The current crop of teen-agers and young adults born between 1997 and 2012 has been dubbed Gen Z. Raised on the Internet and social media, what the majority of these individuals actually believe should cause great alarm in the Christian church. In 2018 Barna research characterized Gen Z as the “first truly post-Christian generation,” with only 4% holding to a biblical worldview. Since then, the trends have only worsened.
A new study
conducted last year collected data from 1,503 young adults ages 13 to 21 between
June 15 and July 17, 2020. From that
study, Barna researchers determined that two-thirds (65%) believe that “many
religions can lead to eternal life.”
This figure was up from 58% in 2018.
The moral
relativism dominating this generation of young people was further seen in the
fact that 31% “strongly agree” that what is “morally right and wrong changes over
time, based on society”. This number
increased from 25% in 2018. Another 43% agree
“somewhat” with this perspective.
To look at
the situation from a different standpoint, only 10% of those individuals
surveyed “strongly disagree” that what is “morally right and wrong changes over
time, based on society.
Malachi 2:15
states that God ordained marriage because “He seeks godly offspring.” I.e., God expects parents to have children
and to raise them to know and honor Him, fully committed to a biblical
worldview. It is apparent that many
professing Christians today are failing in this most critical mission.
One of the
primary tasks of the church is to encourage, support, and come alongside
Christian parents to accomplish this God-given responsibility toward their children. Obviously, the parents themselves must be
absolutely committed to the unchanging authority of Scripture before they can
instill this perspective in their sons and daughters.
In one of
his final addresses to the nation of Israel that he had led for 40 years, Moses
expressed the urgency of imparting this outlook to their children in this way: “And
these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach
them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deut. 6:6-7). Hence, the constant, consuming passion of
parents must be to ensure their children embrace the unchanging truth of God’s
revelation as the foundation for their lives.
The importance of this priority has not changed in 3500 years.
