Intervention

Jesus shared some very practical teaching in John 14 about the walking in His truth and recognizing the source of truth:

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Basically, our Lord is reminding us that He is available to us.  He provides answers to our prayers, and He enables us to keep His Word.  The Holy Spirit is involved in teaching us truth, a truth that is not of this world, a truth that is spiritually discerned and applied.  God is there to help us, providing clarity when we are confused and power when we are weak.  We are called to fervently contend for the truth, as the Spirit directs.

+++++

Our talk and our walk should line up, and Paul challenges us in Colossians 2 to not allow the world to determine what we believe:
6 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Earlier this week, I featured a conversation from NRB 2017 with noted researcher George Barna, who now heads the American Culture and Faith Institute.  At NRB, he was discussing his latest work, the Worldview Measurement Project, and the Institute has continued to highlight certain sets of data from the project.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, there was a section devoted to the Millennial generation, which was actually a topic of conversation I had specifically with three guests at NRB: speaker and blogger Cissie Graham Lynch, evangelist Nick Hall, and commentator Nick Pitts.  And, it's an important conversation topic.

Christian Today recently featured the Millennial component of the Worldview Measurement Project. It began by stating:

Increasing numbers of young adults in the United States do not consider themselves to be Christian.

Many do not take a biblical world view on key social and moral issues. And large numbers support developments such as same-sex marriage.

The survey of younger adults in the US for the Worldview Measurement Project and carried out by the American Culture and Faith Institute shows that millennials are by far the generation least likely to possess a 'biblical worldview'.

Over at the Institute's website, CultureFaith.com, Barna is quoted.  He states:

"...The challenge to conservatives is that the current views of Millennials are so far to the left-of-center that even a typical amount of repositioning over time will leave the youngest generation considerably more liberal than desired, and more distant from traditional norms than has been the case during our lifetime.”

Barna also explained: “Remember, a person’s worldview is typically developed between the ages of about 18 months and 13 years,”adding, “There is usually very little movement in a worldview after that point. You could say with confidence that the worldview a person possesses at age 13 is probably the worldview they will die with. Unless pre-existing patterns radically change, we are not likely to ever see the Millennial generation reach even ten percent who have a biblical worldview.”

And, then there are these sobering statements:

“Parents are one of the most important influences on the worldview of their children, and Millennials are entering their prime childbearing years. But because 24 of every 25 Millennials lack a biblical worldview today, the probability of them transmitting such to their children is extremely low. You cannot give what you don’t have. In other words, if today’s children are going to eventually embrace a biblical worldview, people with such a perspective must exert substantial influence on the nation’s children to supply what their parents are unable to give them..."

Just a few stats from the project before we move into today's takeaways:

• Only 59% of Millennials consider themselves to be Christian. That compares to 72% of adults from older generations.
• 28% of Millennials would identify themselves to be in the atheist-agnostic-none faith preference category. 
• Only 20% could be considered a "born again Christian, stating that they will experience eternity in Heaven with God after their death on earth only because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior."
• 65% of people under 30 support same-sex marriage.

You get the picture - and remember that George Barna said 24 out of 25 Millennials lack a biblical worldview.

You could say that it's time for an intervention.  Millennials are now in their child-bearing years - there's a sobering thought.  So, there is a double threat.  You have many in that age group that do not embrace a strong Christian faith, and they're now raising a whole new generation; kids who develop a worldview during the period of time between 18 months and 13 years.  That's why parents are so important in instilling biblical values in their kids. 

Well, Barna states that there could be a shift of Millennials as they grow older.  After all, a Dallas News story attributed this point to Frank Newport of the Gallup organization: "If boomers become like elderly Americans of the past, they will become more religious as they enter their senior years. Of course, boomers being boomers, they may defy that trend. But if they don't, they could become a major source of growth for religion in general and various faiths in particular."  But, as Barna points out, Millennials have swung so far from traditional values that even a shift more traditional or conservative would leave them more liberal than previous generations.

Well, that's encouraging, but there are no guarantees that will be an organic occurrence as my generation becomes the majority of the senior citizen population.  For the church today, we have to realize that there is a massive struggle for the truth - and there are challenges about which we need to be aware and that we need to address.

We also recognize that data - information - can spur us to action.  What that action looks like is determined by the direction of the Holy Spirit in each of our lives.  But, I think we can be challenged to look at our own worldview to determine a) if our beliefs line up with Scripture and b) if those beliefs are manifested through our actions.  Then, we can also determine how we can influence the people whom God has placed our will place around us.