The Seduction of Young Evangelicals
By Adam Graham (07/02/08)
Young Evangelicals are considered to be a key swing vote in this upcoming election. I’d suggest the issue of Young Evangelicals is far more important than this upcoming election. How they ultimately go but could determine the fate of our nation.
It is said that these young Evangelical voters are concerned about issues such as social justice, poverty, and the environment. These are not bad things to be concerned about in and of themselves. If because of this concern people become aware of the crisis of human trafficking, band together in community to help people escape poverty, and create backyard oasises n their home town, that’s a good thing. If, on the other hand, we recreate the mistakes of the 1960s and 70s and destroy people by making them dependent on government, create useless feel good government policies, and cripple the economy through idiotic legislation based on pseudo-science, that’s another matter.
How We Got Here
Why are so many Young Evangelicals being lured by people who are generally pro-abortion, anti-traditional morality, and radical? I would suggest that there are issues within the church and within the conservative movement and the Republican Party that will explain these issues. This column as well as the next one will deal with the issues in the church. A series next week will deal within the conservative movement.
Given the wide disparity between different churches under the label of Evangelical, there will be some general issues that will perhaps not apply to your church or my church, but their presence in many Evangelical churches across the country helps explain why so many young Evangelicals are moving left.
No comprehensive training of the mind: Catholics and many mainline Protestants use Catechisms to communicate the formal views and doctrines of their church and instill them into their children. There is no catechism for Evangelicals, in fact many would disdain the idea as formalistic. The result of this is that Sunday School classes and Youth Groups often provide a hodgepodge of scattershot ideas, but fail to inculcate a Biblical worldview, which Barna has found only 5% of Americans hold to.
Sermons are in many cases no help. The Word of God is as deep as the ocean, but I would think it fair to say that, in many churches across America, it’s a rare event when the congregations’ ankles get wet. Too often these sermons are general and non-challenging in order to be “seeker sensitive.”
While the church is lackadaisical about teaching a consistent biblical worldview, the public schools that 90% of church kids attend are certainly not lackadaisical about secularist views, nor are the makers of movies that Christian parents send their kids to without a second thought. Secular humanism is pushed in both education and the arts, and those two mediums take scores more of a child’s time than does the Church.
This general lack of biblical literacy allows secular liberals to slap a couple scriptures on old style Socialism and sell it to young Evangelicals hungry for adventure and purpose.
Focus on the Family has produced a wonderful series called, “The Truth Project” that teaches a biblical worldview, but it’s definitely an upstream effort against a sleepy church and a culture that’s more than happy to fill in the gaps.
Materialism: Within American Christianity, there are many people who sincerely love and serve God, regardless of denomination. However, there is also a greater degree of materialism than you will see in churches across the world. This is made even worse by the presence of a prosperity gospel that teaches God’s will for everyone is material prosperity.
There are many Evangelical Christians who live to keep up with the Joneses: bigger houses, bigger cars, more expensive toys. These are the things of a blessed life. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with these things in and of themselves. But when they become the focus of our lives, and when we would rather insure that we hold onto these things than put them at risk by standing for what’s right, children see. Many people do not become involved in public issues such as abortion, the display of the Ten Commandments, or the sanctity of marriage because they fear it will cost them their bobbles.
Ultimately, Christianity teaches that man has needs that go beyond the material, and it doesn’t just end with salvation as the focus of some churches would seem to indicate. As a minister, Paul declared, “Woe to me if I don’t preach to the Gospel.” And with each of us, it’s the same. “Woe to us if we don’t do what God has called us to do.” This spiritual shallowness at home, in the midst of physical abundance, leaves a great emptiness, a search for meaning.
It may be filled by Mission organizations that work through the local church. When it is not, and far too often, it is not, far left organizations are more than happy to provide grandiose meaning and purpose that promises something better than the shallow and materialistic faith witnessed at home.
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