Knowing Your Moment In History

A major part of understanding the call of the Lord for your life has to do with understanding the moment of history into which you were born. We have to recognize the days we live in, lest we live our life oblivious to the opportunity God has given us in our present day. When entering into any type of calling, in any sphere, the proper understanding of the history of that sphere is crucial. Understanding the history knit to your calling is crucial in gaining the right perspective. 

For teenagers seeking to minister on their school campuses, there are some very important dates you should know. One is the Supreme Court decision of Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), not only because this was the decision that removed prayer from school, but because it is a clear example of the effect that prayer (or lack-thereof) can have on our schools. It is extremely insightful to know that the removal of prayer effected the youth culture of the entire nation, from test scores to teen pregnancy - prayer made a difference.

Another reason that decision is insightful is because of all of the other court cases that immediately followed it. Why was prayer the primary battle? And why were so many other things outlawed after prayer was removed? What is it about prayer that the enemy sought to eliminate first? And if the removal of prayer sparked such a downfall, what could the return of student-led prayer spark?

Despite all of our most sincere efforts, no one has been able to "crack" the youth culture "code." We can spend so much time trying to be relevant and inclusive that we actually lose the proper perspective. While relevance and inclusiveness are important, history helps uncover what is actually relevant to our ministry. After 49 since the decision of Engel v. Vitale, youth ministry is worse than ever.

Maybe, just maybe, we need to return to the start and get some perspective on our moment in history. Maybe, we were born into this ministry for such a time as this to reverse the drought of prayer in our schools and raise up a student-led prayer movement across our nation. The harvest is ripe, but the laborers aren't praying...

School Stats

Here are just a few helpful statistics I have used to get perspective on the crisis facing this generation, even more particularly, our schools:

In the history of America, the concept of a wall between church and state is a very recent concept and was never used but twice in the history of America up until the late 1940s, but in the last 50 years there have been countless cases citing this concept. Beginning in 1962, with the removal of prayer from schools, a host of other decisions were made removing God from our generation:

- 1962: A verbal prayer offered in a school is unconstitutional, even if that prayer is both voluntary and denominationally neutral (Engel v. Vitale).

- 1965: Freedom of speech and press are guaranteed to students and teachers – unless the topic is religious, at which time such speech becomes unconstitutional (Stein v. Oshinky).

- 1965: If a student prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray aloud (Reed v. Van Hoven).

- 1979: It is unconstitutional for a kindergarten class to ask whose birthday is celebrated by Christmas [Jesus] (Florey v. Sioux Falls School District).

- 1980: It is unconstitutional for students to see the Ten Commandments in school because they might read, meditate upon, respect or obey them (Stone v. Graham).

- 1990: It is unconstitutional for a classroom library to contain books which deal with Christianity, or for a teacher to be seen with a personal copy of the Bible at school (Roberts v. Madigan).

- 1993: Artwork may not be displayed in schools if it depicts something religious – even if that artwork is considered a historical classic (Washegic v. Bloomingdale Public Schools).

Barna Worldview Survey from March 2009

For the purposes of the survey, a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.

The research data showed that one pattern emerged loud and clear: young adults rarely possess a biblical worldview. The current study found that less than one-half of one percent of adults in the Mosaic generation – i.e., after ’84, those aged 18 to 23 – have a biblical worldview, compared to about one out of every nine older adults. 

50 Year Teacher Question

In 1940, teachers were asked to identify the top problems in public schools. They answered, “talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise.” In 1990 teachers were asked the same question, their responses were, “drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault.”

Bible-Based Believer Percentages: 

Builders (born 1927-1945) 65% Bible-based believers
Boomers (born 1946-1964) 35% Bible-based believers
Busters (born 1965-1983) 16% Bible-based believers
Bridgers (born after 1984) 4% Bible-based believers

Over 80% of churchgoers become Christian before the age of 18. Once a person reaches 20 years of age, the odds of reaching that person falls to 10%. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Family Life Council found that 88% of Christian youth fall away in college in 2002. LifeWay conducted a similar study in 2007 and found that 70% of Christian youth fall away in college, and only 35% ever return.