What does voter turnout mean for the future church?

There was a red wave this election in a way that certainly surprised me. Trump won the electoral college and the popular vote. But after reviewing the voter turnout, I think I can grasp why things turned out as dramatically as they did. The only reason this really stands out to me is because I think the vote was really swayed by one major group: young men.

As a young man raising two boys who will be young men, I have vested interest in understanding why there was such a large swing in voting towards Trump. What about his messaging was so attractive towards young men? Or, maybe a better question is, what has led young men to feel like there was no other choice?

Left behind

I think that the biggest difference in voting habits has occurred due to the fact that young men are feeling the pinch of a progressive society as they continue to be left behind. No group has fallen faster than the young white man.

Women are currently completing college degrees at higher rates than their male counterparts.

Make no mistake, that as women hold degrees and focus on careers, they will outpace men in terms of income. In some places this is already happening.

As far as mate selection goes, a majority of women will not date or marry someone who is perceived lower status than themselves, often viewed in terms of education and income. (So do men).

And this explains, in part, the decrease in marriage rates and child-birthing rates. If women are earning more and getting higher education, the percentage of men that fit that criteria is decreasing.

Men are so lost in the changing modern landscape, millions are quitting altogether.

For those young men who are married, many find themselves struggling to bring in the required money to provide the lifestyle his family desires. Purchasing a home has become unaffordable for many. Conversations around having children become centered around income.

In summary: the modern young male is seeing themselves fail to keep up in education, is feeling the unease of being replaced as the breadwinner, is feeling the hopelessness of their purchasing power decrease, and feeling inadequate to provide for a family they desperately want to have.

And while they struggle, there is a group in our society that regularly calls them misogynistic, racist, patriarchal, overrepresented, and on and on.

The reality: this is a group of people trying to understand their changing place in society. The story of what life looks like for a young man growing up in this country looks wholly different than it did for previous generations.

Rather than berating them, let’s come together and write a better story.

The role of the future Church

Part of the role of Church is helping disciple the next generation to be Christlike in the midst of a changing broader cultural landscape.

It is teaching men and women how to grapple in a Christian manner the difficulties of a hostile world, a world that does not always look like Jesus and in fact in many ways is contrary to Jesus.

The role of the Church is to identify the differences in culture and in Christianity and help bring light to a better way.

It is creating spaces where we can have clear conversations and healthy disagreements on what modern manhood and womanhood can look like while staying true to a Christian narrative.

It’s about bringing everyone to the table, even the people you think are “oppressors”.

If we as the Church are not helping young men understand their place as beloved and important members, other forces will draw them in.

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