March 2018

I recently read an article that reported on George Barna’s speech to an Ohio pro-life organization. The report caused me great alarm as it revealed the state of Americans in relation to their worldview. Barna told the pro-life advocates that their movement faces some major challenges in the days ahead. These challenges are a result of society’s move away from biblical principles guiding their decisions.

One of the things that Barna noted is something that all of us are probably aware of ourselves. It seems like everybody is TOO busy today! I am convinced the enemy is content with Christians simply being too busy to be able to fight against the secularization of society. We find ourselves rushing here and there for church and/or school activities when we are not busy at work.

In addition to the busyness that consumes us, we are also inundated with large amounts of information. Much of the information that bombards us daily really has no impact on our lives. We hear or read about accidents that occur halfway around the world as if it just took place outside our homes. Then there is social media! The constant ding or buzz from our “smart” devices tells us there is another text message, Facebook or Instagram post, or some other notification that is calling for our attention and the need to check it out right away. Most of what we take time to look at is of little importance to real life.

The busyness of everyday life and the constant bombardment of knowledge is proof that we are very self-involved. In the end we don’t know how or don’t want to bother to know how to discern truth and how it should guide our lives. I remember reading a quote in Jeff Meyer’s book, Handoff, several years ago. It read,

Young people spend between 27 and 33 hours per week using communication technology.  They are overwhelmed with information.  Information overload is destroying their capacity for  discernment.  They are finding it increasingly more difficult to determine what is really important (emphasis mine).

This isn’t something new to our society.  It has been a plague on our families and society for the past several decades but it has increased in its intensity in recent years.  In fact, Meyer’s book was written in 2008.  We are now reaping the consequences of not addressing these issues for many years.  This brings me to the crisis facing today’s parents and the education of their children.  The article I was reading stated that Americans [parents] right now are so busy that they really don’t invest very much in trying to understand everything that’s going on around them…in fact, they don’t invest much at all in trying to discern truth.  Pay careful attention to what Barna actually said.

The focus in America right now is on experiencing happiness rather than identifying and living in accordance with truth.  So there’s a completely different plan that we’re pursuing than what God intended for us.

Since people are more interested in experience and personal connections, they are not desiring to pursue justice and righteousness.  The research shows that Americans are biblically illiterate and are not that interested in gaining a biblical perspective on life.  This is especially true for younger generations.  Barna talked specifically about the characteristics of the Millennial generation.  This is the generation of young adults that were born between 1981 and 1996.  It is important to note that Millennials range in age from 22 to 37 years old today.

Barna’s studies show that a biblical worldview is disappearing from the American landscape.  He reported that only 10% of Americans actually possess a biblical worldview.  This is despite the fact that 7 out of 10 Americans still identify themselves as Christian.  The percentage of adults who possess a biblical worldview is on the decline when looked at from one generation to another.  It is estimated that only one out of every 25 Millennials have a biblical worldview. These statistics are important because one does what one believes!

How does all of this bode for future generations across the land?  It does not bode well for future generations because Millennials are America’s primary parenting generation today according to Barna.  If our hope is to see our children and youth develop a biblical worldview and change the direction we are going in, we have to ask ourselves the question, Where will they get a biblical worldview from?  If only 4% of the primary parenting generation has a biblical worldview, their children have little chance of developing one on their own.  Barna put it this way.

You can’t give what you don’t have, and most of them [Millennials] don’t have that kind of worldview to give.

This truth was also emphasized by Dr. Tony Evans in his series on growing Kingdom Kids.  Evans stated,

Parents are to transfer a theo-centric, God-centered worldview; that’s why He said raise them in the Lord.  Let the glasses that they wear, we call that a worldview, a lens through which you view life, be constructed by the parents as they have gotten it from the Lord.  But if parents haven’t gotten anything, they can’t give anything.  we are to transfer to them what we have gotten from the Lord. (emphasis mine)

I would add to this that this same warning is true for administrators, teachers and coaches in a Christian school.  If these people don’t have a biblical worldview, then they cannot give it to their students.  Millennials are not just the primary parenting generation today but they are, or soon will be, the primary teaching generation in Christian schools.  There is no question about it.  We are facing a parent and a teacher crisis.  We must act quickly if we have any hope of turning the ship around.

