“…When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
—Luke 18:8b
Will Jesus find a remnant of faith when He returns? From our human perspective, it’s been a long time coming. We thought He’d be back by now, as many have falsely predicted His return. Skepticism rises. The faith of many grows cold.
While some commentators say that in this verse (Luke 18:8), Jesus was referring to the unbelief of the Jews at His Second Coming (will they finally see Christ as their Messiah?), I wonder if some meaning could extend to Christians at the time of His next appearing—will He find much faith on earth within His Church, the Bride? Yes, but perhaps not as many as is possible.
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,” (Matt. 24:12).
I think you’d agree with me that today there is a definite increase in wickedness. And there is a definite coldness growing towards loving God, or, for that matter, even believing He exists.
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,”
(2 Thess. 2:1-3).
The falling away. What does that even look like?
I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, but I do know this—statistics show that three out of four Christian teens walk away from the church after they leave home.(1) That’s 75%, folks. That’s bad. Really bad.
Most who walk away from the faith claim they have “no religion.”
Is this just the way things are? I mean, didn’t the Apostle Paul indicate this would happen, as he wrote to the Thessalonians; it’s all part of the End Times. And after all, God’s got it, right?
Yeah, but…
Didn’t God also say we were to wash other people’s feet? (John 13:14.) That means Christians are called to serve, and in doing so, this helps others with faith. We are not called to sit down and wait on God to do it all. He’s called us to partner with Him, bringing the Kingdom (a spiritual kingdom) on Earth as it is in heaven. We are, as some have likened, Christ’s hands and feet. That means we are not to stop sharing the Gospel with others.
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”
(2 Cor. 5:18-19.)
God has “entrusted us” to the message of reconciliation. That’s huge. That’s a lot of trust towards us to get the job done!
So, why are these young people leaving the faith once they leave home? Many state it’s because they’ re influenced by a massive bias of secularization in academia and the workplace. They get challenged on all fronts by skeptics who say things like: “You really believe in an ancient book of fairy tales?” “The Bible has been corrupted and changed so much we can’t even know what Jesus really said.” “I’m supposed to believe in some dead guy coming back to life?” “Science has disproved the Bible.” And on and on and on.
There are good answers to these claims. Really good answers. But do young people know those answers? Statistics show not. Many youth groups, for example, focus primarily on relationships and programs. They don’t teach the kids why Christianity is true.
But is it the Youth Pastor’s job to be the primary teacher for your kids faith? No. The Bible tells us it’s YOU, the parent.
- “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6.)
- “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4.)
- “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 11:19.)
These verses, among dozens more in the Bible, refer to fathers primarily because in ancient culture, men were the formal teachers. In modern times, we can include mothers as teachers, too. Matter of fact, mothers sometimes are the best ones to teach their children.
What do we teach kids?
And what do we teach our children? Apologetics, of course! There are a ton of resources available today to get started. I have a list of resources I recommend, and there are literally hundreds of others: podcasts, YouTube videos, blogs, articles and books are all accessible through a simple Google search.
Squeeze in time wherever you can (in the car listening to podcasts, reading short, information based-blogs on apologetics, watching YouTube videos) to learn the reasons why Christianity is true. You must prepare your children (or your grandchildren!) for the doubts that will be raised once they “leave the nest.”
Prepare young people to fly into a faith-filled future based on confident truth that what they believe has excellent evidence backing it up. #Apologetics is your resource. Share on XThe truth is not “out there” but in the person of Jesus Christ.
(1) 70-75% of Christian youth leave the church after high school (see research from the Pew Research Center and USA Today).
I’ve had to continue praying for my kids as they have been on the fence for years about the faith.
And that’s the key – prayer. Apologetics can help answer doubt, but it’s only through the Spirit of God that one can fully embrace faith. Don’t give up praying, Michael. Your prayers matter! Blessings to you, Lisa Q
Thank you Lisa as this too has been on my mind a lot lately. We are failing the youth of today. Too many times, I think, we don’t want to offend someone so remain silent on our faith. We must be bold in sharing with our children from any early age.
Thanks, Yvonne. I too was fearful to share my faith before because I was concerned about the skeptical questions that I might encounter. But now, having studied apologetics, I am no longer afraid. That is what this training can do for all of us – take the fear of sharing our faith away because there are excellent answers and great evidence to back up what we believe.
Sharing my faith and being an example of faith has been key, but also PRAYER. That really works. Thank you for this excellent post.
Yes, praying people are most definitely needed! Thanks for your comment.
A heartbreaking statistic! I was one of the 75% it is a hard road. I can now say that Jesus has redeemed it, yet there are many who were hurt by me through it all and the truth of that is painful as well. I love your approach of teaching the proof. The Bible says that we are to test, to taste and see that the Lord is good. Thanks for some great resources too.
So glad you came back into the fold. With God, all things are possible. Thank you for your comments.
