A Movement of Young Men

I have good news. God is doing incredible work in the hearts of many young men in America. They are filling up truck beds to baptize their buddies, leading Bible studies in basements, and, believe it or not, going to church. A Barna report published in April 2025 showed Millennial and Gen-Z men were more likely than any other demographic to report having a meaningful relationship with Jesus. i 

Let’s admit something to each other. No one saw this coming. When I started campus ministry ten years ago, those same young guys were the least likely to be connected to the church in any meaningful way. What happened in the past five or six years to completely reverse this trend? Based on my experience as a campus minister, I offer four thoughts. 

First, I want to acknowledge that this movement is a God thing. I have a lot of ideas about how He is using our cultural moment to draw young men to Himself, but those are all secondary to the work of His Spirit. Jesus is making Himself known in the lives of young men, and we receive His work with grateful hearts and open hands. 

Second, I think the pandemic broke something in a lot of young guys. Men in general were already facing a crisis of loneliness leading up to March 2020, and being locked inside for months pushed a lot of us over the edge. ii We discovered quickly that faces on a screen are a poor substitute for true intimacy. Guys need real flesh and blood friendships. Even though the Church is imperfect, it offers a meaningful space for shared humanity. 

Third, the ever-shifting cultural landscape has young guys searching for something solid. I cannot emphasize this point strongly enough. Young men don’t want to build their lives on cheap slogans from self-help gurus. They crave tried-and-true tradition over therapeutic theology. There’s a reason Orthodox churches are growing like crazy. iii Doctrinal creeds and spiritual practices that were once labeled regressive are now seen as reliable. The more a congregation grounds its identity in the ancient past, the more likely it is to see a spike in young men. 

Finally, we have seen an uptick in popular, male Christian influencers. Charlie Kirk had a massive following of young, male disciples. Jordan Peterson, Josh Howerton, Matt Walsh, Joel Webbon, and Doug Wilson are a few other names to have on your radar.iv Even Mark Driscoll is making a comeback.v These men have entire production teams helping them curate soundbites to grab the attention of twenty-three-year-old dudes doomscrolling through TikTok. 

In general, these influencers challenge men to have a hard-core commitment to Christ and emphasize traditional gender roles. They encourage guys to love Jesus and their families well. They raise the standard for Christian men and celebrate masculinity. At the same time, many of them place the blame for the church’s problems on “feminized Christianity.” They rightly call out Adam but also want to blame Eve. This message resonates deeply with young guys who feel like they constantly must apologize for being male.vi 

There are other reasons that young guys are coming back to the church, but these four give us our bearings. In part two of this article, I will outline a few ways churches can steward this gift well. For now, I’ll leave you with one of the best quotes I found while researching this topic. It’s from J.T. Reeves, who writes for The Gospel Coalition. His words capture my prayer for this generation of young men perfectly: 

On the one hand, today’s young men feel the need to escape the “quiet quitting,” silent-sitting, digital passivity of contemporary male experience. In inviting followers to take up their cross and follow Him, Christ calls young men out of passivity to bold, daring, radical strength. On the other hand, young men know that more money, more 1950s “trade values,” and more self-empowerment will often only make them narcissistic. The crucified Christ calls young men out of selfish ambition to humble, meek, simple service. Only in humility, in boldness, in crucifixion with the True Man will the men of my generation find their resurrected selves. vii 

Amen. As young men come to our churches, may they find a humble community with nail-scarred hands. 

To Be Continued