Yes, our message is sometimes slandered, misunderstood, and distorted. Yes, we face persecution that has an underlying objective to defeat Christ’s kingdom. But to what extent are we responsible for the criticism we get?

I’ll tell you what I think: more of the criticism we get is warranted than we’d like to admit. Everywhere you turn, we Christians have given the media and the vocal minorities the upper hand by the hypocritical way we have lived. And if we care about ministering to today’s young people, we can no longer ignore the way our choices have helped to form our image in their eyes.

Consider this litany of hypocrisy. We say we are for family values, yet the rates of divorce are virtually the same inside the church as outside. Every mortgage broker knows that pastors default on their home loans more than other people. The Christian church has perpetuated a message of hatred against homosexuality while our leaders keep starring in sexual scandals of their own…. And that’s where I have to stop with the examples; I’m getting nauseated.

The fact is, we have all been born into sin — every one of us. And God wants to save us all from ourselves and from evil, our true enemy. With these truths to guide us, we need to recognize our faults and start focusing more on our love for each other and our neighbors, as Christ directed, rather than promoting intolerance.

Until we do, we can expect that the media and vocal minorities will continue to ingrain our youth with worldly values, pointing to the church as a decrepit institution out of touch with their lives. Now I’m not saying we should accept sin in the church, either.

The point is that Jesus didn’t come to condemn. In fact, He told us that the world is already condemned. He came to save. And that’s why, when He was here, He gave us the example of hanging out with those most in need of His grace.

May God grant us the wisdom and power to do the same with the Lost Generation of teens and young adults who do not know Him.

Please understand, I’m not using the label “Lost Generation” as some type of doomsday predictor. It’s not as if this group is hopeless. I’m not writing them off — far from it.

On the other hand, I do hope this label will grab attention. Why? Because the historical indicators point to something quite concerning: the Lost Generation may be the last population segment in American society before Christianity is marginalized to the point of death. Take a look at what has happened in Western Europe with the formation of a post-Christian society. That is what we face tomorrow in the United States of America if we don’t pay attention to the urgent spiritual neediness of the Lost Generation. We could become a secular nation.

Am I alarmist? Exaggerating?

Josh McDowell tells us that we are losing between 50 percent and 70 percent of our churched youth to the world before they graduate from high school. George Barna has found that one out of two professing Christian freshmen will renounce their faith before they graduate college. Worst of all, only about 4 percent of the Lost Generation consider themselves Christian. This is the spiritual reality for the Lost Generation.

If we have a sincere burden to reach this generation with the gospel of truth, how can we continue in ministry without recognizing our ineffectiveness? If what we are doing were working, the numbers would tell a different story. But they don’t.

So the danger is real. Biblical Christianity will lose its transformational role in American culture unless, by the grace of God, we reverse the spiritual tide of this Lost Generation. And that reversal starts with really getting to know the generation.

Culture Study

A well-known elder statesman of Christian ministry recently said that our youth are “illiterate” and that’s why we have trouble reaching them. Actually, they just speak a different language. So, like any missionaries, we must learn a different language as we engage a different culture. When it comes to ministering to the members of the Lost Generation (I’ll call them “LGs”), we must immerse ourselves in their world to learn the slang, nuances, and inflections of their postmodern language and lifestyle. Here are a few notes to start with.

• Balance. LGs inherited the “work hard, play hard” ethic of their parents. However, LGs also experienced the devastating effects of workaholic self-focus. Therefore, LGs strive for a more balanced, selfless, relational lifestyle. For the Lost Generation, living life means more than work and advancement. It now means a wide variety of hands-on activities, adventurous pursuits, escapist entertainment, and authentic relationships.

• Leadership. The Lost Generation places little value on traditional institutions or chain of command. Just because you are older and wiser does not mean you merit trust. For LGs, respect must be earned, not merely expected. Leadership is no longer positional but relational.

• Relativism. LGs feel they have escaped Mom and Dad’s inconsistencies by embracing moral relativism. As crazy as it may sound, moral relativism has become so ingrained in LG culture that it’s now treated as the “objective” standard for values clarification. Today, moral relativism means that one person can “Just do it,” while another can “Just say no,” and these are equally valid moral decisions. Moreover, friends and peers can peacefully coexist and accept their equally valid differences. It’s no longer a matter of right and wrong; it’s a matter of personal choice without judgment.