Kids stay in the church when their deepest relationships are there–especially the connection to Christ, of course. We need to teach worldview too, but if they haven’t seen true, Christian love, they have no reason not to latch on to the first philosophy that leads them to something they desire–which might just be a deep human connection–or the appearance of it.
Thanks for tackling this topic, Lisa!
Thanks, Nancy. The statistics are showing, however, that skeptical questions have caused doubt in young peoples’ minds, for instance, as to the truth of the Bible. So I do think teaching them why the Bible is true, and that we can trust it to be accurate of what Jesus really said, is very important.
We teach and equip and train and pray for our children in this secular world among the great falling away. We entrust them into God’s hands. He cannot lose his own. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first.” This testing of our faith must happen to winnow and to purge the church, preparing us for his coming, as our mediocrity, lack of service toward others through good deeds, and pridefulness prove to be destructive to the faith of the young. God, have mercy!
Thanks, Melinda. I do know that the Lord definitely will allow things to happen while working out His ultimate plans. In the meantime, I really feel strongly that teaching young people Apologetics can be of great use. It’s only one tool, but it’s a good one in the skeptical age.
This was a big fear for me, even though I tried to raise my boys with a logical understanding of Gob and His Word. So much depends on us as parents, but God in His grace also (well, foremost) kept my boys guarded and ultimately on the right course for building their own personal relationships with Him as young adults. I’m thankful and relieved. We also put a lot of stock on their friends, which, ahem, contributed to my fear, but God is good. Praise Him.
Lisa, yes, this is sad on so many levels. I’ve heard it, and tried to dismiss the validity of such staggering statistics. Yet, the numbers don’t lie. Many youth are leaving the church and turning their backs on Christianity. And how crazy they are familiar with the why behind Christian beliefs. I keep saying, the church, needs to get back to the basics of our faith…the truths behind the why of its very foundation. I agree with you on teaching apologetics at home, in the car, but finding good resources and using the Bible itself while making sure to include the validity of the Scriptures.
I remember a while back reading John 6: Jesus feeds the five thousand, walks on water, teaching that He is the bread of life and offers the crowds and His followers words for eternal life. Yet, verse 66 says, “After this many of his disciples TURNED BACK and no
longer walked with him” (ESV, emphasis mine). Jesus then asked the twelve if they wanted to go as well when Peter answered “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (verse 68.) And notice John 6:66 also forms “666.” I wondered about that and the enemy’s deception on causing people to turn back from Jesus.
Thanks, Karen, for your thoughtful response. I think that if someone doesn’t even believe that the Bible is credible, we have to start with that first. We can teach them about the miracles in the Bible, but if they don’t believe miracles are true and have bought in to the culture telling them those are fairytales, we have to show them why miracles are indeed possible. That’s, I think, where we are today with the level of skepticism. It is fierce, but the good news is there are great answers to even the toughest skeptical questions.
I agree that once we get young people to see that the Bible is in fact God’s word, teaching the great stories, and helping them understand the bigger picture, is vital. And one more thing, the numbers in the Bible are put there by us. That’s not necessarily “divine inspiration”, but God certainly can use it.
Agree! And, yes, I knew numbers for chapters and verse were put there by man. I just wanted to note how eerie that particular verse about turning back forms 666.
Such an important reminder! I don’t have kids yet, but this is a great challenge: to begin praying for them now, before God brings them into existence, that they would stand firm in their faith. Thank you!
You are going to be an amazing mom someday, I’m sure. Bless you!
What an alarming statistic that 75% of young people are walking away from the church and faith!
You hit it on the nose when you said, “Many youth groups, for example, focus primarily on relationships and programs.”
I’m currently writing a post that speaks to this concept of relationships vs. discipleship and how it digresses from the original intent of Jesus’ purpose of the church. So, naturally, I caught this statement in your post.
The church can treat teens today as if they can’t handle the truth of God’s word, or they don’t want to really know it. I argue that this is far from the truth. The church needs to take discipleship more seriously, and give teens the respect they deserve. They can handle it and want it.
I wholeheartedly agree that parents are responsible to train their children spiritually, but I also think the church needs to do a better job at partnering with them. Wonderful post, Lisa!
I know your heart, Marcie, for families and children. So, I know you’re going to do something to help these statistics improve! May God bless your efforts.
Lisa, you have no idea how much my heart grieves this. I ache for our young people. It is a very difficult time to be a follower of Jesus, but for a young person, it feels impossible. I am on my knees before the Lord every single day for my kids, for I have seen the attacks coming at them from every side. Lord have mercy.
Thank you for continuing to point us toward solid reasoning to support our faith in Christ. Your resources are excellent. I have tried to allow small amounts of apologetics I have learned from you and others to trickle into my conversations whenever possible.
May we be faithful, no matter what!
My heart grieves with you, but God is a miracle Maker! Let’s do our part and watch Him do His. Amen? Yeah.