Rhett and Link, comedians who founded “Good Mythical Morning,” with more than 16 million subscribers,as of December 2020 are the fourth highest YouTube earners, making $20 million a year. So, it shouldn’t surprise us that more than a few Christians were shocked when they announced their deconversion—their transition from having once been Campus Crusade staffers to being unbelievers, and at least in Rhett’s case to being an atheist. While deconstruction stories are nothing new in our secular age, their increasing frequency is alarming to many Christians, especially parents. The fact is that those once committed to following Jesus are deconverting in record numbers and at record rates (John Marriott, The Anatomy of Deconversion).
Not only are those with “no religious affiliation,” (called the “nones”) dramatically increasing in number among young adults, but a 2015 Pew Research study found that “roughly eight-in-ten religious ‘none’s say they were raised with a religious affiliation,” which means that nearly 80 percent of “nones” surveyed were at one time in a faith community before jettisoning it. Alarmed church leaders, parents, and grandparents are asking WHY? This episode reveals valuable insight about why so many young adults, when they leave the influence of their Christian home and church abandon the Christian faith and what we might do to prevent it.
Today we begin a new podcast series, Protecting Our Families from Enticing but False Worldviews. God designed men to be the protectors of their homes. Genesis 2:15 reveals to us this God-designed role. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. KEEP IT is the Hebrew word, SHAMAR, which means to protect the garden and those in it. In the NT, Paul builds on this idea, calling the men of the church at Corinth to, Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Cor 16:13). As men protect their own faith, and the faith of their loved ones, we must be watchful. We must NOT BE BLIND to the destructive ideas that come into our homes and into the lives of our loved ones. We must not be naïve about the false worldviews that are taking captive our children, grandchildren, those under our shepherding care, and at times even our wives. Paul describes spiritual warfare in terms of IDEAS. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. We must protect our loved ones from false ideas.
Genesis 2:25 also assigns to husbands and fathers the responsibility to help our loved ones flourish. This assigned responsibility is revealed in the first task given in Genesis 2:15. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it. WORK IT is the Hebrew word, AVAD meaning, to cause the garden and those in it to flourish, to thrive. One of the principal ways that Christians grow stronger and more mature is revealed by Paul in Romans 12:2, 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. It is doubtful that any population of Christians in the West, in recent history has faced more severe pressure to conform to social norms than today’s Christians. One recent study showed that teen girls spend over 10 hours per day on the social media. That means the exposure she gets to the worldviews of the social media is 70 times greater than the exposure she gets to the Biblical worldview through an hour in church, or 35 times the exposure she gets to biblical ideas if she goes to the youth group and church. Here is another statistic. The Great Dad’s seminar cites numerous studies that reveal that fathers spend less than 2 minutes per day in meaningful conversations with their children. And that is not time talking about biblical worldview; it is time talking with them about any subject at all. So, who is catechizing our children? It is today’s social media.
In response, this podcast, over the next 8 weeks, will address eight enticing worldviews that are powerfully shaping the rising generation, often causing them, when they leave home and are more fully exposed to the Internet, to deconvert entirely from Christianity or deconvert from biblical teaching they think is outdated, becoming what has been called “progressive Christians.” Let me provide an important caveat about the term deconversion. I believe the Bible teaches eternal security, that you can’t lose your salvation. But it also teaches (Mk 4:11-20) that at times the seed of the gospel hits the rocky subsoil of rock formations (like the soil in Palestine). It springs up quickly but doesn’t go down deeply enough to reach the roots of the heart to bring true repentance and faith. Deconversions don’t mean we give up and say, “God will save who he will save—and they will persevere.” Instead of being passive, we need to engage the soil of our loved ones' hearts, plowing it up and crushing that rock formation as best God enables us to. We want to overcome the obstacles—the rock that prevents the seed from taking root.
Our process in the podcast will not be to just harshly refute these eight views with the cold knife of logic, as if those who promote them are our enemies. It will not be to merely engage the mind, but also the heart. Prov 16:21 says, Sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness, and 16:23 guides us, the heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds persuasiveness to his lips. We want to guide our loved ones to understand why these views are so attractive to those who hold them and then steer our loved ones TO SEE for THEMSELVES the inconsistencies of secular worldviews, how much more sense the biblical view makes, and how much better it corresponds to reality. Having studied these deconstruction stories for several years, I’ve become convinced that HOW we combat the world’s false ideas has an enormous impact on our persuasiveness with the rising generation. In other words, if we communicate hostility towards those who hold sub-biblical views, those who promote them, or towards the views, themselves, we are likely to fail to win the hearts of our listeners. It’s not as if those who deconvert from faith in Christ or from biblical teaching have never heard these mistaken secular views refuted by Christians. Yet, a combination of factors led them ultimately to reject those arguments and truths. So, let’s begin this series by asking, “What can we learn about what might have contributed to deconversion stories?”
