Are you ready to be shocked? The Southern Baptist Council on Family Life recently discovered a gut-wrenching statistic: “88 percent of children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of 18, never to return.” Perhaps this is due in part to these additional factors: The Barna Group found that 45 percent of those who profess to be born-again Christians believe that gambling is morally acceptable, 49 percent believe that living with someone of the opposite sex without being married is morally okay, 49 percent are comfortable with enjoying sexual thoughts or fantasies about someone and one third of those professing to be born again think it is morally acceptable to kill an infant while it is still in the womb. According to an article titled ‘Porn Nation’ in World Magazine, of the men belonging to the Christian organization Promise Keepers [who make a promise to be committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity], 53 percent visit porn sites every week.
In 2009, the Barna Group found further evidence that all is not well in the contemporary Church: Among individuals who describe themselves as Christian, close to half believe that Satan does not exist, one-third contend that Jesus sinned while He was on the earth, two-fifths say they do not have a responsibility to share the Christian faith with others, and one-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is historically accurate and truthful in all of the principles it teaches. BINGO!
The basic reason for ‘easy believism’…. that is, ‘accepting Christ’…. without a renewed mind and a transformed life [Romans 12:2] is Biblical illiteracy! Dads who don’t/won’t read the Bible, let alone study it and teach it to their children…. Moms who are too busy to find a quiet place, under a good light to internalize the Word of God…. Kids who are hypnotized by video games and I-pods and MTV. And if parents and grandparents do not take seriously the responsibility to be discipled and to disciple their children, the results will be catastrophic for the next generation. We are seeing it right before our eyes now…. Our nation is accelerating its descent into the abyss of self-eradication. Listen to the words of a prayer in Exodus 33:13, “…. Teach me Your ways so I may know You and continue to find favor with You. Remember that this nation is Your people.” Listen to the warning in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”
Okay, I just proofread the text of this ‘Speaking the Truth in Love’ piece. It is heavy on the side of truth this week. What can I say? This is what God has impressed on my heart this morning. I have had a ‘sudden awakening.’ I am being ‘brutally honest.’ [Remember Kyle’s sermon from last weekend at Crossroads?] Is God speaking to you about your own heart and your responsibility to teach your children and grandchildren? If Biblical illiteracy is perpetuated in the church, the church as an agent of salvation for the lost world will be increasingly ineffective and hell will be more populated in the end. Does that sound extreme? Read God’s Word, especially the words of Jesus about heaven and hell, and realize in fresh ways how high the stakes are for us and our posterity.
Pray with me…. Loving Father…. save us from self-deception. Save us from shallow commitment. Save us from our mediocrity. Save us from our luke-warmness. Save us from our failure to teach our children Your Word. Save us from our careless living before their eyes. Save us from ourselves for Yourself. In the Savior’s name, amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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