Cultural Trends

Discerning What Is Best
With Dr Rex Rogers

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Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 21 April 2022

You’ve heard of “snowflakes,” the pejorative label for young people who seem so fragile these days? But silly name-calling aside, what is it that’s causing so many young adults to express deep-seated angst, feelings evident in their music, their self-destructive behavior, and their despair, and what can we do to help them?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #20 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

American youth are in emotional free fall. This crisis is built upon apocalyptic fears, resulting in what pundits are calling a teen mental health crisis.

Even celebrities--the young, the beautiful, the wealthy, the sometimes educated and sometimes talented—even they speak of “crippling anxieties,” a fear of tomorrow, a fear of life and living.

“From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school students who say they feel “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study…Almost every measure of mental health is getting worse, for every teenage demographic, and it’s happening all across the country.”

Social commentator Kristen Soltis Anderson said, “Teens are sad about the world, not only because the world contains sadness, but also because young people have 24/7 access to sites that are constantly telling them they should be depressed about it…Social media is making it ever more possible for today's youth to marinate in despair.”

American teens are told their bodies aren’t good enough and can’t possibly measure up to Instagram models…that is, unless they buy that model’s products.

Youth are told they cannot trust their parents – and this seems plausible to many because their parents are indeed untrustworthy – giving their children broken homes, lack of love or acceptance, or worse, ignoring them.

Youth are told as early as elementary school in some states that the doctors just guessed at their sex, that they cannot really know for sure they’re a boy or girl just by looking at their anatomy in the mirror, so they should question their biology and recreate their own gender identity. To say this teacher-induced confusion is child abuse is an understatement.

American youth are bombarded with compounding fears: the pandemic, personal security vis-à-vis crime and a host of both real and media-hyped crises, unstable finances including inflation, low level prospects of a job, climate change with dire predictions the world will end in 12 years, typical teenage yearnings for social approval and belonging, loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, then add international aggression like the Ukraine-Russia War…there’s no end to fear and stress in a world turned upside down.

American teens and many young adults have lost a sense of purpose and this vacuum is filled with disorientation, disillusionment, despair. Young people drown in a sea of ennui and dread, then they think there’s nothing left for them but nihilism, the idea life is meaningless.

This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends.

Youth, and many adults too, get addicted to "doomscrolling," endlessly reading Internet negativity.

All day, every day, media pound out a steady drumbeat of what they claim are intractable threats to the survival of the human race – the unlimited and unfettered doomsaying of Big Media and Big Tech social media.

“The world is overwhelming, and an inescapably negative news cycle creates an atmosphere of existential gloom, not just for teens but also for their moms and dads.”

According to a host of secular psychologists, the solution to the teen mental health crisis is to reduce screen time, encourage self-awareness, accept and affirm who you are or want to be.

The problem with these approaches is they don’t really offer recipes for change, just more pressure on the young person to somehow reach inside and change themselves, something they cannot do.

Now no question we’re living today not only in a time of cascading, layered crises. But it’s also a time when sources of protection, perspective, and promise have been ignored, rejected, or lost.

The biggest problem facing youth today is not screentime per se, though 7 hours average per day is not good for anyone.

The biggest problem facing youth today is not mental or emotional but spiritual health.

The real problem is that youth have not been given anything solid to believe in. They have no backstop, no safety net, in actuality no truth they can trust.

One huge, ignored issue is that youth and young adults are not going to church. They are not being taught the Bible. They do not know the Scripture and thus do not understand and cannot apply Christian teaching to their everyday lives. More to the point, they do not know the God who is there, the God who is not silent.

According to George Barna’s research, just 6% of American adults possess and live with what Barna carefully identifies as a truly, biblically based Christian worldview. The number of American adults holding a biblical worldview has declined by 50% over the past quarter century. Regarding the youngest adult generation, among millennials it’s 2%, and among teens even fewer understand a Christian worldview. Since most youth and young adults do not possess a biblically Christian worldview, they do not look to Scripture to help them understand reality, identity, or purpose.

Without belief in God there is nothing to give life higher meaning.

Os Guinness recently observed that society has abandoned a shared moral universe. Instead, we celebrate rebellion in the name of absolute freedom.

We offer our youth uncivilized chaos, wickedness and barbarism, the rude, the crude, and the lewd.

Youth and young adults who experience a tsunami of threatening developments, social or personal, have no fall back.

First, what youth and young adults need today is not therapy, not another surrogate comfort like promiscuity or alcohol abuse but what they need is a relationship with the Lord.

Personal salvation in Christ, the Gospel, is the greatest transformative power in history. Salvation in Christ transforms the old person into the new person. Salvation in Christ brings love, forgiveness, a washing white as snow, deliverance from the chains of sin and despair, new purpose, and that fantastic four-letter word = HOPE.

