This is not a political post; rather, it is another post in a recurring theme that I have blogged about already. Mehgan is the 24 year old daughter of Arizona Senator John McCain. She has been taking a lot of heat for political comments she has made recently. I am interested in a statement that she made on Larry King the other day. I found this comment intriguing, especially how it so closely follows a new Barna poll on the beliefs of her generation: “Mosaics.” This is what she said:

McCain: I consider myself a progressive Republican. I am liberal on social issues. And I think that the party is at a place where social issues shouldn’t be the issues that define the party. And I have taken heat, but in fairness to me, I am a different generation than the people that are giving me heat. I’m 24 years old. I’m not in my 40s, I’m not in my 50s and older.

King: Therefore, you must, based on what you said, disagree with your father? … Do you discuss it?

McCain: We have a very big generation gap between me and my father. Yes, we discuss them. He’s very open-minded. I was raised in an open-minded home. I was raised a Christian, but I was raised open-minded Christian — one to accept people, love people, not pass judgment. …

I believe in gay marriage. … I personally am pro-life, but I’m not going to judge someone that’s pro-choice. It is not my place to judge other people and what they do with their body.

The “generation gap” she mentions is real. The Mosaic generation has been raised in a world that has indoctrinated them with the ABSOLUTE idea of TOLERANCE. Or in McCain’s word, “open-minded.” In our society, to be open-minded means to not judge, to be accepting of all people. So I’m not surprised in the least by her comments because I think they are consistent with mantra of tolerance.

The new Barna poll states that less than 1% of Americans aged 18-23 have a Biblical worldview. Barna defines a biblical worldview as:

believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

Belief in absolute truth is the first part of that statement and the one that the majority of ALL adults have issue with, not just the Mosaics. In fact, George Barna lays the blame on the parents, not the Mosaic generation. He says:

George Barna, who directed the research, commented on the “troubling” generational pattern that suggests “parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview.”

“One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have, and most parents do not possess such a perspective on life,” he noted.

The research shows that only nine percent of all American adults have a biblical worldview, which although significantly higher than that of the Mosaic generation is still a small proportion of the total population.

Among “born again Christians,” the study found that they are twice as likely as the average adult to have a biblical worldview. However, that still amounted to no more than about one out of five (19 percent) born again Christians, a small minority, the study pointed out.

Where do we go from here? We need to start with our own house. We who call ourselves Christians need to examine our beliefs. Do I hold a biblical worldview? What I am doing with my own children to help foster in them a biblical worldview? There has been a lot of conversation in the last several years regarding Christians not living consistently with what they claim to believe. The reality is, it seems as if there the issue is not a lack of consistency because a lot of us don’t even believe the basics of the Christian Faith.

I’ll leave us with The Apostle’s Creed. Read this prayerfully. It is the most basic summation of our Faith. Can I say “I believe” without hesitation? If not, why not? And if not, let’s talk.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Shane+