At Home – by Rudy Gray

It seems that every generation of believers has had its share of challenges, controversies and opportunities. Last year, Josh McDowell wrote a book, “The Last Christian Generation,” in which he cited several troubling trends.

Rudy Gray

He noted that 85 percent of youth from Christian homes who attend public schools do not embrace a biblical worldview. Only 66 percent of students from Christian schools embraced a biblical worldview. McDowell’s conclusion was, “We have all but lost our young people to a godless culture.” He revealed some more statistics. Sixty-three percent of today’s youth do not believe Jesus is the Son of the one true God; 58 percent believe all faiths teach equally valid truths; 51 percent do not believe Jesus rose from the dead; 65 percent do not believe Satan is a real entity; 68 percent do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity.

These are troubling trends. The youth of today will be the church of tomorrow. If they grew up in a church, they will not likely be part of that church as adults. If people do not believe the basics or even see the church as relevant, where does that leave the church in the future? Estimates are that between 69 and 94 percent of churched young people are leaving the traditional church after high school and few are returning. Only 33 percent of young people in church say that the church -any church – will play a part in their lives when they leave home. If the church becomes even more marginalized in our culture, what will the culture look like in the future?

It has been suggested that we are never more than one generation from atheism. It is important that we reach our kids with the gospel. As Christian parents and churches, we must develop passionate followers of Christ – which means we must be passsionate about following Christ ourselves. We must teach kids the truth – which means we must study and know the truth ourselves. We must support kids and help them stand against what is wrong by standing on what is right. Of course, that means we must be doing it ourselves.

The future may find fewer Christian churches and less Christian influence. Whether it happens or not, each Christian has the great opportunity to show Christ and to teach his truth to the next generation. The calling of our time is to be faithful. The faithfulness of one generation can be the survival of the next. Our mission begins at home – now.