As I get around the country there is one question I hear from pastors more than any other: How do we reach young people? They don't need research from Barna, Lifeway, Pew, and Gallup to tell them young people are leaving the church. They see it every Sunday as the congregation gets a little more gray.

But the evidence is mounting that reaching or retaining the young is going to take a lot more than new music styles or even a systematic rethinking of church leadership and organizational structures. There is the larger cultural matter of politics.

An eye-opening article in the latest issue of Foreign Affairs by David E. Campbell and Robert D. Putnam titled "God and Caesar in America: Why Mixing Religion and Politics is Bad for Both," is a must read for pastors. Using research among young adults, Putnam and Campbell ask why the next generation is increasingly identifying their religious affiliation as "none." They conclude that politics is a significant reason. They write:

"The best evidence ...