This is why I have spent the last two years developing a wide variety of resources to help train today’s parents, church leaders and educators on developing a biblical worldview and a biblical philosophy of education.  These resources are now available through a subscription-based website.  It is my prayer that many schools and churches will become a KEM Prime Member and equip their staffs and board members with a biblical worldview.  Parents can also subscribe as an individual and access the same resources that are available to churches and schools.  For more information, email me at [email protected] or click here and scroll down to get a better look at the benefits of becoming a KEM Prime Member.  We must act quickly.

I was on a flight to the Answers in Genesis’ Creation Museum to speak at a worldview conference.  Since this was my first flight in March, I picked up the current issue of Sky Magazine to see if there was anything interesting in it.  As I glanced at the cover, my attention was drawn to a headline.  On the cover of this issue of of the magazine was a picture of Oprah Winfrey. Next to her picture in bold letters I read these words, Living Her Truth. Of course, I was intrigued and quickly turned to this lead article. When I arrived at the article, the title page captured my full attention.  The entire page was a strong shade of red.  There was a large O with the words of the article’s title inside the O.  The title read The Wisest Woman in the World.

Wow, I didn’t realize that ,of all the women in the world, Oprah was the wisest. I assumed that is why she is living her truth. I am not taking anything away from what she has accomplished in her life. Rising from the ashes of poverty, Oprah has built a multi-billion dollar enterprise and has started some very worthy endeavors.  However, why did the article’s author think Oprah was the wisest woman in the world and what was meant by the words Living Her Truth? Had Oprah discovered some truth that no one else knows? Has she the source of some new truth that everyone else needs to know?

The article is actually an interview that the writer conducted with Oprah. One of the questions asked Oprah was:

You often talk about listening to your inner voice and “finding your truth.” But how does someone actually do that?

Oprah’s answer provides us with great insight into her belief system or worldview. She explained:

Every human being is born with his or her own internal GPS system. If you get quiet enough and stop your head from spinning, ask yourself: What. Should. I. Do? Just take a deep breath, because everything is in the breath. It’s your life force. Or ask yourself the question, What do I really want? What do I need? Then just get really still and listen…These are the most powerful questions because most people have not yet answered them for themselves. They have their mother’s answer. They know what friends want but most people don’t have it figured out on their own. What will it take to make me truly happy? What gives me joy? What fills me up? When am I most myself? Most people have not asked those questions. (Emphasis mine)

I couldn’t help being amazed by this woman’s advice to other people.  It provides us with the core belief of all man-centered worldviews.  In a man-centered worldview, God does not exist or God is defined by the individual.  In Oprah’s case, the concept of God is in one’ breath — for one’s breath is one’s life force.  

This type of belief system sees man as being totally autonomous.  This means you must determine what is right for you and then do it, regardless of the consequences your actions may have on others.  After all, man was not created by a sovereign God.  Man is merely a mechanistic animal that has evolved to his current state of being.  Therefore, one must listen to his/her inner voice to find out what he/she wants or needs to do.  Of course, it is all about being what makes you happy.

When I read this, I immediately thought of today’s popular slogan Just Do You! This phrase is defined as, Be yourself and stop worrying about others. There is even a song titled Just Be You.  Here are the lyrics to this song by India Arie (it sounds a lot like what Oprah says we should all do).

