This is an observation, an assessment,
and some prayerfully considered recommendations for the upcoming generation of
evangelicals. There are rough seas ahead for them, far more hazardous than what
their parents have experienced. They are heading into a perfect storm of
apostasy for which few of them seem to be prepared. Much of what they will face
and the fact that they are ill equipped to successfully weather what's ahead is
at least in part the fault of the preceding generation— my generation. That is
not to say that each generation is not responsible for their own sin
(Deuteronomy:24:16; Ezekiel:18:20), or that they are merely victims of their
environment, but nevertheless, my own generation failed specifically (although
I thank the Lord for the exceptions) to do what God commanded of the
Israelites:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is
one Lord : And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words , which I command thee
this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto
thy children ....Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest
thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons
; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when
the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear
my words , that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live
upon the earth, and that they may teach their children....And ye shall teach
them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy
gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children ....
(Deuteronomy:6:4-7; 4:9-10; 11:19-21)
"Evangelical," as the term
is used in this article, refers to Christians who consider the Bible to be
their authority in all matters of faith and practice. In other words, they
profess to go by the Scriptures to guide their lives. Sadly, that isn't much more
than lip service for most professing evangelicals, if various surveys
identifying their beliefs and practices have even a modicum of accuracy. But
does the same apply to the upcoming generation of "Bible-believing"
Christians? There's little doubt of that, although the blame for their
condition can certainly be shared with my generation.
Who among believing parents can
honestly say that they heeded the instruction that God gave to the Israelites
to "diligently" teach their own children the Word of God? As I think
back on raising my five children, now in their 20s and 30s, my wife and I
"coulda done better." Although we knew that their instruction in the
Lord was to be first and foremost our responsibility at home, too often we
turned them over to a Sunday school class, a church program, and/or a youth
pastor (who in my view has one of the most difficult callings in ministry). Not
that those experiences were all bad; some of them truly blessed our kids. The
basic problem was that we lost sight at times of our personal responsibility to
"bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," allowing
the church to become our family's "spiritual babysitter."
That fault is hardly unique to my
family or my generation but is widespread among evangelicals today. The outcome
is of no small consequence, contributing to a generation of true and professing
Christians who are functionally biblically illiterate. They know how to read,
they have Bibles, but they rarely put the two together. That creates a serious
quandary. James exhorts us in his epistle to be "doers of the Word"
and not hearers only. Obviously, if they don't know God's Word, they can't do
what it says.
Furthermore, most have come to rely on
what others tell them the Bible says. They have been conditioned by being
"spoon-fed" the Scriptures, and many seem okay with that.
Spoon-feeding is reasonable for baby believers until they are ready for the
meat of the Scriptures, but God's Word tells us to wean them off that process
as soon as possible (Hebrews:5:12-13) . It's tragic that such a condition
prevails among young evangelical Christians today.
Tragic? Yes. First of all, it brings
into question whether they were taught and have understood and truly believed
the gospel, the good news that Jesus paid the full penalty for their sins and
that He offers salvation to mankind as a free gift that must be received by
grace through faith alone (Romans:5:10; 1 Corinthians:15:3; Ephesians:2:8-9; Hebrews:2:17) . Although the
acceptance of eternal life with Jesus requires only child-like faith, living
one's life in Christ is a growth process that begins with a new birth (being
born again spiritually) and then develops into spiritual maturity. At least
that's the biblical plan. For the majority of the next generation of believers,
however, their situation seems to be a case of arrested development. The
reasons for, and the dire consequences of, such a condition are numerous.
During the last three decades, many
have experienced Christianity in church settings that major in entertainment
rather than in teaching the Scriptures and discipling those who attend. Thus,
they are the products of years of church-growth marketing schemes that have
attempted to fill pews with the "unchurched" and keep them coming
back by using consumer-oriented tactics. It's a "keep the customer
happy," seeker-friendly approach that has critically diluted biblical
content as churches compete with the world in order to interest their youth.
The game rooms of some mega-churches could put to shame their cities' most
popular arcades. The marketing mentality of "do whatever it takes to
attract and keep the kids coming back to church" reflects a "bait and
switch" scheme, and in most situations the "bait" (games, music
that mimics the world, and entertainment) overwhelms the intended
"switch" (learning the Bible). That endeavor has both trivialized and
marginalized the instruction of the Word of God for those who have been
subjected to that worldly approach. The outcome has resulted in a shallow
Christianity for millions of young professing Christians.
Biblical shallowness, however, has
many contributors. Even in situations where scriptural content has made an
impact on our youth, quite often it has been accepted simply because an engaging
preacher or teacher captured their imagination. Although that condition is not
exclusive to the next generation of believers, it has the overall effect of
stunting one's growth. If one believes a biblical doctrine only because they
were persuaded by a compelling teacher, they may become dependent upon the
teacher instead of being rooted in the understanding of the Scriptures.
Believing something because "so-and-so said so" is faith by proxy, a
faith that isn't one's own. Such an attached belief is not only wrongly
applied, but it does little to strengthen one's faith. Moreover, it may be tied
to the spiritual status of the person who taught the doctrine, and should the
preacher/teacher go south morally or doctrinally, so may go his followers.
