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First Response: Time magazine meets George Barna |
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Written by Editor
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Page 1 of 2 First Response: September 2005
Time Magazine Meets George Barna
By Don Williams
In its cover article, Time (August 8, 2005) headlines a Special
Report: “Being 13.” The subtitles read: “Inside that mystifying age,
when kids are shaped by the push to achieve and the pull of pop
culture: Their search for God; The Rise of Cyberbullies; In Their Own
Words.”
Inside, Time identifies 13 as “the age of childhood leaning forward and
adulthood holding back, when the world gets suddenly closer, the colors
more vivid, the rules subject to never ending argument.” Time
continues, “Thirteen-year-olds have more power than discipline, more
weapons that shields. They demand more respect from their parents and
show them less.” They are taking fewer orders and making more
decisions. “They have absorbed the family’s values because the years of
Total Parental Control are coming to an end.” While teens of the
Millennium were optimistic, the war on terrorism leaves its mark.
“Almost half, or 46%, believe that by the time they are their parents’
age the U.S. will be a worse place to live.” But there is reason to
hope. “Today’s 13-year olds are less likely to smoke, drink, do drugs,
get pregnant, commit a crime or drop out of school than those of their
parent’s generation in the 1970’s.” While they are growing up in a
culture that sexualizes children and immerses them in adult images, 60%
say that people should postpone sex until marriage. “Even as kids are
exposed to more adult messages, they seem to be acting on them less.”
To understand today’s teen culture, we must understand the Internet.
“Technology has transformed the lives of teens, including the ways they
pick on one another.” Cyberbullies, especially among girls, now attack
online. “Online bullying follows a gender pattern that’s the opposite
of what happens off-line… On playgrounds and in school hallways, boys
are the primary perpetrators and victims; online, girls rule.” And
where are parents? One school counselor reports, “Parents are totally
clueless that some of this even exists.”
But what is really key here is Time’s report on teen spirituality.
Protestant churches are catching up with how crucial this age group is.
“Nearly two-thirds of 13-year-olds polled online…said faith was
somewhat or very important in their lives. Almost half said the Bible
was the literal word of God.” Mary Lynn Dell, adolescent psychiatrist
and Episcopal priest, sees adolescents at this age able to understand
abstract concepts with an expanding sense of empathy. “In religious
terms, this gives them the ability to discern between institutional
religion and an internal relationship with God.” This means that 13
year-olds are able to take God home with them from church. Hip churches
employ youth pastors in their 20’s. They offer alternatives as teens
grow away from their parents. “The question is, Where are they going to
move to? In the youth pastors, they see people who drive jeeps and love
Jesus.” The question is, how deep does the adolescent church go? “For
many 13-year-olds, God is less an eternal truth than a friend helping
them get through a really tough year.”
Time’s report on 13-year-olds meets George Barna, the Christian George
Gallup, in his book: Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions
(Regal, 2003). It’s simple. Barna has had a revolution in his thinking
by discovering that children form their worldview, their belief system
and their morals in the early stages of life. Up to entering
adolescence (at age 13) they are the most susceptible to conversion.
Rather than simply getting the church’s left-overs in staff and
facilities, they should be THE target of our evangelism and nurture. If
we put our emphasis here, we would change the church and the culture
within a generation. Time wakes us up and Barna shakes us up. The
upshot is that the church is targeting the wrong audience. While adults
absorb our resources, they must be redirected to children and youth.
Here is where the harvest is white, ready for the picking.
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First Response 
