Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Are you struggling to keep up with all the trending world views and pop culture beliefs that are out there? Do you want to have a meaningful conversation with a friend or a child? or even a grandchild, but you don't know where to begin?
Well today, we're gonna help you connect with your kids and grandkids. by seeing the world through their eyes and then knowing how to start the conversation. Stay with me. I'm Dave Druy and this is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. In our last program, guest teacher Aaron Pierce began helping us understand just how much our culture has shifted.
And today he's picking back up, showing us exactly what the next generation believes when it comes to where we came from, right and wrong, our purpose, and what happens when we die. It's eye-opening, and it's exactly what we need to understand if we're going to reach them in the ways that matter.
So let's join Aaron Pierce with today's message titled, Understanding the Secular Culture.
So, first of all, in order to effectively communicate the gospel to a post-Christian culture, we need to understand. Three key realities. The first is that secular people have become suspicious. of religious institutions. and are far less likely to walk into a church.
So, trust and confidence in organized religion has plummeted in the last few decades. Second thing we need to understand is the second key reality is that secular people today do not have the same assumptions. as previous generations. And they don't have the same assumptions about morality. Truth, authority of the Bible, existence and nature of God.
Now the third key reality. that we need to understand is that despite all of this, Secular people are open to spirituality. They are. And so that's a key thing to understand. And so all of these things, these key realities are important because if we're going to be good missionaries to our culture, we need to understand the context that we're in.
And we need to understand what's shaping and influencing the culture as well. All right, so what are the philosophical pillars? First one is secularism.
So I've already alluded to this, but the idea here is that people are not necessarily atheist. They just believe that faith is private.
So, you can believe whatever you want to believe, so long as you don't push that on other people. And then of course that naturally leads to relativism. that there is no absolute moral truth. That morality is about preference, that you have your favorites, I have mine. It's like an ice cream flavor.
And then that leads to the idea and the value of acceptance. But then. Actually, tolerance is not enough. You must affirm. And so it's based on the idea of being open-minded, and it's based on this kind of like authenticity and inclusion, but it's a paradox, right?
Because basically, it's inclusion for all except the exclusive. And so that's the paradox that we find ourselves in, where to tolerate someone, to love someone is not enough. We must actually affirm that the way that they live their life. That is the message that you're going to hear in the global youth culture. And what's interesting is, all of these things, in some way, are just a twist on biblical truth.
A lot of these things find their grounding truth and then they're twisted. And it's interesting because in the post-Christian culture that we live, we're still very much influenced by a biblical worldview, even if we've divorced ourselves from that. Right.
So we are the fight for justice, even if it's twisted, like even those that are pro-choice, it's based on a framework of morality for them of protecting women.
So it's a moral framework that they're drawing on. And that moral framework ultimately comes from a biblical worldview, which is there is a transcendent moral framework. And so it's really interesting. To give you an example of this kind of post-Christian divorcing of the biblical worldview, a while back I was at a caribou right around here. And the Brista had a pin on her shirt that said, be human-centered.
And so I asked her, I like, that sounds interesting.
So I said, what does that pin mean? And she looked at me, said, oh, well, it means, you know, treat other people like you want to be treated and consider other people's needs above your own. And I listened to her say that. I was like, wow, that's awesome. Like, where did you, where are those ideas?
Where did that come from? And she looked at me kind of confused and she pointed at the pin. You know, this is where these ideas are coming from. And so it's so crazy because here she is literally. quoting scripture But she's completely divorced herself from that.
That perfectly illustrates that post-Christian shift. Where we still hold to a biblical framework, but we've divorced ourselves from that. which, by the way, is an incredible opportunity. Because people connect with biblical truth, even if they no longer hold that as an authority in their life.
So What I want to do now is, I want to show you a video of some people being interviewed on the streets of the University of Minnesota. And we basically asked them four big worldview questions. The first is origin. Where did life come from? How did life begin?
The second is morality: what is right and wrong, and who decides. The third is purpose. What is the purpose of life? And the last is destiny. What happens after we die?
The way that you answer those four questions essentially is your worldview. And so let's take a look how these young people answer those questions. How do you think we all got here? How did life begin? Um It started with the big bang.
