Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon

by David Kinnaman, Mark Matlock

Discover What's Working and Find Hope
Negative perceptions. Church dropouts. Prodigals and nomads. It's easy to get discouraged by all that's going wrong when it comes to Christianity and the emerging generation. Yet what's going right? In fact, signs of hope are springing up all around. In Faith for Exiles , the author of unChristian and You Lost Me unveils major new Barna research that uncovers what's working--five practices that contribute to resilience. Enter the world of resilient young adult Christians and learn how they are sustaining faith. Finally, you can find hope in all that God is doing among young disciples today.

Caught Between Cultures
In a world where always-connected smart devices and search algorithms educate and entertain, digital Babylon is the new context for discipleship. Faith for Exiles reveals findings from a groundbreaking three-year research study of young Christians whose faith remains resilient even in exile. Barna president David Kinnaman teams up with former executive director of Youth Specialties Mark Matlock to help

• Make sense of chaotic cultural changes and respond with compassion to the next generation of believers
• Recognize the biblical concept of exile as an essential framework for following Christ today
• Discover five research-based practices that cultivate faithfulness in digital Babylon
• Prepare young Christians to be on mission with Jesus in the world
• Empower Jesus followers of all ages to thrive in our current exile

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Church, Cultural, Theology, Faith

229 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Nathan Farley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books I have read in 2019, this one has probably impacted me the most. My mind is informed, my heart is enflamed, and I am ready to make some changes in my life personally. Grateful for this read.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The results of a Barna study identifying five defining characteristics of resilient young Christians who continue to pursue Christ in our generation.

David Kinnaman has been studying youth culture for some time, especially trying to understand the reasons many young people are leaving the church, detailed in his book You Lost Me, reviewed here several years ago. This book is different. Based, as were his previous books on Barna research, he and his co-author Mark Matlock look at five key practices that help account for a resilient Christian faith amid what they call "digital Babylon" in which are youth are often discipled far more on their screens than in their churches.

The book walks through each of these five practices and the survey data that distinguishes "resilients" from prodigals/ex-Christians, nomads who are unchurched, and habitual church goers. These practices are:

1. To form a resilient identity, experience intimacy with Jesus. Resilients clearly identify as Christian, consider Christ central, experience intimacy with God and talk with Jesus.
2. In a complex and anxious age, develop the muscles of cultural discernment. They learn wisdom for living faithfully, with those who differ, stewarding their sexuality and their money. The Bible serves as an anchor for that wisdom and resilients spend far more time digesting Christian content.
3. When isolation and mistrust are the norms, forge meaningful, intergenerational relationships. Resilients connect meaningfully to a local congregation and have strong relationships with adults one and two generations ahead of them, especially those who genuinely care for them without ulterior motives.
4. To ground and motivate an ambitious generation, train for vocational discipleship. Resilients are equipped with a robust theology of work and calling and engaged Christianly in their workplaces. There is no sacred-secular divide and Christians are supported and equipped for workplace discipleship.
5. Curb entitlement and self-centered tendencies by engaging in countercultural mission. Resilients have a strong sense of mission worked out in countercultural practice in their lives. They live as exiles in Babylon discerningly seeking the peace and prosperity of the city. Life is about the big thing God is up to in the world and not one's personal fulfillment.

The book both explores the practices of churches that have equipped resilients, including a special section on mentoring, and tells stories of many Millennials and Generation Z youth who are living the resilient life outlined in these pages. The book strikes the right combination of stories and statistics, empirically grounding and personally elaborating its conclusions. This is not the book to provide fodder for intergenerational criticism, but rather one that offers hope for what God is doing in the rising generation, and wisdom for those in preceding generations who want to bless, mentor, and release these resilient disciples.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for anyone working in Christian ministry today.

[Cody Canepa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book that shows the reality of Christian culture and how we need to making some changes to better care for those who are gripped by the pressures of society. Got me thinking about ways I can be caring for others and where I was before I was Christian. Also helped me see the impact discipleship and community has on a person in the church.

[Keegan Keelan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels a little like practicing the way / john mark comer girlies but from a stats angle instead of a “practices of Jesus” angle, which I enjoyed.

Some points were insightful, others felt unrelated / unsupported.

Overall a good read and a good look at the younger generation (millennials and gen-z) and faith.

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many Christians in America feel alienated from their culture. David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock explain why when they describe changes happening in North America and elsewhere as a transition from “from faith at the center to faith at the margins.” Moving from the cultural center to the cultural margin is a profoundly disconcerting experience.

