Where Do Your Ideas Come From?

While perusing my social media accounts one homebound evening during the coronavirus crisis, I was intrigued by a post from a Facebook friend who runs a worldview ministry for youth.

illustration by Viktor Miller-Gausa

Dale Mason
Publisher

Because of the new government mandates, my friend’s normally overflowing summer camp was nearly empty. But like restaurants that quickly adapted to specialize in pick-up orders, his staff quickly reset this year’s camps from on-site to online.

On their first day, my friend gave one of his popular lectures but threw in a new question. He asked the mostly college-aged students, “Where would you say people pick up most of their ideas?” When reviewing their answers, he stuttered and had to regain his composure. These young men and women from mostly conservative families and churches said that, as far as their experience was concerned, people gather most of their ideas from

Social Media . . . . 58%
Family . . . . . . . . . 14%
Church . . . . . . . . . . 1%
Friends . . . . . . . . .23%
Movies/Music . . . . 4%

While it is unsettling that those young people see the church as having virtually no influence on the world of ideas, it is encouraging that well-informed family and friends can still have a significant impact.

The creation-based Christian worldview publication you are holding is like no other. Even the ads come from organizations committed to the creation-based biblical worldview. Whether radiometric dating, society’s gender identity confusion, or a musician’s desire to perform worship music, all the topics in Answers have a creation connection.

We must stay informed and find ways to discuss the weighty topics that the people in our lives wrestle with. Notice that social media held the number one position in my friend’s poll. Social media is a ready platform for the kind of relevant, discussion-sparking content found in Answers magazine. Though you may not use social media as the primary platform for gathering and sharing info, most high school and college students do.

You can access Answers in Genesis content via our presence on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Answers.tv—or Answers magazine. Simply choose whichever combination of platforms will keep you most informed, then share the information that you find.

We need to be ready to defend our beliefs and then share that information with others so they can also know what they believe and take a stand!