Young People and Full Circle Churches?

Many young people have left the churches they grew up in. Why? There are several reasons. They are tired of the hypocrisy. They are tired of the politics. Some are even tired of all the entertainment in worship because they can entertain themselves at home. They are confused by the division among traditional denominations and by the generic answers given at “nondenominational” churches.

Some of these young souls give up on the idea of religion and become skeptics and atheists. Some still believe in God but they reject “organized religion” and become “nones.” But others are looking for clarity, simplicity and authentic faith and doctrine. They haven’t given up hope that the true church exists.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church are seizing on this void. Each claims to be THE oldest and THE true church. Each claims to have a chain of bishops that go all the way back to the apostles. Each claims to have sacred tradition from God. Both churches point to thousands of denominations and say, “That’s what happens when everyone interprets the Bible for himself.” They tell us history is on their side because Protestant denominations started 500 years ago and restoration churches began with Alexander Campbell in the early 1800s, but their church is much older, going all the way back to the time of the apostles.

A surprising number of young people are turning to these religions because they seem to offer a simple, clear, definite way to God.

But these claims are false. Their bishops are not successors to the apostles. True apostles had miraculous “signs of an apostle” (II Cor. 12:12). Catholic and Orthodox bishops have none. The Bible proves that it is the Word of God by its prophecies and other evidences. There is no such evidence that the traditions of these churches are inspired of God. In fact, there are numerous cases where their traditions contradict the Bible.

This upsurge of interest in young people is an open door for us to point them to the true church found in the Bible, not in ancient or modern writings of uninspired men. Jesus built the true church (Matt. 16:18). There is a clear way into it (Acts 2:38, 47). It has a structure of government and a way of worship (I Tim. 2:11-3:13; Acts 20:7; I Cor. 11:17-34; etc.). The Bible is its authority, not a council of men (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:3). That church, not Catholicism or Orthodoxy or Protestantism, is God’s true church.

Kerry

West End church of Christ • March 15, 2026