Mar
11
2010
Worth a Look 3.11.10
A summary of Christian Smith’s new book on adults ages 18-23 – the “lukewarm generation”:
This should come as little surprise, however, when we step back from the religious lives of today’s emerging adults and look at the larger social milieu in which they find themselves. Their connections to education and work tend to be fragile and unstable. They live much of their lives in an isolated, electronically mediated world in which iPods, personal computers, and cell phones link them to their preferred music, movies, and friends and not much else. They are largely indifferent to the great causes of the right and the left. And, most importantly, for most of these emerging adults, marriage is not on the horizon. It is little wonder, therefore, that the members of this lukewarm generation are largely disconnected from American religion, given that they are also disconnected from stable long-term employment, civil society, and family life.
Tim Chester shares some sobering statistics on pornography:
- Every second, 28,258 Internet users are viewing pomography and $3,075.64 is being spent on pomography
- The pomography industry is larger than the revenues of the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink
Dave Zimmerman recounts an intriguing story about a young John Stott taking on a Salvation Army officer:
I dig John Stott. But I always thought of him as a “scholar-pastor,” not as a punk–until I read this…
Praying that the Great Commission Resurgence will end with a resurgence in discipleship:
The Great Commission does not end at conversion. Until we as Southern Baptists and as churches of Christ’s body take seriously the call of the Great Commission to commit to discipling new believers—to commit not just our moments but our lives to the task—then we will never fulfill the Great Commission, no matter how many different programs or entities or how much money we give. And in the end, we might have a Great Commission resurgence, but no Great Commission fulfillment.