No wonder, then, that so many of us look to Biblical stories about the Babylonian exile to formulate our response to an increasingly post-Christian America. This includes Kinnaman and Matlock, whose new book is titled, Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon. Kinnaman is president of Barna Group, a leading research company; Matlock is principal of WisdomWorks, a leadership consulting firm.

According to them, digital Babylon describes America’s “accelerated, complex culture that is marked by phenomenal access, profound alienation, and a crisis of authority.” This definition draws on Kinnaman’s earlier book, You Lost Me, as well as subsequent Barna research. The earlier book asked why young adults raised in church were leaving the faith. Faith in Exile asks why they’re staying.

Kinnaman and Matlock focus on the experience of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, who grew up Christian. They offer a fourfold typology of these young adults:

* Prodigals “do not currently identify as Christian” (22 percent of total);
* Nomads “identify as Christian but have not attended church during the past month” (30 percent);
* Habitual Churchgoers “describe themselves as Christian and…have attended church at least once in the past month, yet do not meet foundational core beliefs or behaviors associated with being an intentional, engaged disciple” (38 percent); and
* Resilient Disciples are “Christ followers who (1) attend church at least monthly and engage with their church more than just attending worship services; (2) trust firmly in the authority of the Bible; (3) are committed to Jesus personally and affirm he was crucified and raised form the dead to conquer sin and death; and (4) express desire to transform the broader society as an outcome of their faith.”

The authors believe that the goal of a church’s discipleship ministry today is “to develop Jesus followers who are resiliently faithful in the face of cultural coercion and who live a vibrant life in the Spirit.” In other words, the goal is to develop resilient disciples.

Faith in Exiles drills down on the quantitative and qualitative data that underlies Barna’s research and identifies five practices that characterize resilient disciples. They are:

1. To form a resilient identity, experience intimacy with Jesus.
2. Ina complex and anxious age, develop the muscles of cultural discernment.
3. When isolation and mistrust are the norms, forge meaningful, intergenerational relationship.
4. To ground and motivate an ambitious generation, train for vocational discipleship.
5. Curb entitlement and self-centered tendencies by engaging in countercultural mission.
Though the five practices emerged from Barna’s research, Kinnaman and Matlock show they are consistent with Scripture and illustrate them with anecdotes from everyday life.

As a parent and as a Christian minister, these five practices resonate with my own experiences and goals. One of the tendencies I have noticed among my fellow Christians is a tendency to retreat behind the barriers of safe, institutional Christianity. Somewhat ironically, the most vibrant, effective Christians I know resist this tendency. They are “in” the world, but not “of” it, to borrow language from Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17:16, 18. If our children or church members never venture beyond the four walls of the Church, they will never develop the spiritual, intellectual, and missional muscles that Christ exercised and expects His followers to develop.

So, who should read this book? Pastors and other church leaders, of course, who are charged by Jesus Christ to “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). I also think Christian parents could benefit from reading the book, however. I know I have.

Book Reviewed
David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock, Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2019).

P.S. If you liked my review, please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well researched and articulate exploration of the dynamics that produce young, resilient believers. The writers strike a helpful balance between realistically assessing the challenges rising generations face in predominantly event-oriented formation models and extrapolating five key components that ministries can use to prepare this new generation to thrive in a pluralistic society.

There are excellent supportive materials (charts, data analysis, graphics) to help the reader visualize the spiritual landscape of countercultural disciples. Specific aspects of technological isolationism, identity confusion and destructive generational attitudes (old to young and vice-versa) are confronted with a clarity that results in actionable steps the Church can build into its formation models.

As a practitioner who disciples many younger believers, I found the insights of this book very beneficial for my own understanding of how best to serve those rising in our ranks. Faith for Exiles is not a myopic approach that elevates one group or generation over another. The voice of the writers does tilt towards optimism because of a belief that God is still in the transformation business. Yet, the book's sunny disposition is laced with a tacit reminder that ministry must be contextually adaptive in order for truth to prevail.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been saying for years that I have great confidence in the future of the Church, and I've based this on the young people I know considered Millennials & Gen Z generations. This book confirmed what I already knew about them (their love for Jesus is strong, and they deeply desire their faith to impact the world without hypocrisy, but with the love that Jesus calls us to in loving God & loving neighbor), but also helped me to understand them more deeply, and see the mistakes we, the previous generations, have made. If you believe in the biblical charge of discipleship, and the charge to pass the baton to the next generation (think Paul to Timothy), this book is a MUST READ! (Or if you have Millennials or Gen Zers in your life)

[Nate Xing · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful and research-driven book on youth growing up in our digital age- would recommend for anyone doing youth ministry

[Brother Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my youth students in mind. Definitely came away with encouragement and insight to disciple them this year.

