During a short-lived period of the internet, many people quickly learned not to trust headlines. Clickbait titles that misrepresented the greater story drew in lots of web surfers. Only when we read the full article did we grasp the truth.
Those days are over—but not because the articles are suddenly trustworthy. On the contrary, now we can’t even trust the article content. Or the video footage. Deep fakes and altered photos show up at every click. And the youngest generation, Gen Alpha, is becoming even more suspicious than Gen Z is about media, government, and other systems that many people once deemed trustworthy. Who can we trust?
Many people have come to rely on short-form videos from unvetted strangers online. As a result, our views about major, life-altering events may be formed in less time than it takes to toast a Pop-Tarts pastry—and by someone whose opinions are likely just as poorly informed. It’s the worst game of Telephone ever, and the world is a different place because of it.
In a time when artificial intelligence can concoct all manner of convincing mirages, members of Gen Alpha already know to scan to the comments first. Feedback from other people helps viewers evaluate what they’re seeing. Can this video be trusted? Is this a scam?
Investigating the claims made in a video often takes longer than watching the video itself. This is especially the case as preferred content lengths and attention spans skew shorter each year. And as natural as that may feel to a digital native, it’s still exhausting.
Old Yet True
According to TechJury.net, an estimated 1.145 trillion megabytes of new data are created every single day throughout the world. As data creation continues to increase exponentially, the church has a unique opportunity to capture the attention and hearts of the next generation. Why? Because what we have isn’t new. Our book is ancient. Christian truths have stood the test of time, after repeated efforts to debunk and dissuade.
These days, everything new falls under extra layers of suspicion and scrutiny—and rightfully so. The positive side of that? The well-worn truths of God’s heart for humanity hold a rare appeal. When the next generation comes looking for truth, they’re guaranteed to find it in only one place: the Bible.
But truth—even an ultimate truth—isn’t sufficient to win a heart. Take Lucifer, for example. He was dwelling in heaven, living in the very presence of the Truth. But instead of being swayed by it, Satan chose the lie (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18). See also: the Pharisees (Matthew 11:20-24; 19:20-22).
To win the hearts (and souls) of the next generation, Christians must go beyond merely speaking the truths of the Bible. Instead, we must savor the beauty of Scripture. We must be personally drawn in by God and his Word. When it comes to loving God and his message to us, we must embody it before we can export it.
The Source of True Joy
In a sermon titled “One Generation Shall Praise Your Works to Another,” Pastor John Piper examines Psalm 145:4. “Notice the words,” he says. “It does not say, ‘One generation shall merely teach your works to another.’ It says, ‘One generation shall praise your works to another.’ Praise is exultation in God. The education of the next generation must not only aim at exultation; it must involve exultation.”
Exultation means to feel elated, to rejoice. Do you feel that way about God and his Word? If you don’t, you’ll be hard-pressed to convince anyone else to love him. On the other hand, when we see someone else love something—truly and completely—it’s winsome. It’s inspiring. Perhaps you’ve noticed yourself becoming more excited about a certain sports team while attending or watching a game with a lifelong fan. The same is often true of igniting a love for Scripture. That passion is more often caught than taught.
People all over the world have read through the Bible with me using The Bible Recap plan. In it, I spend zero words telling readers and listeners how worthy or wonderful they are. I don’t try to prove the truth of Scripture either. Instead, I point to the beauty of the person of God. And after pointing it out from that day’s reading, I end each recap with the phrase, “He’s where the joy is!”