Second, youth and young people desperately need an everyday application of a Christian philosophy of life, one that enables believers to understand and trust in God’s perspective on this troubled world:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things,” Phil. 4:6-8.

I remember a song from my youth:

“My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”

Refrain:
“On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.

In every rough and stormy gale,
my anchor holds within the vale.
When all around my soul gives way,
he then is all my hope and stay.” [Refrain]

Young adults beset by anxiety need only come to understand there is indeed a solid rock of hope, as the Psalmist said, “Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken,” Psalm 62:6.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. For more Christian commentary, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, Discerning What Is Best, or check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 15 April 2022

If you noticed that I had a visible tattoo, would it make any difference in your opinion of me? Apparently for some it would—to the point they either acquire or avoid tattoos pretty much for the same reason—they believe tattoos change what people think about them.

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #19 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Tattoos are now visible in whatever direction you look. In the last decade, tattoos have gone mainstream. Nearly half of millennials report at least one tattoo. And the resurgent popularity of body art doesn’t seem to have reached its cultural peak.

Body art of some kind has apparently graced human skin since shortly after the Garden of Eden. Yet one would do well to remember that body ink in its current manifestation is a fashion fad, and, by definition, fads are here today, gone tomorrow.

Today, religious people, including Christians, get tattoos as a way of conveying their faith, including all manner of religious symbolism, crosses being the obvious favorite but also doves, angels, biblical references, and more. In some parts of the world this is an important means of identity.

This is a different world from my youth when tattoos could only be found on three kinds of individuals: 1) a few armed forces veterans sporting small arm tattoos, 2) bikers and other assorted bad guys, 3) or tattooed ladies at the carnival.

Today you can see tattoos on most of the prison population and among professional athletes, the young woman serving you an omelet, innumerable college students, and not a few young pastors. But when I was a kid, religious leaders if not adult culture in general tended to frown upon the practice of getting tattoos. So, I wonder why it’s OK now to wear tattoos when it wasn’t OK in my youth? And I wonder, how do we decide to tattoo or not to tattoo?

When Christians ask these questions the first verse cited is in the Old Testament book of Leviticus: “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD” (19:28). Some people quote this verse as the letter of the law, thus the end of the argument. No tattoos, ever.

But this isn’t a valid interpretation. This verse commanded the Israelites to avoid certain funeral practices wherein bodies were marked in some pagan hope of attaining a good afterlife. This verse doesn’t really address present-day tattooing, and as part of the Israelite’s ceremonial law it does not directly apply to us today.

So, we look to the New Testament, only to discover it says nothing about whether a person should get a tattoo. The fact is, God didn’t give us a “black or white” yes-no answer on tattoos. He left it in the so-called “gray area” in between, so we have to figure out what to do and “be fully convinced in (our) own minds” (Romans 14:5). In other words, God gave us enough other principles in Scripture for us to be able to decide this “matter of conscience” for ourselves. This is called Christian liberty.

Since clearly God wants us to maintain a lifestyle that honors him, we should make decisions or discern what is best (Philippians 1:9-10). If we discern properly, we’ll live according to God’s command: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

So let’s summarize:

--God doesn’t answer all our cultural lifestyle questions and grants us Christian liberty to discern what is best.

--He expects us to choose in a manner that glorifies him.

--Tattoos are not proscribed in Scripture.

--So, each person must decide whether, why, when, how, where, what to tattoo or not to tattoo.

So, to tattoo or not to tattoo?

While we’ve discovered God didn’t give us rules, we should remember he did give us principles to help us answer this question, one of which is that not everything we can do we should do: In 1 Corinthians, it states, “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive” (10:23).

This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends.

So, to discern whether to tattoo or not to tattoo we should ask ourselves and perhaps our confidants these questions:

1. Do I want this body art for my entire life? (Some say 90% of people who get tattoos later regret it; 5% regret it immediately.)

2. What will this tattoo say about me, what I believe? (Like Christian body art sends a message, other symbols send different messages.)

3. Is the place and procedure I’m considering medically safe?

4. Why am I getting a tattoo? (Peer pressure? Rebellion? To look better? To look tough? Other?)

5. What will my tattoo look like in 20 or 30 years? (Have you seen 30-year-old tattoos? They ain’t pretty.)

6. Will the tattoo really look as cool or beautiful as I think, or will it look silly, cheap, sad, revolting, or worse?

7. If I get a tattoo, what might its existence prevent me from doing or experiencing later? (Job or profession? Relationship?)

8. Why shouldn’t I get a temporary rather than permanent tattoo?

Now for the record, I’m, really, not against all tattoos. They just perplex me.

The Christian perspective on tattoos might best be described as, rather than tattoo or no tattoo, tattoos are a matter of the values represented in what is portrayed and why. It gets down to making wise choices about what we place on our bodies, what it says about what we believe, and whether we seek to honor the Lord. Again, for me, it’s about Christian liberty.

