Challenges to our children Living and thriving in a sea of relativism

1. Challenges to our children Living and thriving in a sea of relativism By Dr. David Geisler

2. OUR WORLD IS CHANGING…

3. 1955 – FIRST MICROWAVE OVEN 1958 – FIRST COMMERICAL JET AIRLINER 1961 – FIRST INDUSTRIAL ROBOT 1964 – FIRST UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES 1969 – FIRST AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE 1970 – FIRST DIGITAL MUSIC 1973 – FIRST CELL PHONE 1979 – FIRST SONY WALKMAN 1984 – DNA FINGERPRINTING USED 1998 – FIRST MP3 PLAYER

4. Our World Has Changed And We Are In Trouble • “As we approach the twenty-first century, It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize that our entire culture is in trouble. We are staring down the barrel of a loaded gun and we can no longer afford to act like it is loaded with blanks.” • J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind, p.21

5. * We are losing our moral Fiber! In recent years, we have seen a surge in divorce, cohabitation, sexual promiscuity, perversion, teen pregnancy, abortions, child abuse, drug abuse, rape, cheating, shoplifting, embezzling, bankruptcy, incivility, and violent crime.

6. Statistical Proof… • 85% of Americans self-identify as Christians. • (The Barna Update 2002) • Yet 83% of Americans said moral truth depends on • the circumstances, and only 6% of whom said • moral truth is absolute (2002). • 60% said living with someone of the opposite sex • without being married, sometimes called co- • habitation, is morally acceptable behavior. (2003)

7. We are losing our moral Fiber among our Churched Youth! A report in the Los Angeles Times on Barna Research on 2002-SEP-17 quoted Barna as determining that: Only 44% of born-again adults are certain that absolute moral truth exists. But only 9% of born-again teenagers believe in absolute moral truth. http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_poll5.htm

8. We are facing the breakdown of the moral fabric of society. • “While people have always committed sins, they at least acknowledged these were sins…What we have today is not only immoral behavior, but a loss of moral criteria.” • Gene Veith, Postmodern Times, p. 18

9. * We are losing our moral Fiber!* We are losing the content of our faith.

10. A Misunderstanding of Faith’s Relationship to Reason “About one out of four (26%) born again Christians believe that it doesn’t matter what faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.” Born Again Christians, 2000, George Barna, Barna Web-site

11. We are becoming less certain about our religious beliefs • 57 percent of evangelical church attendees said they believe • many religions can lead to eternal life. • 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared this same • view . • Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life • http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=15915

12. * We are losing our moral Fiber!* We are losing the content of our faith.* We are facing the death of Truth.

13. “During the past thirty years, society has progressively thrown off every moral constraint….Yet today…people are casting off even the final constraints of reality, truth, and reason itself. We are witnessing the complete abandonment of reason and truth.” Dennis McCallum, ed., The Death of Truth. (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1996). p. 235

14. The Danger For Our Children:Connection Between Beliefs and Behavior “Our children today face unprecedented pressure. They are exposed to sexual temptations, school violence, alcohol, illegal drugs, and a variety of influences that threaten to undo all that we teach them. And while we need to fear what our kids could be tempted to do, we need to be more concerned with what our kids are led to believe.” Josh McDowell, Beyond Belief To Conviction, p. 5.

15. Without a Belief System For Our Children There Are Some Dangers Of the more than 3,700 kids who regularly attend church, those who lack a basic biblical belief system are: 600% more likely to attempt suicide, 300% more likely to use illegal drugs, 200% more likely to physically hurt someone, 200% more likely to steal, 36% more likely to lie to a friend, 225 percent more likely to be angry with life. Josh McDowell, Beyond Belief To Conviction, pages 6-7.

16. Our Churches Are Failing Our Children! “Based on interviews with 22,000 adults and over 2,000 teenagers in 25 separate surveys, Barna unquestionably quantified the seriousness of the situation; six out of ten 20-somethings who were involved in a church during their teen years are already gone .” Barna Research Online, Teenagers Embrace Religion but Are not Excited About Christianity,”Jan. 10, 2000, as cited by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, Already Gone, p. 23.

17. We Are Losing Our Church Youth Before College! “Of the thousand 20-29 year old evangelicals who attended church regularly (as youth) but no longer do so: 95% of them attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years; 55% attended church regularly during high school; Of the thousand, only 11% were still going to church during their early college years.” Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, Already Gone, p. 31.

