(Editor’s note: Alex McFarland cohosts Exploring the Word with Bert Harper on American Family Radio weekdays from 3-4 p.m. He has researched and written on youth culture for two decades and served as director of youth apologetics for Dr. James Dobson at Focus on the Family. This article was published first in the January 2023 print edition of The Stand.)
Just over a century ago, sociologist William Sumner defined deviancy as “abandonment of folkways, mores, or codified law.” Written in 1906, Sumner’s observations about whether people embrace cultural norms or reject them – whether individuals assimilate into polite society or defy it – could have been written about the cultural clashes of today.
Deviating from folkways or mores of earlier times may at first appear to have only minor consequences. But rejection of enough boundaries over a long enough period of time leads societies to a point that crime becomes the norm over laws and basic codes of conduct. Such are the results of deviancy unchecked.
Loss of biblical foundation
Twenty-first-century youth are growing into maturity in a crisis of truth, a crisis of identity, and an absence of context. There is ambivalence or distrust toward history, and absence of moral and spiritual grounding known to previous generations.
Teens frequently feel anxious, resentful, and alienated. Impersonal government (rather than family, church, or neighbors) is expected to ensure solutions, security, and fairness for all.
While generally accurate, such summations can prompt angry pushback from teens themselves. They are hurt and feel misunderstood by adults who “don’t care.” Yet at the same time, they feel invaded and labeled when adults accurately assess them.
Adolescence is emotionally and psychologically volatile for most everyone.
That is why a biblical worldview is so important. It provides a stable sense of self and life context. Without God’s foundational truths on which to stand, many teens today live with inner turmoil. They are fearful of not being a part of a group, yet resentful for being “lumped in” with a group.
Birth of cultural deviancy
Teens today (even those raised in a Christian environment) are rapidly abandoning values unquestioned in their parents’ generation. Though about 51% of youth ages 13-19 identify as Christian, at best about 8% affirm beliefs and behaviors consistent with traditional, biblical faith.
Since COVID-19, the percentage of teens indicating they have no religious faith has grown from 24% to 32%. Furthermore, 61% of teens now say, “It is not necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values.” Only 38% affirm that it is necessary to believe in God to be moral.
A 2022 survey cited 58% of U.S. teens stating, “I don’t like to be told answers about faith and religion; I’d rather discover my own answers.” Even teens coming from a Christian background – some 45% – say that, “many religions may be true.”
Nowhere has the drift toward deviancy been more vividly seen than in the mainstreaming of homosexuality and transgenderism. Homosexual attraction and/or true gender confusion occurs in only 2% of the population, yet teens are taught in public schools that homosexuality is normal and healthy.
Relentless promotion of deviant sexualities has taken place alongside decades of rampant divorce and the glamorization of promiscuity in media and entertainment. Wave after wave of American teens indicating less and less support for biblical perspectives is sad, but not surprising.
Increase of cultural fragmentation
It was as millennials came of age (around year 2000) that an undeniable loss of Christian commitment among America’s youth became identifiable. Coming after millennials were kids raised in a most fragmented America, GenZ, often called zillennials.
They are the most racially diverse people group in U.S. history, and they are projected to be the majority demo-graphic by 2026. They are also the least religious demographic in U.S. history. Many experts believe these religiously disaffiliated Americans will never be assimilated into what is traditionally called church.6
Another factor that has contributed to the fragmentation of our nation is “identity politics.” A product of the pro-tribal messaging of leftist media and progressive public education, growing numbers of young adults identify themselves as REALS.
They are politically engaged, activist-minded teens not identifying themselves by gender, and certainly not by American citizenship. They see their personhood in terms of Race, Ethnicity, Ancestry, or Language. REALS’ views about morals, truth, and personal accountability are generally counter to Christianity.
But absent the holistic touch of Jesus Christ in their lives, teens are more fragmented, more broken, than ever. They are confused about themselves, desiring to be empathetic to fellow strugglers, lonely, yet fearful of relationships. Sociologists call many of them SOGIES, an acronym meaning they struggle with Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression.
Chuck Colson (1931-202) was decades ahead of most leaders in discerning that America and the West are deeply embroiled in a struggle over worldviews. Quoting Irish-born philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Colson often challenged believers not to underestimate the good each one can do in his or her “little platoon.”
The battle for youth is a spiritual battle. This generation, like the entire nation, urgently needs the gospel. Therein lies opportunity.
“Prayer is the nerve that moves the muscle of God” – a quote generally attributed to Charles Spurgeon – is true. There are many things each Christian can do to help rescue teens from believing false, ungodly things. But the most important act is something all can do. All can pray.