Um I don't really know much uh more than that.
So, I believe in evolution and that we evolved from primates. I mean, there's proof that our Yeah. ninety eight percent the same as chimpanzees, so Probably just like a meteoroid with like some microbes on it that landed on Earth from a different planet, and they were like. eventually evolved to become humans. What is the purpose of life?
Still waiting. That's a deep one. Let me know when you figure it out. I'm still working on that one. Make your own.
Like I don't think there's no like grand purpose for anybody, just like Everyone, it's just There is no purpose. Make up your own purpose, run with it, and... Help continue the evolution of human beings as a species.
So, how do you think that right and wrong are decided? Uh Well I don't know. I think it's different for like everyone, depending on like what they think is right and wrong. Cause like people believe in different things, so it can't be the same for everyone. That goes back to like your morals, I guess.
Cause your right can be someone else's wrong.
So it it's all like based on your morality, I ge I take it. I think that like It depends on yourself and what you think is right and wrong and what you believe in. And as long as you stick to your beliefs and like carry out what the Bible says or what the Quran says or like whatever, then like you're living your life to the fullest and that's all that matters. Uh what do you think happens after we die? I don't know.
I mean, isn't that kind of? The beauty of it, you know, there's a lot of people who are spiritual and have things in which they believe in, and so it's kind of a manifest of what you believe. I also feel like that is subjective because no one knows, and so I think that's kind of the beauty of it. Nothing happens, and hopefully, you lived your best life. And if there is an afterlife, hopefully, I live within the boundaries and make it there, you know what I mean?
So. I believe in heaven. I for sure believe in heaven. I don't know if I believe in hell. I think that, like, if you want to believe in hell, then you'll probably go to hell.
Like, rather than being showered with, you know, gold and jewels and we're living in some place where you have to have wings and a harp, hopefully, we just get reabsorbed into that consciousness that. It allows the oceans to move and the tides and the rivers and the trees to grow and I hope. And maybe there's nothing. Either way, it doesn't matter. Pretty interesting, right?
So here's my first challenge to you is. When you see that. there's there's like a tendency to want to laugh. when really what we should do is cry. Right.
And this isn't just some. Kind of fringe group of people that see the world in a weird way. This is the predominant way. that people see the world. You're listening to Living on the Edge with guest teacher Aaron Pierce.
We'll get back to the message in just a moment. But first, have you checked out the Living on the Edge YouTube channel? It's not just audio, it's a chance to actually sit down and watch Chip teach on his own schedule of series covering marriage, parenting, leadership, and more. New videos post every week, so there's always something fresh waiting for you. If you learn better by watching, or you just want to put a face to the voice, search Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram on YouTube and hit subscribe.
Now back to to day's lesson. I just want to summarize essentially what is it that the global youth culture believes when it comes to the origin of Earth. You're gonna hear kind of scientific answers for how the earth came to be. But then we're also kind of drawing in Eastern religious energy and this idea.
So it's kind of this combination of a naturalistic worldview combined with this vague spirituality that we talked about. And then when it comes to morality, if you ask the average person, they're gonna say that morality is essentially a social construct. Right, but then Social injustice must be fought with passion.
So you've got this weird combination of a social construct, morality, but yet a sense of obligation to fight injustice. And then purpose, well, there is no purpose other than to seek personal happiness. That is the ultimate expression of purpose. And then destiny. The answer is essentially I don't know.
And I try not to think about it. Right, because it's a scary, deep implication. It's the kind of cold, hard, atheistic answers aren't very satisfying. And so, what I do mostly is not think about it. What I do mostly is when it's late at night, I'm sitting in bed and I can't fall asleep, and these dark thoughts come to my mind, I just pull out my phone and I start to scroll TikTok, right?
Because I don't want to think. about the big, deep, scary thoughts.
So this tends to be The worldview of this global youth culture is how they see the world. And it all comes down to this idea of secular humanism. which is the religion of self. The idea of secular humanism is that God has been replaced. Man is at the center.
And there's no outside authority that can tell me how to live my life. and that the key to happiness is found within. Just follow your dreams and don't let anyone tell you who you are or what you want. Take care of yourself above all else. And so it's the era of my truth.