Periodically, I see an understated tattoo that seems attractive, like a delicate butterfly or flower, or a tattoo that clearly means something, like a cross, or a phrase like “Never Forget,” or maybe a flag.

But mostly I see huge gaudy looking tattoos, generally worn by men but not exclusively, that I don’t understand: 5” tall grotesque creatures or snakes on a guy’s calf – Is this demonic figure how he sees the world, or himself?

Jagged barb wire on a man’s biceps – Does he feel tough or courageous with this ink on his arm?

Men, and sometimes women, getting so many tattoos the body art is no longer individually distinguishable, and the color is gone, just a run-together blue.

Handsome men – hunks they are called – like soccer start David Beckham, who now makes money as a clothing model, plastering his entire upper body – maybe more, don’t know – with multiple tattoos – Why? Does this make him cooler, more handsome?

I get why the Rock, actor Dwayne Johnson, tattooed his chest and shoulders. It fits his Samoan heritage and acting persona.

If you’re an Mixed Martial Arts fighter like Conor McGregor, maybe all those tattoos make you look more formidable?

But why would attractive models or actresses get multiple tattoos? What can ink add to their God-given beauty?

As I said, tattoos perplex me.

To hear some people tell it, tattoos are often acquired impulsively—in the early years this is part of their public braggadocio. But tattoos last a lifetime and impulsiveness isn’t a good decision-making attribute no matter who you are or who you aspire to be.

Now if you already have a tattoo and want to get rid of it, removal is now possible-if-painful and expensive. Laser and other methods are available.

I’m not suggesting a Never-Tattoo moral argument here, just wondering aloud about a fad that I don’t comprehend.

Piercings are another subject. This I truly cannot understand, for in my estimation piercings are about pain, not pleasure, beauty, or even functionality. The entire aesthetic conjures images of debasement. I believe you can make a moral argument against piercings.

But even here, I admit, there is no clear mandate one way or another in Scripture and you have to wonder where to draw the line: two or five or six piercings? What about just two pierced ears featuring earrings on posts? In the ears piercing is OK, but not in your nose, lip, tongue, or sexual body parts? I think a moral understanding of piercings can be developed, but it’s challenging.

Tattoos are an ancient and contemporary practice, so maybe the word “fad” isn’t accurate? Tattoos it appears are here to stay. But they still perplex me.

Can you imagine George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Elizabeth Taylor or Charlton Heston with tattoos? I can’t either.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 08 March 2022

Diversity and inclusion are now measures of excellence and ultimate trump cards not only in culture but increasingly the Church, but what do these words mean and how do they square with a Christian worldview?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #11 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Diversity and inclusiveness are mantras of the emerging Postmodern ideological religion of moral relativism and political correctness. Not that these values are necessarily bad or wrong in themselves. Diversity can be a good thing. So can inclusiveness, if you aren’t tossing aside morality when you use the term. But definitions vary with the ideology of the user.

Certainly, diversity is a watchword of our culture today. One’s demography is now destiny. News stories of appointments to government offices lead with the gender, race or ethnicity, maybe sexual orientation of the appointee before they report the professional credentials and accomplishments that hopefully justify the appointment.

I am saddened by the resurgence of racism in recent years. And I believe our society should continue to enlarge freedoms for all American citizens, regardless of race. I’m not so sure that racializing virtually every issue, calling all differences the result of discrimination much less white supremacy, or arguing any difference of results ipso facto violates the highly subjective idea of equity is the answer to racial harmony. There’s a better, biblical way.

Some two thousand years ago, God ordained something called the church, understood in lower case as a local body of believers (and usually non-believers as well), and capitalized as, the Church, the trans-cultural, trans-country, trans-time Body of Christ, the universal Church, the Family of God.

The Church, by definition, is diverse. How can it not be? Thinking of it as the Family of God it includes believers from every kindred and tongue since Adam and Eve.

Heaven is and will be the most diverse place we’ve ever been.

So too, today, in the universal Church, the Body of Christ on earth. It’s diverse—Americans, sure, but Chinese, Russians, Iranians, Saudis, and more are part of the Church, not due to nationality but to their relationship with Christ.

The Church is a picture of a diversity that includes every nationality, black, brown, yellow, red, and white race, ethnicity, both sexes, all ages and language. However, while these attributes bring a richness to our world, none determine moral character and virtue.

What matters is not demography but habits of the heart. Put another way, God created everyone and cares about their race and sex, but he cares far more about whether in their heart they honor Him. So should we.

Meanwhile, some so-named “progressives” emphasize “inclusiveness,” but what they mean by this is sexual orientation and gender identity – not just biology but socially constructed morality.

These attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity—the acronym SOGI—are now the point of the spear of a rapidly emerging ideologically driven religious worldview that directly rejects Judeo-Christian values.

