Barna Research Reveals Four “Mega-Themes” in U.S. Culture (#4)
As today’s young adults, teenagers and adolescents have become accustomed to radical individualism, they have introduced such thinking and behaviors into the realm of faith realm. Faith is an acceptable attribute and pursuit among most young people. However, their notions of faith do not align with conventional religious perspectives. In fact, the values that young people are prone to embrace, while generally consistent with Christian beliefs, are not based on biblical foundations. For instance, young Americans have adopted values such as goodness, kindness and tolerance, but they remain skeptical of the Bible, church traditions, and rules or behaviors based upon religious teaching.
The challenge before the church is great. How can the church address individualism? How can understandings of faith find footing in the foundations of Scripture? The church has a problem with validity. Our young people, and the non-Christian community around us, will remain skeptical of church, the Bible, our traditions, and our rules until they see the living reality of Christ within us.
Barna concludes, “It is a well-established fact that our society is continually re-inventing itself. The outcome of such innovation and change, however, is largely dependent on the guidance provided by cultural leaders. It is the core function of a leader to help people apply their creative ideas and energy to reinvigorating society in alignment with a positive and preferable vision of the future. Without a shaping influence that produces a common good, we devolve into anarchy. “Each of us has an obligation to do what is best not just for ourselves but for others in the world, too. Our society is running the risk of becoming so independent and self-absorbed that we will abandon our responsibility to society and to making the world a better place….”