• Spirituality in general. Although LGs are skeptical of “organized religion,” they’re more open to spirituality than their X-gen and late-Boomer parents. Generally, LGs reject a purely naturalistic-materialistic world in favor of a more relational-spiritual version. Although LGs vocalize newfound enlightenment in this area, it’s actually packaged in bite-sized media wrappers. Bullet points and sound clips have replaced the ancient texts and ageless discussions. It’s spirituality without accountability and relativism without rules. LGs select a few items from the spiritual buffet that seem to mush together nicely on their personal plates.

• Christianity in particular. The “Christianity” label has lost much of its theological meaning for the Lost Generation. At best, it’s an innocuous catchall phrase—this is a “Christian nation.” At worst, “Christianity” equals hypocrisy, judgment, intolerance, and lobbying muscle. The current generation has nothing against Jesus, just against the political machinery that’s been created in His name. Thus, what are seen as meaningless rules and rituals are being exchanged for personal peace and redemptive relationships.

What, Then, Will We Do?

From a biblical perspective, some of the characteristics of LGs are encouraging. Others raise concerns. But even those that seem like trouble might provide an opening for ministry. For example, the way that LGs are exchanging meaningless rules and rituals for redemptive relationships creates a perfect opportunity for Jesus to work in their lives…if He’s asked.

So let me conclude with a few questions I just can’t get away from.

How can our hearts not break for our youth?

Why haven’t we shown up in mass media to battle for the hearts and minds of this generation?

What are we going to do to introduce the Lost Generation to the One who can save them…before it’s too late?

In Hans Christian Andersen’s short story “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” two tailors promise an emperor the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is stupid or unfit for his position. Not seeing the clothes himself (because there aren’t any), but too proud to admit it, the emperor marches in a procession pretending to wear these clothes.

Now, with that familiar story in mind, I have a tough question for myself and others who are involved in ministry with students and young adults: Are we like the emperor, choosing to stick with our illusions rather than face reality? In other words, could it be that we are ignoring the evidence that our props, programs, and procedures for ministry are not working? Do we think we are royally dressed when in fact we are naked?

I’ll tell you what I think.

Too often we have protected Christendom’s rules, rituals, and politics at the expense of sharing the raw, gritty gospel in the trenches of life. We build clubs for church kids rather than creating the best forums for God to reach into young people’s hearts. We run our ministries primarily based on programs and budgets, not year-to-year impact and effectiveness. We serve within the safety of the Christian machine, letting others go to the uncomfortable places where Jesus would go. And if anybody questions our approach, we get defensive and double down on our stubbornness.

It’s time for us to recognize that we’re not being nearly as effective as we could in reaching today’s young people.

From the Mouths of Babes

Feeling uncomfortable with what I just said? Look, I know what it’s like. More times than I’d like to admit, I’ve found myself taking the easy route or defending the status quo. I, too, reached a point of being uncomfortable with what I was doing. Very uncomfortable. But it was good for me. And that’s why I’m not sorry if you’re uncomfortable too.

In Andersen’s story, all the adults go along with the pretense that the emperor is wearing clothes…until a little child blurts out, “But he hasn’t got anything on!” Consider me that little child. I’m not trying to offend you but to spark your self-awareness, to get you to ask yourself the necessary questions about the effectiveness of your ministry.

In the early process of realizing my own hypocrisy, I victimized others with my newfound revelation and passion. I made life difficult for my brothers and sisters in ministry because I felt compelled to tell them what they were doing wrong. In other words, I was trying to bring about change through external pressure—pressure from me!

Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate how God, through His Holy Spirit, causes us to change from within—internal change. So I’m not judging you or trying to boss you around. My purpose is simply to encourage you to be willing to rethink what you can do to reach the lost. If you need to change, and if you will lower your defenses, the Holy Spirit will help you find new ways to share the timeless gospel with today’s young people.

Are you ready?

To Change or Not to Change

When the little child in Andersen’s story finally points out the truth of the emperor’s nakedness, the adults watching the parade begin to open their eyes to the truth too. But what does the emperor do? Andersen says, “The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, ‘This procession has got to go on.’ So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn’t there at all.”

