As a student in my second year on a college campus, I've grown to notice something that, at first, was very peculiar to me. I attend a private, Christian university, so you can imagine my confusion when even in theology courses or classes that heavily emphasized the existence and involvement of God in our society, I would find that half of the students in the class were skeptics of this concept of God: agnostics, atheists, naturalists, deists (dare I say it).

Even if I discovered they had grown up in church their whole lives, once they graduated high school and entered college-age, they started to abandon these beliefs they'd been raised knowing and try to find life's meaning in other things... well really, in anything but God.

While many of them did believe in a supernatural being or source of life through which the universe functions, they fought the established concept of "Creator God" with every possible argument they had.

So, I asked myself, "Why?"

Why is it that in the world of academia today (or even just in general society), it's so difficult for millennials to believe in God? Or, perhaps more accurately, why is it so easy for us to back away?

1. We’ve grown up in Christian homes but never sought God ourselves.

The Pew Forum says that 3 out of 4 kids who grew up with a Christian background will call their faith into question after graduating high school. Millennials who were never encouraged to make their faith their own or actually study why they believe what they do are in danger of falling away from God as soon as they step out of the house.

Many of us identify with the beliefs of our family, but when we leave to go to college or start our own lives apart from Mom and Dad, we don’t know why we should continue this (especially if we were never encouraged to have a personal relationship with God anyway).

2. God is replaced with other things.

In the spot where God should be, we often have a tendency to place the other things we idolize. Rather than allowing God to be the focus of our lives and finding our identity in Him, we make the things we most love of the world our focus.

This could be a significant other, the desire for wealth or status, our careers, or even ourselves. When God is so easily replaced with other things, it becomes difficult for us to see our need for Him.

3. In a world so obsessed with sense experience, God seems like a fairytale concept.

In our culture, you are considered dumb or illogical if you choose to value faith over what you can see, touch, experience, etc. Because Christians cannot prove that God exists through scientific method or physical experience, the world refuses to accept Christianity as a valid worldview.

When this happens, millennials begin to accept that perhaps they are wrong in believing in God and that their beliefs are based on lies and wishful thinking. And good luck convincing a naturalist that anything other than sense experience or atoms exist.

4. Following God becomes a task, rather than an identity.

There have been too many times to count when I’ve talked to a Christian who just seemed genuinely exhausted with life. This is because many of us, perhaps without even realizing it, begin to see our life with Christ as a job. We picture God as our boss who is constantly telling us what to do and cracking the whip behind us, so we view ourselves as subordinates who are obligated to do what He tells us.

Many of us forget that God is not referred to as our task-master or boss, but as our Father who loves us and sees us as sons and daughters. Without this view of ourselves and of God, millennials will see the life of a Christian as difficult or as a simple list of tasks to do to get to heaven.

5. It’s difficult to be labeled as a Christ-follower, because of the bad rap many Christians get.

So many millennials are nervous to tell people they are Christians because they don’t want to face the inevitable looks of disgust, confusion, or awkwardness. Christianity has become a religion that many people believe belongs in the past or is associated with judgment and hypocrisy. If you say you’re a Christian, I almost expect instantly that you’re going to judge me for my lifestyle or try to shove the gospel in my face. Even worse, I might expect to see you doing or saying something later that completely contradicts your beliefs and your worldview. It’s become easier for millennials to just say that they’re agnostic or impartial to religion.

6. Our education system tells us there is no need for God.

While I’ve never encountered a biology textbook that specifically states “there is no God”, the ideals and hypotheses included in them all point towards a world that has never had a need for a Creator or a God. This is another thing vastly due to our culture’s obsession with sense experience, and it’s convinced many millennials that the only logical formation of the world is due to a big bang, followed by millions of years of evolution. In this story, God never existed, was never necessary, and has never been involved in life whatsoever. It’s no wonder we turn away from God.

7. The ingrained philosophy that we must think for ourselves and only we can choose our path in life paints God as useless.

Millennials have been trained by their society and by the people around them that the only way they will ever accomplish anything of worth is through their own efforts and independence. Because we strive so hard to “make it” and we are told our whole lives that we have to work for everything we get, God (again) becomes unnecessary to the picture. If we can figure everything out on our own and do everything ourselves, what use do we have for God? Why do we need God to carry our burdens? Why should we allow God to have ultimate control in our lives if our lack of control is viewed as weakness?

8. The church remains particularly cliquey, exclusive, and corrupt.

Ah, the church. This is perhaps one of the biggest reasons why millennials don’t want to claim God any longer. Going to church has become an almost scary experience if you don’t know anyone or haven’t been invited. Churches tend to the cliquey side, accepting those who are “hipster enough” or “holy enough” and casting disgusted eyes on those who are “sinful” or “strange”.

Also, while there do exist many churches out there who truly care about people and ask God for direction in everything they do, there are also many churches, preachers, and “motivational speakers” who utilize the Christian faith as a paycheck. Ulterior motives are thrown in, and the whole thing becomes a huge mess that repulses millennials and prevents them from ever setting foot in a church door.

9. We see a lack of authenticity in the church and among those older than us who claim to be Christian.

Again, corruption is put into play. Millennials have such a difficult time going to church and being active followers of God because we see so many people who claim the Christian faith, yet act in a manner that completely opposes it. We go to church and think everything is great, then discover the head pastor is cheating on his wife. We participate in a Bible study and it’s revealed that the leaders of the church are lifting money from the offering baskets. Things like this happen all the time, and while it should be a reflection on the imperfection and sinful nature of PEOPLE, we tend to think instead that it’s a reflection on God Himself.

10. We simply don’t want to accept that there’s a moral truth, so we can keep doing what we know is wrong.

Last, but absolutely not least, millennials fall away from God, because we know the life of a Christian requires obeying His commandments and we don’t want to give up our lifestyles. Every time we go to church or open up our Bibles, we feel convicted of our immorality. We don’t want to give up the things we know God doesn’t approve of, so we just give up God altogether. Rather than admitting that there’s a moral truth and that we’re constantly in violation of it, we suggest that there is no such thing and God is simply a figment of our imaginations to prevent us from really enjoying the world.

I no longer wonder why on my college campus, I meet so many people who no longer or never have identified with Christianity. Now, I only wonder, when we will start actually doing something about it and encouraging people to see the truth of the matter.