Sadly, what these progressives mean by “inclusion” is a different doctrine than the creation order and morality given in the Word of God.

Their inclusive view may sound loving, but in the end it is not. Affirming falsehood, which is to say, a lie that perpetuates irrationality and unreality, does not help anyone, least of all the person caught in a web of confusion and struggle about his or her sexual desires or perceived gender fluidity.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the best inclusive statement ever written, but it comes with the rest of God’s design. Certainly, Christians must help individuals struggling with their understanding of their sexuality and sex.

There is no place, none, zero, for harsh, arrogant, or self-righteous attitudes, much less physical or emotional abuse ostensibly in the name of the Lord.

We can, and we should, love the person even as we disagree choices with gentleness and respect with their lifestyle choices. Jesus loved, “accepted,” and forgave the thief on the cross, personally and spiritually, but this did not constitute an affirmation of the thief’s thievery.

Christians who believe the Word of God cannot simply waive aside God’s definitions of moral matters.

Accepting people struggling with sexuality as a person made in the image of and loved by God? Absolutely.

Accepting them without personal condemnation while speaking the truth in love? Yes.

Accepting their struggle with dark forces and embracing, defending, or endorsing their choices? No.

Adopting their redefinition of language and use of fabricated pronouns? No.

So, inclusiveness is a loaded word. Like “tolerance,” inclusiveness generally now applies to anything and anyone except biblical Christianity and Christians, particularly on public university campuses and increasingly in politics, media, and in some churches and denominations.

This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends.

Sexual progressivism is also the point of the spear when it comes to religious liberty. Increasingly, expressed biblical views of sexuality are labeled “hate speech.” Individuals or even churches who publicly cite biblical views of sexuality are declared intolerant, bigoted, hatemongers, racist, sexist, phobic.

Under the guise of inclusiveness or “nondiscrimination,” religious, especially Christian, convictions and the liberty to hold them and speak or teach them in a free society are now coming under attack. Worse, these views are called unacceptable and thus it is argued they should be “silenced” and the people who express them “cancelled,” which can mean loss of freedom of speech, due process, reputation, influence, or employment.

So beware. The diversity qua inclusiveness being touted now by progressives is not the diversity God established and blessed either in the created order or in the Church.

Current trends toward cultural diversity are divisive centrifugal forces pulling apart the country and many in the Church. On the other hand, the diversity in the universal Church is a beautiful fellowship based on righteousness and created reality, allowing for blessed unity and peace.

The history of Christianity teaches us that every generation has introduced new error, new challenges to the faith once delivered in the Word of God, but no ruler, regime, or ideology, no false religion, no “Ism,” nothing, has ever or ever will prevail against the Christian Church.

The Word of God is given for all times, countries, and cultures, and in it there is no room for prejudice, racism, idolatry, immorality, only unity of the faith.

In God’s Kingdom, the Family of God, and the diverse universal Church: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Scripture says, “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-6).

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 17 October 2021

Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” Longer I live, the more I comprehend this.

People keep asking, What is happening to our country? It’s like the end of the world as we knew it.

Perhaps the world is “ending” as we’ve known it, but if you apply Solomon’s point, what we’re now experiencing is nothing new.

Yes, we’re becoming a more pagan culture. But Job, the Israelites, the Apostles during the Roman Empire, Augustine and the Early Church, the Reformers during the Dark Ages, all lived in pagan societies.

So the paganizing culture emerging in America is more a norm of history than an exception. Why is this good, or can be?

—Under duress, Christian faith is more sharply delineated.

—God uses adversity to grow, strengthen, bless, and encourage the Church.

—Light shines brighter in darkness.

This is our moment. “Let us not become weary in doing good.”

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 07 October 2021

Our culture says:

-a baby is not a baby if the mother does not want it,

-there’s your truth and my truth but not objective truth,

-debt is inconsequential,

-a girl can be a boy, or a boy can be a girl,

-race determines all things,

-religious conviction is just an excuse for irrational bigotry,

-education is not about independence but indoctrination,

-patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels,

-equity-sameness of results-supersedes equality of opportunity,

-criminal felons are “justice-involved persons,"

-parolees are “persons under supervision,”

-pedophiles are “minor-attracted persons,”

-fear is the new normal of forever pandemics,

-ideologies should replace religion,

-we're a nation not of individuals but groups, oppressors vs. victims.

But hey, I don’t believe any of this.

Details: Written by Rex M. Rogers; Published: 26 August 2021

Last week’s presentation.

Idea is:

1) Modern-day false prophets are not just preachers but celebrities, intellectuals/professors, politicians, media personalities, activists, online influencers.

2) Greatest existential threat to America is not external, ie., China or international radicalism, but internal, ie., moral relativism, which these false prophets “preach.”

Modern-Day False Prophets from First Baptist Middleville on Vimeo.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2021 *This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.