Christina Baillie
Project Develoment Lead
Have you noticed it too? That quiet, almost polite disinterest some young people have towards faith. Not hostile, not skeptical—just… warm apathy.
In a previous blog post, we shared that we’ve seen many young people responding to the Good News, and we are buzzing about the move of God happening! Yet, this isn’t the experience of every young person coming through our centres.
Across Youth For Christ, our staff and volunteers journey with hundreds of young people every year. They build deep relationships and demonstrate that every young person is made in the image of God, full of value and purpose.
And while many are responding boldly to Jesus, there’s a significant number of young people whose attitude towards faith could best be described as warm apathy. They’re happy to be part of Youth for Christ. They know the staff and volunteers are Christians. They’re not pushing back against faith—but they’re not particularly curious about it either.
They’re not asking tough questions, or even any questions. The classic queries—”What does God say about…?” or “How is this relevant to me?”—aren’t coming up in the way they used to.
And we’re not alone in noticing this.
Youthscape’s Centre for Research and Innovation put it this way in Part 2 of their Translating God research (https://www.youthscape.co.uk/research/translating-god/home):
“Most young people were not very interested in our ideas about God and life, and not very curious about finding out more. While a small group of young people were clearly negative about the idea of God, a much larger group seemed either disinterested or benignly positive – displaying a kind of warm apathy. Where once our challenge was overcoming negative views of God and Christianity, we are now more likely to be engaging with a sense of disinterested positivity – ‘you do you’.”
What does this mean for us?
It makes for a really interesting question:
How do we share faith with young people who are not hostile… but also not curious?
The good news? We don’t need to convince young people that God is okay. We don’t need to defend His name. We don’t need to start updating our TikTok content to explain predestination. And most importantly—we don’t need to be afraid of sharing our faith.
Let’s pause and praise God that we are not facing widespread hostility or opposition. That is a gift. Yes, it’s a different kind of challenge, and it will require a shift in how we engage. But we can also be grateful for the challenges we don’t have to face.
So Where Do We Start?
The team from Start to Stir have been really helpful in this area. They’ve developed not just a resource, but a framework to help us respond. Rather than rushing to apologetics content, they encourage us to listen carefully to the questions young people are asking—and not assume we know where they’re starting from.
We know that because every person is made in the image of God, there is a longing within them to know Him—even if it’s buried beneath layers of comfort, culture, or disinterest.
So let’s start there.
From Our Experience
At Youth For Christ, we’ve found that the best way to respond to warm apathy is through long-term, relational investment. Our staff and volunteers care deeply, consistently, and over time. As trust builds, opportunities open up—moments to share how Jesus has changed our lives. The invitation to explore faith becomes meaningful when it’s built on a foundation of knowing and being known.
So let’s not push against the “you do you” mindset—let’s bounce off it. Let’s share our own “here’s why I do me the way I do” stories, and invite young people into something deeper.
Over to You…
How are you responding to the warm apathy you’re encountering?
And if you’re not seeing it—how would you describe the spiritual posture of the young people around you?
We’d love to hear your reflections.