Let’s not be like that emperor. If we’re naked (not effective in reaching the youth with the gospel), let’s admit it and call a halt to the parade.

I spent my weekdays watching youth flock to my company’s video games.

I spent my weekends watching youth abandon a church they viewed as boring and irrelevant to their lives.

I had to ask myself, Why is this happening? After all, the biblical narrative is the most exciting story ever delivered to humankind. Jesus is the most awe-inspiring character to step onto the world stage. He offers hope and healing and glorious grace to every kid struggling with every imaginable woe. Why weren’t the young people getting it?

In time the picture became clearer to me. We couldn’t blame the youth. The church was failing them through not understanding how they were different from young people of an earlier time.

Today’s teens and twentysomethings love the stories they find excitingly portrayed in movies and video games. Yet the church has largely reduced the Bible’s fantastic storyline to a hodgepodge of Sunday rituals. Furthermore, young people are accustomed to clicking online, often reading meaningful points for no more than 30 seconds before changing subjects. The idea of going to a building and listening to a lengthy sermon as a captive audience seems like torture to them. Of course any young person with a whiff of rebellion inside him or her would want to go elsewhere than the church!

That’s when I understood: we must develop new media to reach today’s young people.

There are many ways Christians can develop the desperately needed new media. Let me tell you how I did it. It all started when I began reading the Left Behind series of novels by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye.

No Gamer Left Behind
In case you’ve been living in a cave somewhere, Left Behind chronicles the end of the world in stories based on biblical prophecies. Although the brand generates some eschatological controversy within the Christian family, everyone can recognize that this fiction series has engaged the pop culture with great action, fascinating characters, and questions of eternal importance. That is the reason why the Left Behind series is the most-read book series by American authors in recent decades, with more than 65 million books sold.

I began thinking about the impact of the books and asking myself some “What if…?” questions.

What if this was my opportunity to work with others in weaving uncompromising biblical truth into a fast-paced technotainment product with the potential to produce spiritual awakening?

What if we could capture the hearts and minds of young gamers by producing an edgy yet inspirational series of video games based on the Left Behind storyline?

What if we could actually license the series, develop the script, raise the money, shoot the videos, record the songs, and build the team of programmers, artists, and writers?

What if…?

Five years later, Left Behind: Eternal Forces became one of the first high-quality, cutting-edge, big-budget Christian video games ever produced.

You might be surprised to learn that, in developing a Left Behind branded game, our focus was not the theology of the books; it was the impact the game could have in reaching our culture for Christ. As a result, with the 40 clues and theological topics embedded within the game and its associated website, we intentionally omitted every last bit of the end-times teaching. We kept Christ the main thing and crafted the content of this game to reach as many with the gospel as possible.

In his review of our first game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces, Clive Thompson in Wired.com said, “One thing you can’t deny about the Bible: It’s got an awfully thrilling plot. The Book of Revelation — the story of the end days of Earth — is treble-charged with Jerry Bruckheimer-style combat. Armies of darkness trample the earth; the ultimate villain ascends to power; then a final conflict rends the fabric of space and time. You could be forgiven for wondering: Why hasn’t someone made a game out of this?” And of course, as Thompson went on to say, we had.

This is what young people had been missing out on — a presentation of the Bible’s thrilling storyline and message in a form they were interested in. And the results? Left Behind: Eternal Forces has become the most widely distributed Christian game every made. More than a thousand people (just to our knowledge) have come to Christ as a direct result of the game and its evangelistic website — an impact greater than that of all other Christian games developed before or since. And meanwhile, for me personally, the experience of creating this game has been nothing short of the beginning of the fulfillment of my true purpose in life.

Turns out, when you ask the “What if…?” question, you sometimes get an answer that surprises even you. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NIV).

Your Turn
Today, with my new blog, I start helping others ask the “What if…?” question for themselves. I hope to inspire many other men and women to seriously consider how they can evangelize young people immersed in digital culture.

In future blogs I’ll talk about what I call the “lost generation” — today’s teens and young adults who are ignoring the Christian faith. I’ll discuss, not just video games, but many other pieces of youth culture that provide openings to pour in biblical truth. I won’t hesitate to take the church to task for its failures nor stint in pointing out the opportunities I see.

If you care about today’s youth and young adults coming to Christ and following him in obedience, then come back here to read often. And tell others too.