Last week, a college freshman sat on my couch and expressed how profoundly the assassination of Charlie Kirk had affected his life. He was not part of a Turning Point USA chapter and had met Kirk only once, yet Charlie’s death steeled in him a resolve to carry Kirk’s mission forward, become informed about political issues, and start a Christian outreach organization at his overtly progressive college. By all accounts, a similar drive is stirring the spirits of tens of thousands of young men and women across America.

There are more and less significant aspects to this movement. The political interest may, at most, awaken a new generation of conservative activists, prompting historians to record what may be one of many important threads that defined the 2020s. The political movement will likely last for the next presidential election, perhaps for a decade or perhaps even two.

The spiritual implications could potentially last much longer. “Pastors from all around the country reported an increase in church attendance,” observed FRC Senior Fellow Jody Hice, “and much of that appears to have been fueled by young people.” If the Holy Spirit is indeed stirring the souls of younger Americans and using Kirk’s death to usher them into the kingdom of God, then the impact of this moment will last for eternity.

Already, research has signaled a renewed religious interest among younger Americans. A study published by the Barna Group before Kirk’s death suggested that millennials and Gen-Zers were “the most reliable churchgoers,” with those who attended church with some degree of frequency going nearly 50% more often than Boomers and Elders.

(Still, the numbers were pitiful: Gen Z churchgoers said they attended church an average of 1.9 times per month, compared to 1.8 times for millennials, 1.6 times for Gen X, and 1.4 times for Boomers and Elders. The historical norm for committed Christians is to gather with fellow believers on every Lord’s Day, or four times per month.)

But the success or failure of the church of Jesus Christ has never depended on statistics, whether they be good, bad, or middling. “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that … is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants,” Jesus taught (Matthew 13:31-32). The church grows not from human efforts but from Jesus’s omnipotent will, as he declared, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

So, the relevant standard for Christians in every age is not about quantity but quality. Christians cannot control how many people come into the church; that is God’s prerogative. Rather, our responsibility is to faithfully evangelize and disciple (Matthew 28:19) whomever God brings.

These reflections turn the opportunity of Generation Z’s increased spiritual interest into a challenge for Christian pastors. “What are these people going to hear from the pulpits when they go back to church?” asked Hice. What they should hear is prophetic, Spirit-filled exhortation to repent of sin and believe in Jesus, so that, “if … an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25).

Sadly, in too many churches, “there’s confusion … about what the Bible teaches,” Hice pointed out, referring not only to social and political applications of biblical truth, but even on core theological principles about the nature of God, man, and the gospel.

According to a 2023 survey commissioned by FRC and conducted by George Barna, “59% of regular churchgoers told us they thought it was very important for Christians to have a biblical worldview. The research now, two years later, shows that number has dropped to 47%,” said David Closson, director of FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview. This reflects the views of “not just those who identify as Christians, but those who actually show up in our churches,” he emphasized.

The research showed corresponding declines in churchgoers holding a biblical worldview. For instance, when asked about the nature of God, only 61% of churchgoers in 2025 gave the orthodox, biblical view that “God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect, loving, and just Creator of the universe who rules that universe today,” down from 68% in 2023, said Closson. The remainder chose other definitions, including that “God refers to the total realization of personal human potential, or a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach” (17%), “there are many gods, each with different purposes and authority” (4%), “everyone is a god” (3%), and that God is “a higher power may exist, but no one really knows for sure” (11%).

In other words, more than one-third of churchgoers in the 2025 study held Buddhist, Hindu, pantheist, and agnostic beliefs about God, not the teaching of the Bible. Closson quoted the famous opening line of A.W. Tozer’s brief volume, “The Knowledge of the Holy,” “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Unsurprisingly, such increasing theological confusion produced increasing ethical confusion. For instance, in 2025, only 65% of churchgoers agreed that “the Bible was clear and decisive on the definition of marriage,” explained Closson, down from 75% in 2023.

What could produce such a marked shift in such a short period of time? Likely, much of the theological confusion was found among wayward mainline denominations and other theologically liberal churches that have jettisoned many of the doctrines of Christianity. But those denominations have been consistently declining across decades and likely contribute little to the sudden and precipitous drop.

This leaves two possibilities: either many long-time churchgoers have suddenly changed their opinions in an unbiblical direction, or many new people have begun attending church (especially as Generation Z comes of age) but have not been confronted with the need to renew their minds (Romans 12:2) and discard their worldly ways of thinking.

Either alternative points to the same two problems. “Number one, these individuals themselves are not in the word enough to see what it has to say for themselves,” summarized Hice. “Secondly, they’re not hearing it from the pulpits.”

Hice’s point is that the Holy Spirit never fails to use the Bible to change the hearts of true believers. Christians have always held that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). But, if pastors really believe that, they must launch out in faith, unapologetically preaching from God’s word, even when worldly principles would advise a different strategy.

This obligation points back to the task God set for pastors, as Paul described it, “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes” (Ephesians 4:12-14).

A pastor is supposed to equip the saints for the ministry of discipling one another, help them grow into maturity, and arm them against deceptive doctrines. If all he hopes to do is hold their attention for a couple hours on Sunday morning, he aims far too low.

Thus, the key to faithful preaching is for pastors to keep teaching the same truths over and over again. This is because “you never depart from the basics throughout the entire journey of spiritual maturity,” Hice said. “You just get more and more grounded on those basics.”

Closson concurred. “My encouragement to pastors, those with preaching, teaching, discipleship responsibilities, is, don’t think you can just move on from Christianity 101. Even people who’ve been coming to church actually need some clarity. They actually need some instruction. … And my hope is that pastors and teachers lean into the opportunity to teach God’s word on these basic theological questions.”

For example, Closson proposed that pastors can refute the notion that transgenderism is morally acceptable (held by 24% of churchgoers) by teaching how Genesis 1 and 2 “really clearly define what it means to be made in God’s image,” or by going to Ephesians 5 to “unfold God’s plan for marriage.” Again, pastors can clear up the mistaken belief that Scripture does not address the abortion of an unborn child (held by 17% of churchgoers) by appealing to Psalm 139:13-16 or Luke 1:39-45, he suggested.

Although “the Bible doesn’t speak on every single issue we deal with in the public square,” Closson said, “there are principles, there’s information there that we can construct a moral framework for pretty much any issue that you engage in the public square.”

For pastors unsure where to begin, Closson recommended an FRC guide to preaching through seven cornerstones of a biblical worldview (doctrines of God, Scripture, salvation, the human condition, absolute truth, man’s general purpose, and the definition of success).

Above all, pastors should “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). “As so many people now are flooding into our churches and we have opportunities to have conversations, let’s take people to God’s word, because again, the Bible is really clear on a lot of issues that people have questions about,” Closson urged. “I would just encourage folks who have opportunities to have theological conversations, go back to the basics and go back to what God’s word reveals about who he is.”

The sudden increase in church attendance after Kirk’s death suggests that Americans — especially the younger generations — recognize that Christians like Kirk had hope and joy that is lacking in the world. In other words, they come to church expecting to find something different than what the culture has to offer. If all the church offers them is cultural platitudes, but with upbeat music, these young people may conclude that Christianity doesn’t have the answers they seek after all, and they will go off searching for answers elsewhere.

Above all, preaching and evangelism must begin and continue with prayer. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” Jesus taught his disciples. “Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38). Pray also that laborers in the field would remain steadfast in pursuing their chief purpose: proclaiming God’s words “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children” (Psalm 78:6).