Introduction
Recently I have been scouring the web for the bottom line of the condition of church attending youth of the 21st century. Here is how I would distill research that has come to my attention starting with 2005. No doubt today’s teens are even more confused than when the original project was accomplished.
1—They affirm the basic, in-your-face general revelation of Psalm 19:1-6. We should not be surprised since the Apostle Paul declared, “19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse (1:19-20).
2—They reconceptualize the golden rule summarization of Jesus’ teaching as the essence of faith and see this as the essence of faith across most world religions.
3—They have become followers of Maslow (though many have no idea that is the case) because personal happiness and self-actualization is the Christian’s goal of life.
4—For these teens, no need to consult God about day-to-day living unless your in trouble then He is your heavenly butler or perhaps therapist to the rescue.
5—Anyone who is a good person gets to heaven. At best, this is wishful thinking. At worst it is the fact that it is irrational since neither society nor religions have a common definition of good—it is always defined legalistically. For example, my former Mennonite friend was told when he returned to his home area for the funeral of a friend wearing a necktie, “Amos, that thing (as the gent pulled on his tie) will send you to hell.” One person’s good as often another person’s evil.
Why Are You Surprised?
So, are you surprised? Well, if you are a student of the Bible, you should not be. Read the following text: Matthew 24, Mark 13, Acts 2:17, 2 Timothy 3, 1 Timothy 4, 2 Peter 3, 1 John, Jude, and the Book of Revelation.
Reigning In the Engine
Perhaps there has never been as effective tool in modern times for evil as social media, especially with folks under 30. When you read 1 Timothy 4:1: which foretells a time when some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings, it may well occur to you that Paul may have had a vision displaying Instagram or other platforms. The medium is not the problem! It is the purveys of the content from misinformation and disinformation to raw pornography, and the constant distraction from life responsibilities like the recent college graduate in counseling did not have time for a morning devotional life, as it turns out, because she was spending an hour every morning surfing her social media.
Grassroots Solutions
Well, my friends, we cannot turn back the clock, but each of us can choose to evaluate our use of social media and become responsible models for the youth in our sphere of influence. We can develop our personal relationship with Jesus and model for them what “walking in the light” (1 John 1:7-9) looks like. Parents can return to the tradition of the families eating dinner together with discussing daily life and world events within in a biblical world view (put it another way, discipling their children (Deuteronomy 6:1-10).
**Based upon the research:
The National Study of Youth and Religion by these Sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton.
Multiple references read, but here are the two most important:
https://albertmohler.com/2005/04/11/moralistic-therapeutic-deism-the new-american-religion-2/
Smith, Christian, and Melinda Lundquist Denton. Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