Akin to a faith by attachment, and
just as potentially destructive, is a faith acquired by osmosis. Both are
secondhand. Faith by osmosis rarely goes beyond what a person has "picked
up" from his believing family members, friends, teachers, and assorted Christians
throughout his life. Scripture does say that "faith comes by
hearing," but for that to produce fruit, the verse goes on to say that the
"hearing" has to be "by the word of God" (Romans:10:17) .
To this James adds that we are to be "doers of the word, and not hearers
only," the latter causing one to be vulnerable to deception (James:1:22).
If deception is a potential problem
for one who hears the Word of God but doesn't do what it says, what might be
the situation for those who only incidentally hear the Word and have nothing
more than a superficial knowledge of it? Ignorance may be bliss for some, but
scripturally it makes one the "devil's delight." Since the sword of
the Spirit, the Word of God, is the only formidable weapon against the one whom
the Bible calls "devoid of truth, the father of lies, a liar and deceiver,
who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour," what then
of those who can't handle the sword of the Spirit— whose Christianity has been
shaped by most of the conditions mentioned above? When you add it up, they are
indeed functionally biblically illiterate and therefore defenseless against
God's adversary.
Young evangelicals who are involved in
ministry tell me that the increasing state of easy access to information
through the internet, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, and various blogs and apps has
compounded the difficulty of encouraging their peers to study the Bible in
depth; what's more, it reinforces their appetite for instant gratification.
That's comparable to some in my generation, who were of the mentality:
"Why read the book when you can read the CliffsNotes version?"— on
steroids! It's also been noted that such believers are aware that they are
seriously deficient in understanding the Scriptures-— which has led to other
problems: a) they are easily intimidated by those who tell them to leave the
Bible answers to the scholars and experts, and b) they tend to seek out the
latest Christian books for enlightenment rather than gleaning insights from the
Bible itself. Once again, all of this makes them ripe for deception.
If that real-life scenario regarding
the next generation of evangelicals sounds disheartening, brace yourself for
the rest of the story that they will be facing. When Jesus was asked about the last
days, His first words were, "Take heed that no man deceive you"
(Matthew:24:4) . Deception was His characterization of the time prior to His
second coming. In Luke:18:8, He further underscores the situation when He
implies that the faith, the actual living out the truth of God's Word, will be
scant among men at His return. We are given many prophecies that tell us what
to look for and when that time will be drawing near. Scripture overwhelmingly
declares that escalating apostasy will precede His second coming. No one other
than God knows the exact time of Christ's return for His church, the Bride of
Christ, to take her to heaven, but as these apostasies escalate, it makes a
rapture event even more imminent. The apostasy is primarily geared to the advancement
of the religion of the Antichrist. It will include seductive beliefs and
practices, most of which have a form of godliness but are diametrically opposed
to what the Bible teaches. They are beliefs that seem right unto men
(Proverbs:14:12; 16:25), and they are taught either by those who are
themselves apostate— deceived professing Christians— or by true believers, the
latter unwittingly (Acts:20:28-31) . This false universal religion won't just
suddenly arrive; its preparation began at the fall of mankind and will
culminate following the rapture of all believers prior to the beginning of the
Antichrist's seven-year reign.
Has the apostasy captured the hearts
and minds of our young generation of evangelicals? Certainly there are many who
have not succumbed to the rampant deception, even though they may be ill
equipped to maintain a steadfastness in the faith. No doubt it is their love
for Jesus and the grace of God that has kept them thus far. Furthermore, among
young people, there are encouraging signs that they have a desire to see
biblical Christianity manifested in their lives as they pursue a closer walk
with the Lord and a deeper understanding of His Word. Yet too few are truly
prepared for the spiritual battle and the rough seas ahead, which will only
intensify. Although the next generation may not be the generation in which the
Lord returns, it will nevertheless face conditions unprecedented among the
generations that preceded it.
The Lord willing, in part two we will
address specifically some of the more serious issues that have already led
multitudes off course from God's Word and have shipwrecked the faith of many.
Those turbulent waters feature the unbiblical "self" teachings, such
as self-esteem and self-love; the fear of being considered intolerant; the
desire to be accepted and respected by the world. These times also exhibit
gross lack of discernment by churches and individuals who allow community and
relationships to overshadow biblical truth; who buy into the pseudo-sciences of
evolution and psychotherapy; who appear to have an inability to recognize the
heresies of the emerging church movement, the contemplative movement, and
mystical and occult practices, the word-faith and healing and prosperity
movement, and the inner-healing movement. There is a lack of understanding
regarding Replacement Theology; the rise of anti-Semitism within the church;
yoga in the church; the false gospel and anti-biblical dogmas of Roman
Catholicism; and no apparent concern regarding the errors of the youth-oriented
para-church organizations; the misdirected propensity to help others by means
of a social gospel, eliminating social injustice, and other programs that lead
to "works salvation."
The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, his
spiritual son in the faith and one of the pastoral leaders of the generation
that would succeed his own, these sobering words of warning:
For the time will come when they will
not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to
themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy:4:3-4)
In addition to the warning, he also
gave Timothy instructions for helping to correct those things that would take
place and would draw believers away from God's truth:
Preach the word; be instant in season,
out of season [always be ready!]; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine [hang in there with the teachings of Scripture]. (2
Timothy:4:2)
That's the simple solution to anchor a
generation adrift: simple, as in "not complex." Yet neither is it
easy— it demands discipline and diligence.
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