacuous secularism, with Americans finally expressing that they are done with the craziness of radical cultural rot?
Hopefully, and some promising developments suggest things are a-changing.
Christianity, which the cultural Left has long derided as backwards, bigoted, and fading, is seemingly on the resurgence, and this is especially so with younger Americans.
Canadian Christian apologist Wesley Huff made waves four months ago when he appeared as a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast, one of the largest, if not the largest, in the world. What was interesting about the podcast was how genuinely amicable it was, given Rogan’s past derision of Christianity.
That podcast has garnered nearly seven million views and sparked numerous discussions on a myriad of other podcasts. Indeed, recently, Huff noted on the “Know What You Believe with Michael Horton” podcast that Rogan has been attending a church regularly.
Rogan is “a very inquisitive individual,” Huff explained. “I think for the better in that he’s communicating with me and other people in his life who are influences that can speak into, you know, these issues of reliability and trustworthiness and verisimilitude of something like the pages of Scripture, and where he should and shouldn’t be looking for the information in regards to that.”
For Christians, this is understandably exciting and encouraging, and I certainly hope that Rogan comes to true faith in Christ as his Savior and Lord. The primary importance of the gospel message is to see people come to believe in Jesus Christ for God’s glory and their own salvation.
Huff further observed the growing number of younger Americans becoming interested in Christianity, stating, “We had someone who reached out to us recently at Apologetics Canada, who is probably the last bricks-and-mortar Christian bookstore that I’ve ever heard of. But they said, ‘We have people walking through our doors asking, young people, teenagers saying, ‘I want a Bible. All my friends are reading this thing.’”
According to the American Bible Society, the number of Bible users increased over the last year, from 38% to 41%. “Millennials saw a 29% increase in Bible use from 2024 to 2025, and men saw a 19% increase, closing the long-time gender gap in Bible use,” the American Bible Society noted. “In recent years, Millennials and men were among the least likely to use the Bible.” Among Gen Z, Bible engagement increased to 15% from 11%.
There appears to be a genuine interest in the Scriptures, and we hope a genuine Spirit-led Christian revival will emerge from this.
Yet there is also the problem of genuine Christianity versus cultural Christianity. That people are interested in Christianity and the Bible is a good thing; however, why they are curious and what they are seeking can produce two profoundly different results.
Only a genuine conversion to Christianity, an individual coming to faith in Jesus Christ, will result in a true transformation of a person whose ultimate motives flow from a love for God.
Cultural Christianity may produce many external social practices that can have genuinely positive impacts on society as a whole, such as a lower crime rate. However, the danger of cultural Christianity is that it deceives people into thinking they don’t actually need a savior.
Cultural Christianity can create a facade of righteousness. Cultural Christianity promotes the benefits of Christianity without truly understanding and worshiping the source of those benefits.
The good news is that a culturally Christian nation cannot arise without a majority Christian population.
The bad news is that Christianity without Christ is why the West finds itself in its current degenerative state.
