Intro: I want to talk with you today about what I believe to be the most critical issue facing the church today: “What will happen to Christianity in America in the next generation?”
I intent to speak to YOU teens to YOU parents to YOU grandparents and to anyone else not covered that cares whether or not Christianity in America grows or fades and is forgotten.
It is no secret that across the country young people are becoming disillusioned with the faith as it has been traditionally practiced. The world has changed dramatically, and the church has been slow to respond. Here is the opening statement from a sobering book by Josh McDowell entitled, The Last Christian Generation. He says this to adults:
“I realize the title of this book may be shocking. But the decision to call this The Last Christian Generation was not made lightly nor was it done for sensationalism. I sincerely believe unless something is done now to change the spiritual state of our young people—you will be the last Christian generation!”
Why does he make such a remark? Look at some of these statistics:
Nehemiah Institute: 20,000 students from 1000 schools: 85% of youth from Christian homes that attend public schools do not embrace a biblical worldview. How about Christian schools? Only slightly higher.
Does this mean you teens are your children and grandchildren are rebelling against God? Perhaps you can answer for yourself. But polls indicate that young people today are very spiritually inclined:
65% want a close relationship with God;
49% want to make a difference in the world;
79% consider having close personal friends as a high-priority goal for their future.
Source: Barna Research Group, “Life Goals of American Teens”
McDowell interprets this data against other statistics and says, “The fundamental question is: ‘How are they forming their view of God? And what brand of religion are they adopting?’”
Look at this:
63% don’t believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God;
58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths;
51% don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead;
65% don’t believe Satan is a real entity;
68% don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity.
Source: Barna Research Group “Third Millennium Teens”
It’s not that young people today aren’t calling themselves Christians or won’t continue to down the road; it’s simply that the version of the faith that they are embracing is not built on the foundation we find in the Scriptures.
But what of this generation. Do you sense the gravity?
Psalm 71: 17-18 Psalm 71 was written by an older man who understood in his day what we are facing in ours. (READ)
Let me point out some observations from this text and then challenge you based on these observations.
1. He realized how important it was that he learned about God when he was young. Faith is not just a grown-up thing.
Young people: Take your Christian education seriously. Learn what God says in the Bible. Make it the guide for your life. Vs.17
2. His education included observation. He marveled at what God had done for him as he looked back over the years. His memories inspired awe of God.
All: Speak of God’s marvelous deeds. Be a witness, give testimony.
(OF course this means we need to be able to recognize the hand of God in our experiences.)
3. The wise man of God understands something our country is quickly forgetting: OUR GOD GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY TO RAISE THE NEXT GENERATION ACCORDING TO BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES.
I believe as I read between the lines that the psalmist observed the youth of his day and saw that they were in need of direction and a foundation to live by and inside him grew a passion to see that before he died he would tell them stories of God and teach them who He is.
In Deuteronomy 6:4-9 we find the Shema--the most important part of the Torah. It is extremely relevant for Christians today.
Here are some observations based on this text:
1. Moses is speaking to parents
2. The Word of God is to be on your hearts (that is to say, your mind will and emotions are to be bent toward the Scriptures. If you were cut open, you would bleed biblical principles.)
3. Impress them on your children. What do their actions tell you about the kind of impression you are making?
4. Use teachable moments! If you are deeply committed to God’s Word then it will show up in your conversations. You must show your kids that you make decisions based upon this book.
i. You pay your taxes, not because you don’t want to go to prison, but because the Bible instructs you to and you love God’s Word so it is your joy to obey it.
ii. You come to church, not because it is your duty, but because it is your delight.
iii. You work hard with integrity, not because you want to avoid getting fired, but because God’s Word tells you to and it brings you joy to follow it.
iv. You do good works, not to be seen as holy and wonderful, but as an offering of worship to God as taught in the Bible.
v. You show your child’s teacher respect, not because they deserve it, but because Scripture demands it and therefore you go out of your way to show them that you care.
This is where we fail the most-- where the rubber meets the road. We swear at the people making us late for church and then wonder why our kids don’t see the connection between Sunday and Monday. If we smell smoke on our kids when they come home from being with their friends, we must ask ourselves, "what right do I have to bring out my Bible and say, 'don’t smoke' to them?" Am I first applying it to myself? Incidentally, I have a book on my shelf about a girl whose father abused her while reciting the Lord’s Prayer.
Challenge to the gray headed people (out of deep respect):
Take the spiritual inventory self-evaluation we passed out in Sunday School. Your first responsibility is to live rightly yourself. If you read the rest of Psalm 71 you will see that it is a righteous man who wants to impact the next generation. Learn where your areas of weakness are and do something about them.