What Contributes to Deconversion from Biblical Truth
Most of the common struggles and doubts that cause those raised in Bible believing homes and churches to renounce their faith fall into one of two categories, questioning the veracity of Christian teaching—is Christianity true, or questioning the moral benefit of Christianity—does Christianity promote justice and love. Let’s look, first, at three conditions that contribute to the rising generation questioning whether or not Christianity is true.
1. A Naïve Faith. Over-protecting our kids by prohibiting them from hearing the objections to believing the Bible or biblical world view sets them up to later abandon their confidence in Scripture when they leave our protective cocoon and face the real world. Olympic triple jump gold medalist Jonathan Edwards, after years of being known as a humble, committed Christian, shocked Great Britain by coming out as an atheist. He said, “When you think about it rationally, it does seem incredibly improbable that there is a God.” He explained that while filming a documentary on the life of the apostle Paul, he was intrigued by the suggestion from liberal scholars that the Damascus Road experience was better explained as an epileptic seizure than an authentic experience of hearing Jesus’ voice. Looking back he explained that he was so busy training for the Olympics that he just took for granted that the Bible was true. “I was quite happy in a world populated by my family and close friends, people who shared my belief system. Leaving that world to get involved with television and other projects gave me the freedom to question everything.” Researcher, John Marriott observes, “Edwards was so focused on training and competition that he had no time to think deeply about anything else. And although he may have had a vibrant faith, it was a naïve faith. (John Marriott, The Anatomy of Deconversion).
Before our children leave our homes, they must be equipped to know what worldviews they will encounter and how those worldviews misunderstand reality. That is the reason for this podcast series. The following are some of the worldview assumptions they are hearing, which we will examine: There are too many errors in the Bible for it to be infallible. To say there is just one way to God is inherently intolerant. Christianity’s sexual mores reflected its very dated, if not puritanical understanding of sex. Christianity’s views of the LGBTQ life expose Christianity’s intolerance towards others. Social justice demands equality of medical benefits and wealth. It is imperative that our kids hear the other side of the worldview arguments propagated by the social media. Proverbs 18:17 warns parents, The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him
2. Thinking that faith conflicts with reason. This is utter nonsense. The Christian church doesn’t believe what it does IN SPITE OF reason, but BECAUSE OF reason. Peter commands Christians, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Pet 3:15). Both the Greek word for defense (APO-LOGIA, from which we get the word apologetics) and the word used here for reason (LOGOS) contain the Greek term LOGOS from which we get the term logic. Christians do not crucify their brains to become Christ-followers. It is true that no one can prove (scientifically) that God exists. As we will see next week, science, by definition, deals only with empirical evidence from the physical world. It cannot evaluate the existence or nonexistence of a being outside this physical world.
But science is not the same as logic. The fact is that it is much more logical to believe in the existence of God than not to. It is much more logical to believe in the resurrection based on the evidence, than not to. It is much more logical to recognize through archeology and fulfilled prophecy that the Bible is inspired by God than not to. Since science cannot, by definition, prove anything about the supernatural—either the existence of God or the non-existence of God, some Christians mistakenly think Christianity is not therefore, logically plausible. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Paul’s argument is that the empirical evidence resulting from observing creation proves that there must be an orderer outside the universe (Rom 1:20). If the rising generation leaves home believing that the Christian community is a bunch of anti-intellectuals who take a blind leap of faith into irrationality, instead of those who base their faith upon the most logical and plausible way to understand the world, their doubts about the faith will likely explode when they are fully exposed to academia!
English professor Karen Prior recounts a conversation she had with a friend who renounced his faith, “I asked him once how the deconstruction had happened. He said that encountering ideas he’d never been exposed to before led him to reconsider everything he had been taught, particularly some claims by Christians in his area of study that he now considered fabrications” (Before You Lose Your Faith p 94). She summarized her perspective on deconstruction, “People abandon their faith for various reasons, of course. But in my particular context—teaching Christian young people in Christian institutions—the stumbling block I encounter most often is anti-intellectualism.” Thinking that the Christian faith contradicts reason is to misunderstand the meaning of the word “faith.”
3. Forgetting that Christianity is not an INHERITED religion but a CHOSEN one. As much as Christian parents, grandparents and leaders long for their children to embrace their Christian faith, the child’s need to wrestle with his own doubts cannot be bypassed. His faith needs to be HIS faith. We must, therefore, go out of our way to welcome those under our care to be honest about their doubts. We must underscore repeatedly that our relationship is a safe place for his or her doubts. We must be secure enough to urge our children to compare the evidence for Christian beliefs to the arguments against such beliefs. I remember, Sean McDowell, the son of renowned apologist Josh McDowell saying that his father was not worried at all when Sean went through his faze of disbelieving everything he had learned about Christianity. Josh’s attitude was, “the evidence is on our side,” and sure enough, Sean came to embrace biblical Christianity in spades! A close friend of mine who is one of the strongest advocates for biblical truth that I have ever known gave me a clue, this past week to why his faith is so strong. He said, “When I was a college student at the University of Maryland, I studied under Dave Coffin at the Berean Study Center. He encouraged us to read the arguments on the other side of an issue—and you will find the arguments far weaker than you supposed they would be. My friend picked up a book written by atheist Richard Dawkins—and that is exactly what my friend discovered.