[Caleb Teichroeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important book, and well researched. To bring home the points I think real world examples of how these practices play out in the church could be really helpful.

[Ricky Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Young Adult pastor trying to navigate the best ways to serve this generation, this book came highly recommended.

While there is helpful advice, good theology, and most of all, a wonderful attempt to summarize some goals for ministers, the format of the book is scattered and amounts to long lists of complaints and short lists of advice.

A great place to start though!

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Barna Group research previously found that young Christians are avoiding Christianity and leaving the church. Rather than concentrating this time on those leaving the church, they focused on young Christians who remained vibrant in their faith.

Kinnaman and Matlock have distilled their research down to five guidelines for passing on a lasting faith in a culture hostile to Christianity. It was no surprise to me that the first guideline is having a transformational experience with Jesus and establishing a meaningful relationship with Him. Other guidelines include training in cultural discernment, meaningful intergenerational relationships, vocational discipleship, and countercultural mission. There is a need for young people to know how to think Christianly, develop a Christian worldview, have meaningful relationships, and be discerning in this pluralistic culture.

This is a book every youth pastor would do well to read and probably all parents. The authors' writing style is a bit academic in nature but the material the book contains is worth the effort.

I appreciate how they draw our attention to the current culture. A generation ago, the Bible was still recognized as an authority for truth and morality. It is no longer a prominent authority and Christian faith has been pushed to the margins. They describe the current culture as a “digital Babylon.” Just about anything we want, whether information, advice, or entertainment, is readily available. Maintaining a vibrant Christian faith in such a new environment is a challenge.

We are in an era when we can no longer do church and youth discipleship the way we've been doing it for decades. Reading this book will give church leaders insight into a strategy to pass on a vibrant faith to young people.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

[Kevin Slous · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone wanting to disciple the next generations with CHRIST-centred, OTHERS-focused faith.

[Joel Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the sound research typically produced through The Barna Group, David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock explore how millennials understand and live out their faith. Their previous book, "You Lost Me" considered those millennials who have left the faith and how the church should approach this reality. In "Faith For Exiles," Kinnaman and Matlock explore the opposite reality. While many millennials have left their faith in Christ, many still remain and they are living out their faith in positive and healthy ways. The church needs to consider the five areas of faith expressed throughout this book, learn from faithful millennials, and discover how faith is relevant for this generation. This young generation has much to teach the increasing aged church in the USA. The five areas of vitality in the faith of millennials are intimacy with Jesus, having muscles of cultural discernment, forging meaningful, intergenerational relationships, training for vocational discipleship (living out the Christian faith in the workplace), and engaging in countercultural mission. All of these principles are Biblical sound. The church should sit up and notice faithful millennials and truly consider how they challenge the church to live faithfully for Christ. I received this book as part of Baker Book Group's Blogging Program.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated Faith for Exiles for its well-researched and structured approach to building resilient young disciples. The five key principles outlined in the book were clear and practical, and I found the emphasis on intergenerational relationships particularly relevant. In Western culture, youth are often isolated within their own peer groups, and the church has a unique opportunity to break that pattern. I liked how the book reinforced the importance of integrating youth into the broader church community—something I see reflected in my own church, where young people participate in services and even lead worship.

The book also made a strong case for engaging with cultural challenges rather than retreating from them. Many in the church struggle to navigate the cultural values around them, and this book provides a helpful framework for doing so with wisdom and intentionality. While the research largely confirmed what I already suspected, it was encouraging to see these ideas backed by data. I also enjoyed some of the creative suggestions, like the idea of a “Vocation Bible School,” where young people can learn directly from older adults about their work and faith.

The writing was solid—engaging enough to keep me interested, though not necessarily captivating. Still, the content itself makes this a valuable read. I’d recommend Faith for Exiles to parents, ministry leaders, and anyone invested in discipling young people in a way that is both grounded in faith and relevant to the world they live in.

[Beth Fender · Rating 4 out of 5]

I disagree with the authors theologically. I would have worded many of the research questions differently. I’m not entirely on board with the wording of their definition of discipleship, though resilient faith sounds good. My “worldview” simply doesn’t match theirs. And I flat out disagree with their assumption that part of making disciples is teaching them what to think. All that said, I find common ground with the authors around most of their 5 practices (especially 1, 3, and 4). I deeply appreciate their research based methodology and the distinction they draw between habitual church attenders and resilient, faithful disciples. I appreciate their bluntness in pointing out that we must become resilient disciples if we hope to make them. I find hope in the statistic that 10% of young Christians are resilient disciples. Serious discipleship never was attractive to everyone. I would be curious to know what percentage of Boomers or Gen X (a generation the authors stubbornly refuse to acknowledge throughout the book) would qualify as resilient disciples. And I agree that we (church leaders) must do better at learning with and from Millennials and Gen Z rather than dismissing or criticizing them.

