In my life, I've spent more time studying the Bible than any other activity. It's just what I enjoy doing, and I love to share with folks what I've learned about God's Word. While many pastors are motivated by the study of church polity and others see their calling as motivational speakers or leadership development, my eyes light up when I'm able to shed light on a portion of Bible text through the insight provided by another passage of scripture.
However, a noticeable trend is becoming more and more obvious as time goes on; the Bible audience is shrinking. In other words, each generation here in America yields a proportionately smaller number of people who treasure the Bible as God's Word. Anecdotally, I have been recognizing this trend myself for years. As I sat down to write this article, I wondered if an actual study had been done to bear out my hunch. The first place I checked was barna.org. And . . . there it was — a 2009 study on Americans' attitudes regarding the Bible. It's exactly the study I was looking for; they surveyed over 1,000 adults in America, asking them their opinions on the issue of the integrity and role of the Bible in their lives.
To put the study into perspective, we must first consider the population segments surveyed. They are as follows: The Mosaic generation refers to adults who are currently ages 18 to 25; Busters are those ages 26 to 44; Boomers are 45 to 63; and Elders are 64-plus. The statistics I'll be relating are segmented into those marketing groups.
Barna's scientific survey revealed that my hunch was correct. While 9 out of 10 of those over the age of 45 surveyed regarded the Bible as sacred, that number fell to only 2 out of 3 for the 18 to 25 age bracket. That's disappointing - even though I sensed that to be the case. That's a huge decrease over the span of a single generation. It's obvious that somebody somewhere is failing to keep up with the propagation of the message of God's Word. Could it be that we, as preachers, are simply doing a lousy job conveying our God-given message of the identity and story of Jesus Christ? Or - are we simply no match for the anti-God forces trying to stuff humanism down the throats of our up-an-coming generation? Whatever, it's a sobering reality that should cause us to redouble our efforts as preachers, teachers and Christian parents.
David Kinnaman, who directed the analysis of the research, gives us this explanation regarding the generational divide on this study. He states that the "central theme of young people's approach to the Bible is skepticism. They question the Bible's history as well as its relevance to their lives, leading many young people to reject the Bible as containing everything one needs to live a meaningful life." Ouch! Where did we go wrong here? How have we allowed our youth to be drawn away from the principles of God's Word in such great numbers? In twenty years or so, this generation of young people will comprise the movers and shakers in our society. They will lack the moral principles taught in God's Word that directed the generations before them. Without moral restraint, we'll find our society more calloused toward values that we've taken for granted all of our lives here in America.
I guess, from my perspective, I'm not as concerned about the diminished regard among the young today for the Word of God as I am the trend itself. At this rate of loss for the high esteem of the Bible as God's Word in just over one generation, what will be the moral state of our nation in the next generation; the age in which my grandchildren will be making their way in this society as adults raising their own children? I'm accustomed to hearing folks of my generation reflect back on the day when a man's "handshake was his bond." We recall the good ol' days when nearly everyone we knew attended church somewhere; when extracurricular activities were planned around those times when folks were expected to be attending church.
So, I recognize that we're in a battle for the heart and souls of the next generation. Our battle plans up to this point have obviously been inadequate. Where we've failed is in our inability to convince my own generation that there are dire consequences to our lack of emphasis on the integrity of God's Word. We failed to demonstrate the same relevance to our children that was demonstrated to us by our parents. Hence, they're raising young people whose regard for the Bible is alarmingly inadequate.
Here's the question: What are we going to do about it? What can we do about it? For pastors and ministers in churches, let's get back to the no-nonsense preaching of the Bible as God's undisputed Word to mankind. Let us no longer allow ourselves to be intimidated by the humanist influence that is bombarding the impressionable minds of our youth with their anti-God rhetoric. Let's put the Word of God out front and challenge that Satan-inspired message that all religious thought is equal - that whatever you believe, as long as you are sincere, is good.
I would admonish parents to engage in this battle as well. First of all, get your children under the influence of a Gospel-preaching ministry. Find a church that holds God's Word in high regard, and let that be the group from which your kids find their peers - their close friends. Know your kids friends and every adult who has any significant influence over their thinking processes. You don't win a battle by merely standing by and observing. Proactive people win battles. Become proactive for Jesus!
Me? I'm going to keep on preaching, teaching, writing and encouraging everyone over whom I have any kind of an influence to climb back into the fight and try to move the next generation closer toward God. Let's not admit defeat. Let's claim victory. I'm reminded of the early-twentieth-century evangelist, Billy Sunday, who drew tens of thousands to his meetings where ever he preached. In 1914, in his ten-week campaign in New York City, the New York Times covered his meetings right there on the front page—right next to the World War I developments. He's famous for the following quote: "Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot, I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist, I'll butt it as long as I've got a head, and I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth. And when I'm old, fistless, footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition."
Billy, we need you back!
Pastor Wayne Turner of Fayette Bible Church in Fayetteville, Georgia is also the author of Bible Track, an online daily Bible-reading schedule and commentary which may be accessed at http://www.bibletrack.org. |