And in the era of my truth, identity, purpose, and morality is personally constructed. We define those things. You make your own meaning. And if you pay attention, you see this messaging everywhere. This is at a Starbucks.
And it's a poster that says, Don't you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can't be exactly who you are. And it's quoting Lady Gaga. And this perfectly illustrates. The secular humanistic worldview. Perfectly.
And it's really appealing. And it really it sounds so good. The reality is that the consequences of this worldview are heartbreaking. And it's like poison wrapped in bubblegum. And so that's the secular humanistic worldview.
And if you pay attention to it, you see that the consequences are so, so heartbreaking. Nancy Percy, written a number of good books on apologetics, including Love Thy Body, which is about Christian sexuality, says once a society accepts a worldview, it tends to work out. the logical consequences.
So let me give you an example of this. A while back, a non-Christian friend of mine from high school posted on social media that his son, who is about the same age as my oldest son, had been diagnosed with brain cancer. And when I saw that post. I mean, it broke my heart. Because I couldn't imagine the fear.
And the pain. that he was going through with his little boy being diagnosed with brain cancer. And then I began to read. the comments on his posts. And he was getting things like Positive vibes.
sending healing vibes his way. sending you all positive vibrations and much love. And then eventually he responded. Thank you, everyone, for the supportive words of concern and positive energy you have expressed for my son, Peter. And I couldn't help but think about how Hopeless.
That all sounded. Because in the secular humanistic worldview, there is no transcendent hope just positive vibrations. And it's devastating. Right.
We live in a culture and a generation. that is incredibly confused. Sexually broken. Lonely. Anxious and depressed.
I mean, these are universally felt. in this culture in this generation. You know, because in a world where you define truth. What you get is confusion. In a world in which you do whatever makes you feel good, you get sexual brokenness.
And when it's all about you, you get loneliness. When there's nothing to hold on to beside yourself, you get anxiety. And the saddest thing of all. is that We, as followers of Jesus, have the ultimate answers to these things, right? You know, Jesus brings truth to the confused.
He brings healing to the sexually broken. He brings the ultimate relationship with our creator and with the church. And he brings peace that transcends understanding. We have the answer to the cry of a generation. And the sad thing is, they are not looking to the church for answers.
They're not walking to the church. And so we Our response is that we need to go to them. At a heart's need to break. Because this isn't a distant problem. This isn't out there.
This is personal. These aren't just trends and statistics. These are our friends, sons, daughters, and grandkids. And so when we hear this. Our response should be like that of Nehemiah.
After he found out that the city of Jerusalem was ruined, in Nehemiah chapter 1, verse 4, he said, When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. That should be our response. Because Until our hearts are broken. We're not going to do anything about it. Because to the extent to which our hearts are broken.
Is the extent to which we will sacrifice. that we will get uncomfortable. that we will lay down our needs, our preferences for the sake of the lost. We need our hearts to be broken. But we can't change our hearts.
You know, that's only something God can do.
So what we can do is we can repent. And we can say, God, my heart is cold. I don't care for people like I should and it's not right. I've even gotten apathetic about people in my own family. I'm sorry.
Would you forgive me? And would you give me your heart? And when you start to pray that prayer, it's a dangerous prayer because all of a sudden you're going to start to see the world through God's eyes. and you're going to start to see people maybe for the very first time. And when he gives you that broken heart, then you're going to be willing to get uncomfortable.
to be awkward, to take a step of faith and risk. because your heart is so broken and God has awoken us from our apathy. And once our hearts are broken, then we need to pray like never before. We need to go on like Nehemiah. which says that for some days i mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
And biblical scholars estimate that Nehemiah actually prayed and fasted for four months before he eventually approached the king. And so the question is: why would Nehemiah pray? and fast so long and with such intensity. It's because when God opened his eyes to the problem. He knew that he couldn't fix it on his own.
Right.
Because like Nehemiah, We need to recognize that the mission that we were called to, to bring the love of Jesus to people that are far from him. that that mission is not hard, it's impossible. Which means that no human strategy, no evangelism script, no like, no approach. is ever going to be a nuts. I can't even solve the problems in my own family.