Resist the temptation to declare “evil” everything that is modern and foreign to your understanding. I have seen it in our church. A few weeks ago on a Sunday evening, Pastor Dave made a harmless comment about text messaging and another about how cursive writing is not used much any more. The comments from the people in the pews around me made me mad. You would have thought texting was the coming of the antichrist! Is it any wonder that young people are leaving the church in droves? Suggestion: (Unless you can’t afford a cell phone or have arthritis—very legitimate problems) I challenge you to learn how to text message and get the numbers for the phones of your grandkids and see who has the first heart attack, you or them. Your first text may take you ten minutes to type and it may only say “how are you?” But, I promise you, it will be worth your while. BTW—why not make the second text=How can I pray for you this week?
Learn how to tell stories. Some people can tell the most wonderful stories, full of drama and suspense, humor, etc. Who is to say that the experiences of your youth have no significance today? Look at the verses again. How can we declare God’s power and faithfulness to the next generation without stories? If you don’t tell your kids and grandkids stories then who will? Hollywood, J.K. Rowling, Oprah, and Dr. Phil.
i. Tip—Resist that urge to start a story with these anesthetizing words: “when I was a kid we didn’t have…” Try asking permission to share a memory you have from when you were younger. If they say, sure, then you’ve been granted the right to tell, but remember, not for an hour and a half!
ii. Another tip—If you’re going to start telling stories, make sure you instruct your young people to gently alert you if they have heard you tell a certain story before. I have a mentor who, when I see him next, will be sure to tell me a story for the tenth time and not have a clue he’s doing it.
TO PARENTS: Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re a good parent you consider sitting at soccer games, going to the movies, or buying presents to be good parenting. You need face time or windshield time to make a difference. Try old fashioned board games, sharing a meal or ice cream together, take a stroll in the mall, go hunting, fishing, or plan a week long road trip next summer. If you live great distances from each other, do something radical like becoming friends on Facebook.
Let me tell you something that greatly impacted me by way of illustration. I turned 7 years old shortly after my family moved to Pennsylvania. I remember this because of the tremendous thunderstorm on my birthday. We were very poor. My present was a blue plastic whiffleball bat and ball. That’s it! My mom was further from her parents than she had ever been and couldn’t afford the long distance phone calls to keep updated on events back in Colorado. Their solution. Give up? No, my mom and grandmother bought a cassette tape and recorded messages to each other while they were ironing clothes. They would send the same tape back and forth once a week and I wouldn’t doubt that they communicated better through those beat up old tapes than most people do today with the their family members that lives in the same house! They did this for years! I am the first and last boy that ever lived that got excited when he saw his mom get out the ironing board. Why? I knew I was about to hear stories of God’s faithfulness! It was never about gossip. It was never mean. It was always edifying. And I stand here today as a testimony to the impact of those tapes far more than any Sunday School class, sermon, Christian movie, end times novel, or anything my youth pastor did. Friends, Don’t tell me you can’t find a way. Get a cd recorder if you have to. Do something radical or you will be the last Christian Generation!
Reality check for Young people: You live in an age where youth is the highest value. People want to be young more than they want to be anything else. Age is scorned and those of your generation mock those with silver hair. We live in the age where nursing homes are like Salvation Army bins for people; we discard the elderly with as much care as we toss out old clothes.
I went to lunch with a retired man a week and a half ago and as we were driving there was a very old lady slowly making her way across the parking lot to the store. We had to wait for her to cross. As we were waiting, the man I was with said something I hope I never forget. He said, “The older I get the more compassion I have for these people because I know that I am becoming one of them.” He is right. He is becoming one of them. And I don’t care how old you are, you are becoming one of them too.
Let me also challenge you to refuse to buy the lie that gray headed people are “washed up”. Sit at their feet. Learn wisdom from them. Ask them their stories. Start with your parents and grandparents. I wonder how many of you have no clue that treasures of history, knowledge, and experience live under the same roof as you do?
I remember a time a few years ago when I was in Florida with Amy and the kids and we were visiting grandpa Angelo Lentini. He was and is in his eighties and what stories he had to tell. We would sit around his kitchen table for hours and listen to him tell of his youth, the lessons he learned and the mistakes that he made. The reason I’m telling you this is because he would frequently stop in amazement and ask us, “Aren’t you bored listening to this? Don’t you want me to stop?” See, he understands something that’s so true and sad today. Nobody wants to hear the stories anymore! We, as a generation, have set aside these people in lonely little houses forgetting what treasures lay behind their eyes.
And, if there are adults that want to interact with you at youth group or in school, or if your grandma sends you a text message I challenge you to honor that as a deep act of love. Don’t push adults away. Don’t wish they weren’t around. Believe me, they have so much they could get done if they wanted too, but they come to you because they love you, and I hope you see that.
In conclusion
Grandparents: Follow the example of the psalmist who prayed that God would grant him enough days to pass on his faith.
Parents: Embrace your roll as the primary models of the Faith. What you see in your kids is largely a reflection of you.
Young people: Open up your hearts to your elders. Be more like wiser cultures that value age as a crown of glory and less like sitcoms that treat them like clothes for the Salvation Army.
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