What's Your Filter

     You can hear their confidence. There is no chance that they have a single doubt about what they are talking about. They are both equally intelligent and thrust points and parry rebuttals and it seems we want to believe both, but in doing so we have to be wrong, we take a chance at being foolish of being accused of not having sense, reason, or a quantifiable IQ. Passion is not a sign of righteousness, but for those of us looking for truth it seems that truth and lies are announced with equal passion in our society. It is not surprising as we were warned in scripture that men would no longer follow God in the end days, but walk in the way that seems right to them. This prophecy is an echo of one of the darkest points of apostasy in the Story of God's people in the book of Judges that describes that historical period as a time when men did what they thought was right in their own eyes. While we often think of the end times as a time of ultimate evil, it is most like the time of the Judges, when there was not complete apostasy, necessarily, but widespread unbelief and a widespread practice of injustice. I do not know if we quite 100% match the time of the Judges to a tee, but the are some significant parallels emerging in the discussion of religious truth and morality. The fences are not down altogether, but are certainly trod heavily on in places. I typically have a gut reaction to the Chicken Little rhetoric that I was confronted with quite a bit growing up, mostly because the sky hasn't fallen yet, even if you can sense the edges straining to buckle. Rather than worrying about whether or not Christ is going to return, lets get ready for life in the world as people on the visiting team.

    I'm sitting in my home town's Denny's listening to a friend of mine espouse some very alternative views. Apart from my visceral reaction to the story they told and the hopeless world they painted, I knew that they were views espoused by small Christian groups online. I shut out the screaming rebuttal in my head to carefully consider the content and the repercussions of holding these truths as self-evident. So I asked a perilous question after he ran out of steam, "What does it mean if you are right about all of this, I mean how does it change your life?" I then asked the question I really wanted to know, what is your bull crap filter? That is to say when do you say its bull crap and when do you say its not.  I do not specifically remember if I got the full answer to those questions, but they are ones that I still ask myself, what is your bull crap filter, does it make sense? Honestly sometimes it is consistent and other times emotions play more into my filter for truth vs. falsehoods. I simply feel that its wrong, and say what you want about that, those feelings are difficult to overcome. Worse still than that are the filters that say it might be true, for those have no basis whatsoever in empiricism nor do they demand any. Kind of like assumptions of guilt or innocence for celebrities before their cases are ever heard in a court of law. We condemn presidents with the same casual dislike that we have for candy bars, even though all of them are just different combinations of sugar. Simply because we are not predisposed to know the truth, or recognize it, doesn't mean that we simply stop seeking it.

    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those that speak casually about God are missing out on some basic foundations for a reality model. To quote one of my favorite Christian punk bands mewithoutYou, "Whoever heard a singer, criticized by his song?" If we can agree that God is the creator, sustainer, and active participant in the world, then what could be a wiser course than to seek to understand Him, and revere Him in the way that His position demands. There is no where we can run to, away from, or get reprieve from God's active presence in our live. If in God we move and have our being, then the notion of living a Godless life is ridiculous. We may live a life in opposition to His ways, or the best of His creation. We can live in ignorance. We can live in a constant state of churning hatred for the good things of God. Those are all ways we can approach living in a God-filled world and refuse to respect our the means in which our Father provides and guides us.

    I have heard many times, and find a lot of truth in the saying that we are only one generation away from losing the Gospel to living memory. It is so easy to see this in Gen Z demographic, as they don't require proof that God exists, but merely need to ask why worshiping him and making a commitment to Him holds any value for them. They live by a constant stream of advice, new gimmicks, and pop internet psychology. They mentoring each other, while they are being pushed into burn out by those best position to mentor them. It is the perfect recipe for losing a generation for the Gospel. According to Barna Group there are some bright spots in the digital age. During some intensive research, Barna found that Gen Z Christians that considered themselves committed to Christ displayed many signs that point to authenticity in numbers not really seen in preceding generations. Its almost as if they are the remnant  in a world verging on apostasy and the pressure of a secular solipsistic culture surrounding them has culled the herd down to its most faithful. The problem being that it the herd gets too small, ranchers know that the ranch becomes unsustainable after that. The reason is that a ranch needs to reproduce cattle in order to make money or break even. Barna Group also found that the largest determining factor in young dedicated disciples was a healthy cross generational relationship with another Christ follower. It's almost as if the fate of truth lies in the hands of each passing generation as they raise the next. In fact, in the scriptures God carefully instructs His people to pass on the traditions and scriptures to their children. We also get a 10,000 foot view in the histories like Judges and 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Kings etc... what happens when God's people fail at passing scriptures. It's not pretty.

    I think that barring the typical discussion I would have on the Wesleyan foundations of truth, tradition, scripture, experience, and the spirit, the way you are raised often has a great deal more to do with how you filter information. For example, when a child with abandonment issues has a significant other leave the house in an argument, it may mean something else entirely to them, when the spouse was simply letting off some steam to return and finish the fight. A friendly back-slap may communicate love and acceptance to some and danger to others. Also changing dinner plans at the last second may be easy going for you, but a toddler doesn't adjust quite so well to that change. Yes I am talking about feelings and the truth. They are not as separate as we would have hoped in the modern era. Apparently ignoring the emotional side of truth has done more harm in that we simply don't have a frame of reference to divide conversations from the obvious emotions get to what we would very much like to say is objective truth. We live in an age so fractured in tribalism that "objective truth" is only subjectively accepted. The best way we can raise our kids, is to raise them to be curious. Instead of having conversations where the only goal is to be right, we can encourage curiosity and ask instead why is it that you believe that, why do you think that way.

    So as the modern world tried to throw out belief with the belief that there is an agreed upon objective reality, they found that belief is an arena that has to be discussed in and moved in rather than one where we can shut down the conversation and make claims that beliefs are foolhardy and science is the only way to agree. Science excels at explaining natural phenomenon, or at least making better models of reality that increase in verisimilitude, but apart from a few very talented apologists it does not lend itself to garnering belief in the human arena. 

    The battle of belief will never be won in a debate, it is won through the loving passing down of belief from one generation to the next. Train a child in the way they should go, and they will not depart from it. Prepare a child to enjoy the things of God, respect His position, and His love, and the path will most likely wind back and hopefully never need to wind at all. Our generation can't live for itself. The Millennials are growing older, and soon enough they too will be ordering dinner for a table before leaving the restaurant.We are one generation from losing the message of the Gospel. Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Friends, and Volunteers our children need you to raise them in belief, they are counting on you and Christ is counting on you.