Searching for God or for Nostalgia?
According to the Catholic News Agency, over 10,000 people were baptized in France on Easter, a 45% jump over last year, and especially notable given France’s historically skeptical and secular society. This report is in line with others from other parts of Europe, where especially men are returning to a faith that has been until now largely rejected. In the U.S. there is a renewed interest as well, again largely among young men, in Eastern Orthodoxy.
Some are calling this a “quiet revival” without the fanfare often associated with revivalism. Glen Scrivener and Justin Brierley in the UK and Gavin Ortlund in the U.S. have been carefully chronicling the subtle growth. They all seem to agree that something is happening, though it’s not clear whether it is genuine revival or just part of a wider “vibe shift,” as the cultural pendulum swings away from an overplayed “woke” moment.
Twenty years ago, the vibe was a New Atheism with Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins. At the same time, there was a New Calvinism ushered in by Tim Keller, John Piper, and The Gospel Coalition. As different as the movements were, they provided an intellectual structure for a world that seemed unhinged by 9/11 and the threats of global terrorism.
It’s not unlike what the Reagan Revolution of 1980 was in the wake of the Hippie age, Vietnam, Watergate, and the decadence of the “Me Decade.” In reaction, millions of Americans turned to faith, family, and freedom for hope, and the newly minted Religious Right became a force in politics. Before that, the Greatest Generation, after surviving the Great Depression and World War II, made its own rightward shift. Having grown up with scarcity and bloodshed, and with the beginning of the Cold War and its nuclear potential, millions embraced the grandfatherly former general Eisenhower for president and turned out in droves to hear a preacher from North Carolina by the name of Billy Graham talk about saving grace.
Humans have a tendency to react to social and cultural chaos by looking back for things that are lost, just as humans have a tendency to be captured by new, dangerous ideas. While any rejection of the foolishness of the last decade is welcome, indulging nostalgia is no more of a strategy than claiming “progress.” What matters is what is true.
Clearly, many are sick of being told they are horrible for thinking men should stay out women’s sports and restrooms and that everything about the West is evil and oppressive. However, we must do more than reject bad ideas. We must embrace ideas that are true and good and then build on these ideas. A new culture must be cultivated if this “vibe shift” is to be sustained.
In Matthew 13, Jesus told a Parable of a Sower. Some of the seed he sowed fell on rocky ground. After a quick flash of life, the plants died “since they had no depth.” This parable tells what is true about people and civilizations. The Church must dig deep to cultivate the soil of belief. If this moment is to be more than a flash in the pan, we must do more than fight what’s wrong. We must build on what is true and good and right.
New conversions to Christ are always welcome, and the current surge of opportunity should drive us to reach out even more and welcome more into church. In the recent past, we’ve been more about breadth than depth. Clearly, what people want (and need) is more depth.
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Drew Buzz
Published Date: May 21, 2025
John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.