[Jonathan Brooker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very important topic with a good amount of research, but yet a little hollow when it comes to deep insights or practical applications.

The problem here is not that it's a bad book, but that it offers so little that's unique and intriguing. As Kinnaman's other books do, the pages are often sprinkled with sharp looking graphs and other images that are garnered from their research with the Barna Group. However, the research findings of the studies that contributed to this book didn't seem to me all that surprising or especially insightful.

I would say that I largely agreed with the content of the book, and it was fairly well laid-out in a systematic 5-pronged approach to building resilient followers of Jesus. I just wish that this book had a bit less of a focus on the studies that clearly produced the book and instead used them to bolster the content of a probably larger and more developed book.

[Elisha Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book written about young people that's filled with hope...We need more books like this.

This is my 2nd Kinnaman book (Good Faith 1st) and I'm grateful for his work in research with Barna. He exegetes his research and synthesizes it into creative instruction for the church.

Faith for Exiles gives 5 ways that churches should care for the young people in their churches. As a college pastor, this was thought-provoking. He gave a simple formula...Hope+Realism=Resilience. This formula and the 5 insights into how to disciple young people into resilient Christians were fantastic.

I can see those 5 points as clear goals for the students I work with. I'm refreshed in my desire to see people change and hopeful that God can move among young people!

[Nigel Fortescue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super helpful examination of what makes a resilient disciple in the 21st Century based on research interpreted through Scripture. Recommended read for anyone in pastoral ministry.

My take away is to “Make it real”! I struggle in sermon and home group application sometimes to make the abstract hit home with depth and substance. What this book underlines is the need for me to work harder at teasing out the practicalities of authentic faith. The new generation don’t need bling. They need deep exegetical insight that points them in the direction of the real Jesus with personal and authentic examples of what that looks like in the wild. A challenge and an opportunity.

[Scarlett Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book the church needs in this generation. It is exceptionally prophetic, filled with wisdom and research. It shines light to where our generation struggles with discipleship and what will happen if there is no change. It gives incredible research and practical steps that have the potential to change ministry programs and entire churches. Get ready to take notes. You will want to write this stuff down.

[Kevin Hegeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent combination of pastoral theology, strategic planning, and statistical data. Altogether guiding a really needed and helpful discussion on how we as followers of Jesus continue in resiliency in a culture where we are becoming more and more "exiles" in a land not our own.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone who is caring spiritually for people in this current cultural climate (especially to youth and young adults pastors who are forming models of ministry).

[Marshall Chapman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative read on how to live as a Christian in the digital media age. Informative, insightful, and filled with guidance and warning.

“The allure of the digital age is certainly impeding what Christ followers should be doing” reads on the final page of the book and it rings very true.

A lower rating because I read the book on and off which made it harder to focus on and I think it would be well served to release a post COVID volume two!

[Tim Littleford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just super helpful. Helpful for lead pastors, helpful for church eldership, helpful for youth and young adult leaders, helpful for parents. Helpful for anyone who wants to resiliently follow Jesus for the long haul in this "Digital Babylon" and help others to do the same. I will reference this book for a long time. So good.

[Brad Dell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think all in ministry ought to read this, to realize through a statistical analysis lens why we are losing the next generation. The church I pastor is aimed for those who have left, and this book greatly refined and affirmed our strategies of discipleship, intergenerational listening, challenging teaching, and restorative spiritual practices.

[Aj Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book & its research is dated by a few years, the wisdom and base practices that can be offered for Gen Z and Alpha are still extremely valuable in the middle of the “Digital Babylon.” Really appreciated the term “resilient disciples” as a goal for those impacting students in next gen ministries or education.

[Daunavan Buyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. As a young adults pastor I encourage all of my friends who work with youth or young adults to pick it up and seek to put some of these practices into your ministry! It’s super practical and research-based... with lots of ideas.

[Thom Bilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was excellent. The research is approachable and understandable while not being watered down in any way. It’s raw and honest about the state of the church today. I was challenged as an individual but also concerned for my church and it’s approach to many of the things outlined. Thought provoking and humbling all at the same time.

[Trent Horner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Although it was written a few years ago, it's a well thought-out book on how to help shape the next generation of Christ-followers to engage with the culture they find themselves in. Informative for both the younger generation coming up, and those of us tasked with helping form them, etc. Recommend.

[Mike Wardrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary, important book of research and wisdom on how Christians can live faithfully in a post-modern world of ‘exile’.