If you create the game then you create the rules
And if you just be you
There’s no way you can lose

There’s a story waiting for you to write it
There’s a treasure waiting for you to find it
There’s a picture waiting for you to paint it
There’s a dollar waiting for you to make it

So what’chu waiting on
Who you waiting for
If you don’t take a chance you’ll never know whats in store

If you create the game then you create the rules
And if you just be you
There’s no way you can lose

There is a voice inside each of us.  The Bible refers to it as one’s heart.  Another way of saying just do you is follow your heart.  The problem
with this type of thinking is my heart, according to God’s Word, is desperately wicked.  It will definitely tell me what I want to hear and what I want in life — but if I get what my heart wants, it will only bring heartache to me and to others.

This series is taking the metaphor of a tree and relating it to raising the next generation to think and act from a biblical worldview.  We have identified several keys to growing healthy trees.  These include:

• Understanding that the soil in which we plant a tree (our children) is extremely important.
• Recognizing that the soil represents the prevailing worldview of the home, church, school and/or community.
• The two types of soil (worldviews) that we can choose from are:
  • a secular, man-centered worldview
  • a biblical, God-centered worldview
• A secular worldview soil is filled with lies or Satan’s truth claims while a biblical worldview contains absolute truth.
• A secular education is grounded in a secular worldview.
• When a child is planted in a secular education soil, he/she will absorb the lies that are contained in the soil.
• Since knowing truth sets people free, then knowing lies enslave people.

As we identified these keys to growing trees, we learned that it was important to be able to identify the major lies that are embedded in a secular worldview.  Some of the lies that were identified are listed below.

• Man’s happiness is the most important goal in life.
• The government is to provide for all of its citizen’s needs.
• Gender is a personal choice.
• Tolerance is the ultimate value that humans are to exhibit.
• Man is a mere mechanistic creature of nature of equal value to all other forms of life.
• Making money is the primary goal of work and one works to be able to consume.
• Popularity is important in determining one’s identity.
• Creation Evolution is presented as a scientific fact. Young earth is presented as a child’s story.
• I cannot be fulfilled unless I have ____________________
• The government is responsible to provide all of one’s needs.

Readers were asked to choose one of these lies and answer a few key questions as to the where the lie originated and some of the history behind it. The analogy was made between the development of beliefs of a person to the development of a root system of a tree.  The roots of a tree will grow and expand in searching for more nutrients for the tree.  In the same way, the beliefs of a child will grow and seek for more of the nutrients (lies or truth) that are in the soil in which they are planted.

Today, I want us to consider what else takes place in growing a tree by looking at the trunk of the tree.  As the roots absorb nutrients from the soil, these nutrients are transported through the tree’s trunk in order that the rest of the tree receives food and water.  The trunk is merely a conduit and takes whatever the roots of the tree absorbs and delivers it to the branches and leaves of the tree.

Based on this concept in our metaphor of a tree representing a child’s life, we can say that the trunk represents the values that the child will develop.  These values provide the means through which the beliefs of the child are transported to the rest of the child’s life.  I want to once again turn our attention to how this works when a child is planted in secular education soil.

We learned in previous  posts that secular education soil is filled with falsehoods.  These falsehoods are absorbed by the child’s roots and form his/her beliefs.  Whatever beliefs are developed in the root system, they are then transported through the child’s values or the trunk of his/her life to all parts of the child’s life.  This leads us to consider several very important questions when it comes to how one’s beliefs end up impacting all of one’s life.  As you have identified a major lie that is enslaving today’s culture, you also identified some of the dangerous beliefs that are a result of feeding no that lie.  Based on the beliefs that you have identified, answer the following questions (this can be done in a group setting).

1. How is the lie communicated?
2. How is it passed on from one generation to another?
3. What avenues are used to communicate this lie such as media, education, use of words/language, the arts, entertainment, laws, and or stories/jokes?

It is important that Christians understand how lies become beliefs and, then, how beliefs are communicated so that they impact all of life.  If you have been going through this process, share what you are learning by leaving a comment below.  Even though this step is very important, next week I will show why we are witnessing certain behaviors in our homes, churches, schools and communities today.