4. A second category of doubts that causes deconversion is doubting the GOODNESS of Christianity. The conclusion that Christianity is hardly the beacon of social justice it should be is a common theme in many deconstruction stories. How can a particular religion be true when its adherents supported the slave trade, Jim Crow laws, and segregation. The failures of the church are many, as are the character flaws of Christians. Those flaws are magnified in the social medial world that is shaping the rising generation’s attitudes. One scholar observes,
If I were raised deep in the Amazon jungles, and then suddenly dropped in the middle of Los Angeles and handed a smart phone and a Twitter account, I’d draw some clear conclusions about Christianity—namely Christians are bigots, phobics, and haters. Christians have declared war on women, they are fond of white supremacy, they don’t care for the poor, they hate Muslims and gay people, are the greatest oppressors on earth, and have been for centuries. This is a common caricature of Christianity (Thaddeus Williams, Before You Lose Your Faith).
This fourth cause of deconversion is sobering. We must own our failures as a church. We must stop demonizing those whose views we oppose. One writer describes some common themes in his friends’ decisions to recant their Christian faith. He writes, “First, they experienced the reverse culture shock of leaving the evangelical bubble…Having lived their whole lives inside it, they had heard of the outside world through caricatures. (Ibid). Deconverters say things like, “I grew up being told gays were awful people, but my next-door neighbors are the nicest guys I’ve ever met.” “My non-Christian friends lead fulfilling lives without religion.” “Honestly, my so-called “lost friends” are more accepting and less critical of others than my church friends ever were.” “Now that I’ve gotten to know so many non-church goers, I’ve discovered that they are far less hostile towards gays and trans people than Christians who are told to love their neighbors as themselves.”
Hostility towards those with whom they disagree is a characteristic of Bible-believing Christians that drives many who grow up in their homes and churches to later reject their Christian faith. How can the followers of a man who died, praying for God to forgive those who unjustly put him to death BE HOSTILE towards their political or ideological enemies? This hostile, combative, arrogant attitude towards those who disagree with the biblical worldview may be the biggest obstacle to winning the hearts of the rising generation to embrace the biblical worldview. This stark reality underscores the importance of developing the skill of using questions, as we seek to help our loved ones see the flaws of unbiblical worldviews and embrace for themselves a biblical worldview that is the path of truth and blessing for their lives and their world.
How to Increase Buy-In to a Biblical Worldview
As a father, grandfather, or work associate, whether you intentionally bring up a particular issue or it comes up naturally, how do you have a productive conversation, but you not come across as pushy or dogmatic? When you're discussing a hard topic, it can be difficult to navigate the conversation without shutting down the person you're talking to or being shut down, yourself. That's why it's important to go into the conversation with the right motive and a game plan. Greg Koukl, author of the book, Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions recommends two tactics: 1) Think like you're planting a garden, not harvesting a crop. Before there can be any harvest, there always has to be a season of “gardening.” Think of Jesus’ words at the end of John 4. He says to the disciples, “You are about to reap where you did not sow.” You have a sowing and reaping season—a gardening and a harvesting season. So, in most conversations, focus on the gardening—planting seeds, not on the harvesting. 2) Use questions to make headway. Questions are your main gardening tools. Why questions? Here are three reasons that questions are so powerful:
- They're polite. You're showing an interest in the other person. You're drawing that person out. You're understanding what they think as they talk. Asking questions is showing good manners.
- Questions help you gather information. There is much you don’t know about this other person, especially about the details of their views. Questions obtain information that will help you know how to move forward.
- Questions force other people to think about exactly what they do believe. This is strategic. For example, it is easier to point to flaws in Christianity than to forge a consistent alternative explanation of the world. Lots of times people haven't thought through the slogans that they use to oppose you. When you ask questions, it requires them to think more about it and they understand more clearly what their ideas entail.
Here is an example from Greg Koukl about a topic that is increasingly being discussed—the right to health care for women and abortion. A person says to me, “abortion is healthcare.” I say to him, “let me ask you a question. What is health care?” He says, “well, it's making someone healthier, obviously.” “Good” I say, “is pregnancy an illness?” He answers, “of course not.” “So,” I say “abortion can't be healthcare for the mother—she's not sick. What about the fetus? What does abortion do to the fetus?” “Well, it kills it.” “Right. Then how is abortion healthcare for the fetus?”
This conversation reflects the politeness of asking questions, the preparedness of having thought through the issue, the strategy of causing the friend to, himself think through the issue, and the convicting power of leaving him to answer a convicting question.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Why should fathers, grandfathers and church leaders be concerned about the false world views taking the rising generation captive?
- As we examined four contributing factors towards deconversion, which ones made the most sense to you. Have you seen any of these in action.
- What stood out to you about the value of using questions to point others towards a biblical worldview of a specific topic?