But we need to understand while the mission may be impossible, we serve the God of the impossible. And then, when we get on our knees in desperate prayer and cry out. God have mercy. That's when we're going to see the breakthrough. And so that's where this all starts.
The foundation for reaching secular culture, for reaching young people in our families and in this world who will not walk into a church is desperate prayer and a broken heart. That's where it all starts. Not using the right words or having the right script. It starts with a broken heart. Because I don't know about you, but I look around the world and all its brokenness, and I can be overwhelmed.
We need God to move. Our human efforts and wisdom are so woefully inadequate. We need God's supernatural power. And it's, you know, 1 Corinthians 4:20 says: the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. And the amazing thing.
is that God loves to move. through ordinary people. Like you and like me. But to experience God's power like that. we've got to give him everything because jesus is not calling us to give a lot He is calling us to give everything.
1 Thessalonians 2:8 says, We loved you so much, we are delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well. That's what it's going to take. We've got to change. our lifestyle. It's a radical shift in lifestyle where we give everything that we have.
And the paradox of Jesus is that when you give your life, you find it. That's the paradox of Jesus. And that when you give all that you have, your five loaves and your two fish, which is not enough. He can take that and he can do the supernatural. He can see that hardened heart, that person in your life that wants nothing to do with God.
He can see their heart softened and awakened to the reality of Jesus. He can do the supernatural. All we have to do is give him everything that we have. Aaron Pierce has been our guest teacher today here on Living on the Edge with a message titled Understanding the Secular Culture. It's part of a larger series we've begun called Caring Enough to Connect: Building Bridges to Those We Love.
Now if you missed any part so far, be sure to catch up anytime at livingontheedge.org. What Aaron shared with us today is just a taste of what you can explore for yourself in the Not Beyond Reach Participants Guide. It's a 10-week video-based study that will help you and your small group understand this generation's worldview, start real spiritual conversations, and carry the hope of the gospel into homes that feel far from church. Each week includes a viewing guide, discussion questions, a practical application, and interactive group exercises. You can get the Not Beyond Reach Participants Guide at a discounted price right now by going to livingontheedge.org slash offers.
Every single day, somebody out there is asking the same hard questions we explored in today's program. And that's exactly why this ministry exists, to share biblical truth to those who need it. This ministry work only continues because of listeners like you who choose to help keep it going with their financial support. Wherever you're listening from today, we've made it easy for you to donate online. Simply go to livingontheedge.org or call 888-333-6003.
You can also send your gift by mail to LivingOnTheEdge, P.O. Box 3007, Suwannee, Georgia, 30024. Yeah.
Now, let me hand things over to our regular Bible teacher, Chip Ingram. Thanks, Dave. Today, I've asked Aaron to join me in the studio. And you know, Aaron, today you referenced the man on the street type interviews, and you did these with college students, and you asked them questions like, you know, what's your purpose? How did life begin?
And what happens after we die? And actually, some pretty deep philosophical questions. But afterwards, you made this really interesting statement. Our natural instinct is to laugh at some of those answers when, in reality, we should cry. Let me ask you this.
What do you say to that parent or grandparent? that's just befuddled by their adult child or grandchild that believes some things that they just think, this is nuts, this is crazy, talk to that person. about why they need to build a bridge rather than laugh. You know, Chip, this is such an important question because I think we need to remind ourselves. that the problem that we're dealing with is not First and foremost, an issue of logic or rationality, but in fact, we're dealing with a spiritual blindness issue.
So if I were to point at a wall, But you're blind. It doesn't matter how clearly I point at it, you can't see it. And so in the same way, we need to remind ourselves That we are in a spiritual battle, that the fundamental problem is spiritual blindness, and that should break our hearts. And then it should remind us that we can't fight a spiritual battle with words alone, with persuasive arguments. We need God to move in a supernatural way for Him to reveal the truth in a way that our words alone can't do.
So that's why I say we should respond not with laughter, but with crying because this is a generation. that is spiritually blinded and has been deceived.
Next time, Aaron Pierce shows us how to build real friendships with the secular people in our own lives. Listen next time to Living on the Edge. Yeah.
Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
