Are Christian Young People Dumber Than Their Secular Peers?

I don’t think so. If they are, I suspect it is not that they lack intelligence, rather they are left without answers, even meaningful dialogue, from their parents and the adults in their lives, including pastors and youth leaders. I personally don’t believe they are dumb or ignorant, perhaps just uninformed, or ignored.

A problem I see is too many adults in their lives seem to discourage the asking of questions. I call this laziness and/or apathy. It’s the “I don’t have time for this, just believe because I said so,” or, “ask the pastor” approach. Imagine, parents discouraging questions, you know, the ones who ask, “when will you be home?” “Who were you with?” “Will his/her parents be home?” and so forth.

I must inject, if a question is important enough to ask, doesn’t it mean the subject matter is important to the questioner? If the questioner is important to you, shouldn’t the subject matter likewise be important to you?

So why, when your child has a question about God, the church, politics, etc., do you not gladly say, “Great question! Have a seat and let’s talk about it.” Do you see where I’m going with this? If it’s important to them, it should be important to you. If it’s important to you, you will want to talk about it.

Another argument that I hear frequently that drives me crazy is, “my/our young people don’t understand …” Listen people, they understand a lot more than we realize. They are asking questions, at least most of them. I think the problem is more, who do they feel comfortable talking too. As a parent, who do you want teaching your child? As a Christian parent, this is an even more meaningful question. I promise you, if you are not willing to engage with your child and encourage discussion, the secular world is waiting to zap any belief in God out of them!

If you asked your boss a question about your job and they blew you off by saying, “Just do it because I told you too,” how would you feel? Chances are, you’ve experienced this, I have. What do we do? A good employee will do it, as long as it’s not illegal, unethical, or against company policy but they will most likely not be passionate about their work. I had a boss tell me once, “Just do it and if you still have a question, ask me later.” I understand that sometimes there simply isn’t time to address questions but it made me feel irrelevant. He had time, he just didn’t want to address my question.

So if parents and those in the church aren’t addressing the questions of our youth, who is?

Well, there’s good news and bad news…                                                                            The bad news is: teachers, professors, friends, various news agencies, and people on the internet that do not share your views. Even if your young person isn’t really asking a lot of questions, they are being influenced by those who are willing to take the time to push their agenda and influence them. Just like with adults, time equals caring.

The good news: there are parents and those who work in the church willing to have meaningful conversations but I see less of them every year. Millions of young people, whether brought up in a religious home or those who come from secular homes, are looking for answers. Many groups have been popping up over the last few years and do a remarkable job of giving facts to some of the hardest questions young people are asking. Ravi Zacharias, of RZIM, speaks at colleges around the world. Both Christians and non-Christians alike flock to hear him speak and ask their questions. There are many apologists, like Zacharias, that speak at colleges and youth groups around the world.

Dennis Prager, while not a Christian apologist, also speaks at colleges and any other platform available to address political concerns. Millions of young people watch his youtube videos and attend his speaking engagements. Candace Owens and Charlie Kirk also speak and answer questions concerning politics from a conservative point of view. There are many more, too many to list here.      

The following is from an email I received from PragerU and starts with a quote from the New York Times:

    

As you know, the left has seized the media, Hollywood, and public education, but PragerU is reaching teens and college students right where they are — online.
“Last year PragerU videos racked up more than one billion views. The Prager empire now has a fleet of 6,500 high school and college student promoters, known as the PragerForce, who host on-campus meetings and gather at least once a year for conventions. And this year, the company is expanding its scope.” - New York Times                                                                                             Even the largest media outlets cannot ignore the impact of PragerU!

PragerU is effectively reaching millions of young people every day. Our videos are an antidote to the left-wing narrative that has been dominating the culture. Teens and college students across the country are embracing American values and sharing these ideas with their peers. Our subscribers and our supporter base are growing exponentially.

Do you still believe young people aren’t talking and asking questions? I’m not exactly a teen, in fact, my kids are no longer teens either, but I love watching PragerU videos. They are about five minutes long and host a wide variety of speakers on topics relevant to today.

While these organizations are doing a wonderful job, there are those who wish to silence them. The ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and others are relentless, and I fear one day they will succeed in crushing free speech once and for all.

I cannot express strongly enough how important this is. Parents, grand-parents, aunts, uncles, pastors, youth pastors, whoever is reading this, please, I beg you, get informed and stay informed. This generation and those that follow will be voting, running for office, and making decisions that impact the road we are to travel. Do you really want to leave it up to the left to shape our future?

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