Let me share with you some recent developments! This last Saturday I was in Miami speaking and I did something I’ve never done before! Instead of teaching our normal Conversational Evangelism materials (that I’ve done for 20 years around the globe), I did something else. I answered questions for almost two hours. To be honest this has been the kind of thing I’ve shied away from all my life. I’m sure anyone living in my shoes would also have some reluctance stepping into this role while “living in their father’s shadow.”
But now I find something else pulling me to do things I’ve been very reluctant to do in the past! You see so many Christian parents tell me their tear jerking stories of how their kids have left the church and become skeptics or atheist. Sadly in the last 5- 10 years I am meeting more and more skeptics and even atheists from evangelical Christians families! I remember talking to a student leader of an atheistic organization on a college campus a few years ago. I didn’t find out until after our conversation that she actually came from an evangelical Christian family.
It angers me that so many of our church youth are unprepared for the challenges to their faith that they will face once they leave the home! As a result, I now feel a greater compulsion to step in the ring and fight to win back our youth from the false beliefs of our time!
Sadly we now live in a different America than my baby boomer generation did growing up. Almost 25% of Americans have no religious preferences and 45% of the those 25% are Millennials! We are losing the battle in the fight for the souls of our youth. The church needs to wake up!
Certainly my exposure last week to the culture in Miami was a wake up call! I saw so many signs of moral decay and extravagant living just touring the city. You may know that with a certain degree of wealth comes greater temptations for moral decadence. That is a problem because I’ve noticed that when people make moral choices that are antithetical to Christian values, people eventually become more skeptical when it comes to religious matters or at least drift further away from Christian beliefs.
The bottom line is that my Miami experience helped me to see how church youth will eventually live if we don’t intervene on their behalf! I’ve concluded that despite my reluctance to attack these false beliefs of our time, I must at the very least do all I can to help Christian parents win back their kids to the faith! I saw clearly that my question and answer session helped many Christians build stronger foundations for their faith at the church where I spoke. As a result I feel a greater urgency to do this kind of thing from now on wherever I go around the globe! Certainly it would be totally irresponsible of me to not help Christians build stronger foundations, if I could be of assistance in any way.
I feel especially compelled to give back because of what I was given. What I mean by that is that I honestly don’t ever remember a time in my past ever struggling with my faith since I accepted Christ as a child. This was mostly because of the training I received from my dad! I want to at least give every Christian youth that same opportunity to be able to better weather the storms of false beliefs that they will eventually encounter at some point in their youth! So to make a bigger impact, I must at least help more Christian parents better ground their own faith first! Christian parents must know how to ground their own faith so that they can help their children do the same!
Furthermore, my life has not only been impacted for the better from the things I learned from father, but also through the life of my friend and mentor, global discipleship leader Edmund Chan! As a result I’m learning to be a certain kind of disciple. I find that I’m also becoming a certain kind of apologist as well and that is making all the difference!
Now that I am stepping into this new role, it’s giving me some trepidation! I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I do know enough to help people find the answers they are looking for. But to do this effectively I will need your prayers!
One more thing…may I encourage any one who is a parent to better prepare the children you have been entrusted with to be ready for college or whatever comes next after high school! You might even find that our NGIM video curriculum for youth, “Grounded” is the kind of thing that might help you do this! Please check it out when you have a chance at: www.ngim.org/courses/grounded
His Servant,
Dr. David Geisler