18. Only 1/3 of those who leave plan to return! Of the thousand 20-29 year old evangelicals who attended church regularly (as youth) but no longer do so: Only 38% percent agreed that they would return when they have children: 32% said they would not; Another 30% said they didn’t know. See Ken Ham and Britt Beemer, Already Gone, p. 61.

19. Our Failure In The Church For Changing Beliefs “Continuing to preach more sermons, teach more Sunday school classes and enroll more people in Bible study groups won't solve the problem since most of these people don't accept the basis of the principles being taught in those venues. The failure to address this issue at its root, and to do so quickly and persuasively, will undermine the strength of the church for at least another generation, and probably longer." George Barna, The Barna Update: "Americans Are Most Likely to Base Truth on Feelings" from Feb 12, 2002

20. How Can Our Children Live and Thrive in a Sea of Relativism? * How can they become better prepared to face the challenges of living in this kind of world?

21. We Must Help Them To Build The Right Foundation

22. “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do.” Psalm 11:3 (N.I.V.)

23. The Erosion of Truth

24. To build stronger foundations… A. We must understand what are the conditions that led to this crisis today.

25. “…a major cause of our current crisis consists of a world view shift from a Judeo-Christian understanding of reality to a post-Christian one.” - J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind, p.21 A World View Shift

26. The Tsunami of Post-Modernism

27. The Matrix Morpheus asks “What is Real?” From the movie The Matrix A Good Example of Postmodernism Is The Movie “The Matrix”

28. The DaVinci Code is an example of postmodern influences on society The heart of Postmodernism is that you construct your own truth This is what Dan Brown is doing with the Biblical story of Jesus

29. Historical Development of Western World Views Changing Beliefs - Pluralism Pre-modern Modern Postmodern THEISM ATHEISM PLURALISM Theism Deism Naturalism Nihilism Existentialism Fill in the blank • PostmodernismWeak Theism • New Age: Pantheism, Monism • Bottom line: “What works for you.” GOD GOD GOD COSMOS COSMOS COSMOS SOCIETY

30. This Explains Why Many Are Questioning The Biblical Story of Jesus The DaVinci Code The Lost Gospel of Judas The Lost Tomb of Christ The Golden Compass

31. We should not be surprised by this! “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4: 3-4 N.I.V.)

32. To build stronger foundations… • A. We must understand what are the conditions that led to this crisis today. • We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles.

33. A Perspective To Consider… • We as a people cannot deny the existence of foundational principles and then live our lives like it doesn’t matter what we do. • * The fact is…it is one thing to say we don’t believe something, it is another to live our lives consistently with our beliefs! • We also can’t live our lives by any standard and then hope our children will follow the “right path.”

34. What does our culture says about truth: • Truth is relative • Truth is whatever you want it to be • Everyone determines his own truth • Whatever you believe is true, that is what is true for you

35. We must remember that… B. We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles. 1. Beliefs do matter.

36. Beliefs affect how you live! Beliefs have practical consequences!

37. We must remember that… B. We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles. 1. Beliefs do matter. * Because beliefs matter we shouldn’t just arbitrarily decide to belief in anything!

38. We must remember that… B. We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles. Why? * Some beliefs can not be meaningfully expressed.

39. Some statements are not meaningful! Example: Winnie the Pooh

40. May be sayable… Just because a statement is sayable does not mean that it is meaningful. Example: I cannot utter a word in English!

41. What are Some Unmeaningful Statements? You should be skeptical about everything. Always avoid making absolute statements. God is so far beyond us that we can not really know anything about Him. There is really no absolute truth.

42. Unmeaningful Statements?(more examples) What is wrong with these statements? Everything is relative. You can’t really know anything. I know for sure there is no god.

43. Your Greatest Tools Your Greatest Tool in Answering False Claims: Apply the claim to itself! For Example. . .

44. Apply the Claim to itself! • There is no such thing as truth! • You can’t know truth! • All truth is relative! • It’s true for you but not for me! • No one has the truth! • All truth depends on your perspective!

45. We must remember that… B. We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles. 1. Beliefs do matter (Heb. 9:27). * Because beliefs matter we shouldn’t just arbitrarily decide to belief in anything! * Because beliefs matter, we can’t make the Bible to say whatever we want!

46. * Biblical Truth IS Not a Matter of Your Own Perspective “Above all you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21 NIV

47. Beliefs matter because they have eternal consequences! “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

48. We must remember that… B. We must reaffirm our commitment to foundational principles. 1. Beliefs do matter (Heb. 9:27). 2. Not all religious viewpoints can be right.

49. Which View of Jesus Christ is True?