War of the Worlds

Major studies done over several decades have shown that over 70 percent of youth from Christian homes that attend state-run schools abandon the faith of their parents. Now some believers just shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, it must be God’s will,” seemingly absolving themselves of any responsibility. But think about it, would you get the same reaction if someone was shown (demonstrably) that their income was going to decline at a rate of 70% over the next three decades if they didn’t change something?

Put It in Perspective

Let’s say you’re making $100K today. Ten years from now, you’ll be making $30K. Ten years from that, you’ll be making $9K. Do you think people would just shrug their shoulders and invoke God’s willing it to happen, or do you think there would be a mad scramble among most of them in an attempt to do something about it?

Where will the church be in a few generations if this continues? This isn’t a new phenomenon, and it’s not slowing down. For those who’ve never thought this through before, maybe it’s time to pay attention.

Neutrality Is Not an Option

Scripture is clear: we are born into the heat of battle and thrust into a spiritual war that rages all around us 24/7. Whether you were born at a time when there seemed to be a lull in the conflict (what many refer to as ‘the good ol’ days’) or whether you feel like you’ve been in a spiritual firefight your entire life, Scripture is clear that we are in occupied territory. At best, we’re in a spiritual no-man’s-land that offers no absolute sanctuary against the barrage of Satan’s attacks.

And of course, the most vulnerable among us are our youth, tender and untrained individuals who are often victims of the times and circumstances of their birth. Often, when hearing some people’s stories of a tragic childhood upbringing, we can have sympathy and understanding (without condoning) as to how they came to some of their bad life decisions. On the other hand, even those raised in loving Christian homes sometimes grow up to live out and champion some of the vilest, most humanistic, pagan thought that our culture continues to promote. So why did they fall prey to the world?

The sad fact is that no matter how much time, love, and Christian education a parent may pour into their child, some will still choose to rebel against God and abandon what they were taught in their homes. However, just like any soldier in a fight, it is also true that the better someone is trained and equipped to defend themselves and battle effectively, the better the chance of survival. So why is it that so many of our youth are being mowed down in the culture war today? I believe it’s a lack of training or true discipleship, an important aspect of which is an understanding that we are living simultaneously in two dueling, diametrically opposed worlds.

Living in Two Worlds

Indeed, the entire Christian’s experience is a sort of bipolar one, consisting of a dual existence as a result of being born part of a sin-cursed world (with a propensity to sin ourselves) as descendants of the first man, Adam. And yet, we’re a born-again new creation because of Christ’s propitiative act on the cross of Calvary, which is the incredible gift given to believers by the “last Adam,” the perfect, sinless son of God.

1 Peter 2:11 says we now exist as aliens/pilgrims/sojourners/temporary travelers in this world, paradoxically the very same world we were born into. The Word incarnate (Jesus) was also born of a woman into this sinful world but declared himself not of the world, which is why we (those who put their faith and trust in him after repenting of our sins) travel the road he established for us.

The Scripture contains many references to the fact that we live in this world but are not of it and that we need to fight against its ways and influence. As Jesus said to the Father,

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:14–17)

Jesus’ example of how to pray reminds us that this world does not operate the same way the heavenly world he comes from does and encourages us to pray that things in this world (on earth) will be the same as it is in heaven (Mathew 6:10).

Christians need to constantly keep in mind that even if there doesn’t seem to be anything immediately amiss in the world around them, there are spiritual forces constantly on the move attempting to undermine our walk and witness for Jesus. And if this is true for believers, how much more vulnerable are the unsaved?

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

Making Disciples

Jesus Great Commission and command to “go and make disciples” begins with those closest to us, within our own homes. We must also remember that no one is born a Christian and that our children are born as sinners in need of a Savior, and so we must prepare their young minds in age-appropriate ways from the earliest days possible to understand that there is a battle for the souls of people happening all around us. And when you boil it down, that battle is the difference between following the Word—or following the world. And what a big difference that one little rebel letter L makes.

A discipleship program involves many things, but primarily it is an act of imitation. And what is ultimately being imitated? What the Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ, modeled and taught. The Apostle Paul reminded the church in Corinth of this as he instructed them how to reach out and share the gospel (so “that they may be saved”—1 Corinthians 10:33) with those around them when he said,

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

What Jesus taught is found in His revelation to the world: the holy Scriptures. So if discipleship is accomplished through imitation, and imitation is brought to you through instructors of the Word, then the quality of instruction you are receiving is dependent on how much that person’s wisdom, walk, and witness conforms to God’s Word.

