Who do Gen Z trust to teach them more about Jesus?

Data from The Open Generation: United States—one of many country-focused reports created as part of The Open Generation project—show that U.S. teens are largely interested in learning more about Jesus throughout their life. This article looks at current levels of Christian commitment among U.S. Gen Z and who they might turn to with their curiosity about Jesus Christ. Along the way, we observe some notable shifts in commitment to Christ as teens enter adulthood.

A Sharp Decline in Christianity Starts Early in Adulthood Overall, Gen Z in the U.S.—both teens (13–17) and young adults (18–22) have a positive view of who Jesus is. Most often, U.S. teens believe he offers hope to people, cares about people and is trustworthy. Even so, holding these perceptions doesn’t always correlate with identifying as a Christian. Further, even when teens do identify as Christian, it doesn’t mean they’ve made a personal commitment to follow Jesus.

Barna has long made the distinction between nominal Christians and practicing Christians in its research, which is especially important in areas such as the U.S. that may be culturally Christian. We can also assume that some teens are young enough that they identify with the religion of their community or upbringing without having yet made deeply personal decisions around that faith.

Overall, two-thirds of teens (65%) and nearly half of young adults (48%) in the U.S. identify as Christian. To sharpen our analysis of Christianity among young people, Barna also developed a segmentation based on a personal commitment to follow Jesus.