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Truth That Endures

            In the 100^th Psalm, we are reminded that not only is God good and that His mercy is everlasting, but we read something else – something very important for a “post-Truth” world. The psalmist reminds us that God’s Truth – His perfect Truth – endures for all generations. But polling data reveals one generation, in particular, is starting to reject His truth.

            The Pew Research Center has released some information on where Evangelical Millennials stand on social issues compared to their elders. What they found was rather troubling.

            According to their survey information, Pew found that “Evangelical Protestants who are Millennials (those born from 1981 to 1996) are considerably more likely than older evangelical Protestants to support same-sex marriage and to say homosexuality should be accepted by society.”

            Pew also found that on another thorny social issue, abortion, Millennials reflect what their elders believe. According to research, “'There is no statistically significant gap at all in the abortion views of older and younger evangelicals. Millennial evangelicals are just as likely as their older counterparts to say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases (65 percent versus 63 percent).”

            Pew also found that “four-in-ten Millennial Evangelical Protestants (41%) say homosexuality should be discouraged by society, that opinion is held by just 15% of all other Millennials. And while 65% of Millennial evangelicals say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases, only 36% of all other Millennials agree.”

            No matter how you parse this information, younger Evangelicals are moving away from God’s “everlasting Truth,” which raises the question of “why?”

            My theory is that Millennials are ‘relationship-oriented, perhaps more than other generations, so somewhere in their world of friendships, someone they know or care about is dealing with the issue of same-sex attraction.

            When faced with a person who is dealing with an issue on which Scripture speaks with clarity, like homosexuality, Millennials would rather choose their friend or their family member over a biblical precept. I get that. It’s hard to look at someone and say, “God has spoken about this and He doesn’t affirm the choice you have made.” That’s tough – but it’s also essential.

            God puts in place boundaries for our behavior choices because He loves us. That’s a concept that’s hard for some to grasp. Our great and loving Father doesn’t care about cultural trends or evolving ideas of what is right and wrong. He IS the great arbiter of Truth. In fact, one of His names is “Truth.”

            His Truth was written and given to us to protect us, to guide us, and to remind us that when we disobey, we are in sin – but that, with the confession of sin, we are forgiven and we move forward.

            Nowhere does God give us permission to step into the role of Sovereign – that’s His role. But He is a benevolent King, not a malevolent one, who puts the boundaries in place to protect us – because He loves us.

            As Millennials struggle with the concept of ‘Truth and love,’ my fervent prayer is that this up-and-coming generation would come to recognize that God’s love is meaningless without His protective law.

            C.S. Lewis was right when he wrote, “Love is not affectionate feeling but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good…”

            May Evangelical Millennials come to know the most loving thing we can do is to tell the Truth.

         Those are my thoughts. I’m Janet Parshall.