Christian discipleship is done by believers, and the more that disciple emulates Christ, his Word, and his ways, the more effective that discipleship will be. As Luke 6:40 says,

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

However, we all understand that conformity can be a very bad thing. It’s the reason we teach our children not to hang around with the “wrong crowd,” so to speak. It’s what 1 Corinthians 15:33 clearly teaches when it says, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’”

We should never take these warnings lightly. After all, a discipleship program is meant to lead you on your journey throughout your life, and it has an ultimate, eternal destination. As Mathew 7:13-14 states,

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

So the moral is, if the disciple hears worldly wisdom rather than Christo-centric instruction, they are certainly prone to straying from the narrow path. Paul reminds us not to conform to or follow worldly ways when he says,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Two Discipleship Programs

Ultimately everyone is constantly being discipled, either by the world or by God's Word. The results of these teachings are made clear.

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10)

Are we really so naïve to believe that the devil isn’t trying to establish and institute a substitute discipleship program into the world we live in? As Scripture reminds us,

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Now, what would an anti-God discipleship program look like? Well, there could be many kinds, but the one that would be most effective would institute a worldview that would foment complete distrust in the plain reading of God’s Word and ultimately do away with the whole notion of the need for God’s existence entirely. And if that worldview could be promoted as authoritative in every level of education or social influence (such as media and political structures), then the impact would be monumental indeed!

And in fact, there is such a program that’s been running in western society for years now that accomplishes this very thing. It’s called the story of evolution—taught as fact and science all across the board, from kindergarten classes all the way to university—and reinforced by so-called entertainment programs our culture constantly imbibes. It teaches young people they are just evolved animals, not created in the image of God, that God doesn’t exist, and that the Bible is just a book of fairy tales because “science has disproven the Bible.”

Interestingly, for those who don’t know the actual history of the anti-God agenda behind the establishment of the idea of millions of years and evolution as a direct attack on Christianity (which I don’t have time to explain here fully), Charles Darwin addressed his friend Thomas Huxley (often referred to as Darwin’s bulldog because of his efforts to vigorously promote the story of evolution and undermine the biblical account of creation) in a letter this way:

My good and kind agent for the propagation of the Gospel—i.e. the devil’s Gospel.1

This startling statement from the father of modern evolutionary thought should make believers who think evolution is simply ‘scientific’ pause and consider more deeply. Darwin knew what the story of evolution meant in relation to the Bible’s clear teaching. It was an alternative gospel—the devil’s gospel.

From the very beginning, atheists knew that championing the story of evolution would cause tremendous damage to the cause of Christ if left unchallenged. And for the most part, it has. The vast majority of churches have not taught their people how to defend against evolutionary arguments and have, in many cases, adopted evolutionary ideas into their theological framework, causing doubt and confusion in their people and weakening gospel outreach immeasurably.

Indeed, western society has embraced a false gospel based on a false history (the story of evolution) that is in complete conflict with the true history of the Bible. And this history is taught and reinforced everywhere in the culture, from college campuses to TV commercials.

Adding It All Up

For those parents that have never considered what I’m saying here in regard to the two kinds of discipleship programs we’ve discussed (which in the most basic sense is simply placing trust in God’s Word vs. trust in man’s word), let’s just think of it in a very pragmatic sense. How many hours a week does the average child from a Christian home spend in Christian discipleship vs. worldly discipleship every week?

Between a daily devotional, youth group, church, and family time discussing the Bible/things of God, we might estimate 16 hours a week? But between the time at the local public school, social media, and secular TV/entertainment, we could conservatively say that most children from Christian homes who attend state-run schools spend 50 hours per week under the secular influence, a threefold difference.

This is a startling disparity of 832 hours of Bible-based instruction vs. an incredible 2600 hours of secular-based influence per year, cumulative over time. And for those thinking not every bit of secular teaching is specifically anti-God, think of the sexual immorality, situational ethics, Marxist ideology, pornographic imagery, anti-family dogma, and godless stances on life issues that permeate our institutions and entertainment now. There is no such thing as neutrality. As Jesus said,

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Mathew 12:30)

Do you love the church? The church you grew up in, or the one you attend right now? What about the church of the future that will be here after you are gone to be with the Lord? Have you ever thought of that? Our youth are the future of the church, and they desperately need true discipleship. They need discipleship based on the authority of God’s Word, training in how to “destroy arguments and lofty opinions” against God’s Word (apologetics), and mentors that emulate Christ-like behavior in their walk and witness for Jesus.

Why not bring AiG’s unifying message of biblical authority (believers standing on the authority of the Word of God from the very first verse) to your home and/or to your home church? Whether using one of our small group Bible studies with a group of teens, our Sunday school curriculum, homeschool curriculum, or simply going through an empowering book as a devotional with a younger person, God can use you to rescue someone from the false gospel of the story of evolution being spread in our culture today.