Failing By God's Standards

If we were to gauge how well we're doing in this regard, the outcomes might startle you. Consider these findings from a recent survey of children between the ages of eight and twelve.

1. Most of our children are biblically illiterate, which will become clear to you as you read this blog. Their ignorance of Bible teachings corresponds to the fact that only one-third (36 percent) of our adolescents fully believe that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches.

2. Few of our children are motivated to share their faith in Christ with others. Less than one out of every five (19 percent) contend that they have a responsibility to evangelize their peers.

3. Not even half of our young people (46 percent) state that their religious faith is very important in their lives.

4. Few of our children take Satan seriously. Only one-fourth of them (28 percent) completely dismiss the idea that Satan is symbolic, instead believing that the devil is real.

5. Salvation baffles most of our young ones. Only two out of every ten reject the idea that good people can earn their way into heaven. And only three out of every ten dismiss the belief that everyone experiences the same postdeath outcome, regardless of their beliefs. In fact, only two out of every ten adolescents (21 percent) strongly disagree with the statement that people cannot know for sure what will happen to them after they die.

6. Most of our kids are willing to entertain the idea that Jesus Christ sinned while He lived on earth. Only 44 percent outright dismiss the idea.

7. The majority live for things other than loving God with all their hearts, minds, strength, and souls. Specifically, only four out of ten live with that purpose in mind.

8. Three out of four young people reject the notion that there is no such thing as God. However, not only is that lower than expected based upon adult surveys, but fewer young people today- only 58 percent- believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe who still rules His creation. That result is lower than any we have seen in the last quarter century of survey work. A similar percentage (about six out of every ten) believes that God originally created the universe.

9. Only one-third of America's adolescents ardently contend that Jesus Christ returned to physical life after His crucifixion and death on the cross.

10. By their own admission, our children are confused theologically. Based on their reaction to statements like "It doesn't matter what religious faith I follow because they all teach similar lessons," it's clear that they do not know what to think about competing worldviews and belief systems.

Add to this last fact that national surveys of thirteen year olds reveal that most of them think they alrady know everything of significance in the Bible (hence, they are no longer open to learning or actively studying the Scriptures). Also, most of them have no intention of continuing to attend a church when they are in their twenties and living on their own.

In addition, consider that fewer than one out of every five parents of young children believe they are doing a good job of training their children morally and spiritually. In fact, when asked in a national sample of adults with children under eighteen to rate their parenting performance on fifteen different indicators, parents ranked their efforts related to morality and spirituality at the bottom of the list.

What does this add up to? A crisis.