A nation’s future is tied to its generational diversity. The long-discussed graying of America is having a financial impact on the nation’s healthcare system, just as the aging Baby Boomers are worrying about collecting Social Security payments from a smaller generation – known as the Baby Busters – that is paying into the system. A look at those generational differences and their acceptance or rejection of the gospel message also sheds light on the future of Christianity.

The following individuals, all members of Georgia Baptist churches, share a common cultural thread: their belief in Jesus Christ. But if the ongoing decline in baptisms is not reversed, Georgia Baptists may not be far from extinction, along with other evangelical denominations.

The concept of America as a Christian nation could soon become a distant memory.

Builders - 35% unchurched

Emily Bentley, 91, is a poster child for the Builders as immortalized by journalist Tom Brokaw in his book The Greatest Generation. Bentley, a member of First Baptist Church of Villa Rica, also symbolizes the best of the Southern Baptist Convention – a generation with an unwavering loyalty to the denomination, a generation that birthed the Cooperative Program and helped the SBC grow into the world’s largest Protestant denomination.

Bentley, as many of her peers statewide, has been a member of the same church for 50 years and accepted Christ when she was 13 years of age. She says she has hardly missed a Sunday since she was saved in 1929.

“I love my church,” she says.

The Builders were born before 1946 and were the most “churched” of any generation in memory; 65 percent were believers, and only 35 percent were unchurched. If their generation had a theme song, it might be “Just As I Am.”

Boomers - 65% unchurched

Something went wrong with the Baby Boomers’ lack of acceptance of their parents’ values and the term “Generation Gap” was soon coined. Ronald Hensler, 53, of Hampton, is representative of those who didn’t necessarily dislike organized religion, they just didn’t see any relevance to it. Church had lost its soul, many maintained, and had become little more than a Sunday ritual with little meaning.

As a result, today 65 percent are unbelievers and only 35 percent call themselves Christians – a complete and dramatic reversal from that of their parent’s values. Boomers, generally recognized as those born between 1946 and 1964, are not necessarily anti-religious – they are just not generally Christian.

If their generation had a theme song, it might be “All You Need is Love.” Hensler, who accepted Christ just two years ago as he entered his 50’s, is a member of a cowboy congregation, The Open Range Church that meets in a horse barn in Henry County. He prefers the Tuesday night worship service that gives him more free time on his weekend and the more casual dress code.

Busters 85% unchurched

Cellosa Hicks, 34, a member of Passion Community Church in Covington, is representative of the Baby Buster Generation (also known as “Gen X”) – those born between 1965 and 1976 who are in the 23-41-age range. Only 15 percent of her generation – about 80 million young Americans – has embraced the gospel, which means 85 percent of her peers have no relationship with Jesus Christ.

They are even less committed to tradition and are more anti-establishment than their parents. However, where the Baby Boomers rejected the Christian traditions of their parents, the Baby Busters are very spiritual and freely experiment with a variety of esoteric faith expressions – but largely avoid Christianity.

Bridgers - 96% unchurched

If the future of Christianity is dependent on how the Church is reaching those like B.J. Daniel of Bremen, the future is dim, indeed.

Daniel is an anomaly of his generation, which is 96 percent unchurched and is composed of teens and twenty-somethings. That means that only 4 percent of Daniel’s peer group, those generally born between 1977 and 1994, is Christian.

Daniel, 17, accepted Christ in June at his first SuperWow experience at Jekyll Island and credits it with making Christ “real” in terms he can understand. He is a member of Peachtree Community Church in Villa Rica, a contemporary church start whose style once would have been considered to be non-traditional. However, its relaxed worship format and “come-as-you-are” dress code among youth is fast gaining acceptance. Of the congregation’s newly baptized members – adults as well as youth – 75 percent come from the ranks of the unchurched.

Millennials - Unknown

It’s not too early to begin reaching the next demographic, the Millennials, who were born between 1980 and the end of the century. Elena Isabella XiaoXian Westbury, who attends Mountain Park First Baptist Church near Stone Mountain, will be eight in October and is typical of the New American – foreign born in China, a naturalized citizen who is one of those 75 million who are shifting the ethnic balance from the nation’s Eastern European roots to that of a more global society. In her America, Anglos will be a minority.

If the Church does a good job of incarnating the gospel in a media-rich format the Millennials can understand it may pull itself back from the brink of extinction. If it doesn’t, this generation may very well grow up in a nation where churches are community centers, coffee houses, and restaurants like those found today in Europe.