The Briefing with Albert Mohler - Friday, February 16, 2024

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:13 - 08:56)Good News: Young Adults Are Close to Their Parents. Bad News: Those Same Young Adults Are Way Behind in Getting Married and Having Children of Their OwnParents Are Highly Involved in Their Adult Children’s Lives, and Fine With It by The New York Times (Claire Cain Miller)Part II (08:56 - 14:34)What About Neurodiversity? — Dr. Mohler Responds to a Letter from Listeners of The BriefingPart III (14:34 - 18:33)Should Christians Watch Sports? — Dr. Mohler Responds to a Letter from Listeners of The BriefingPart IV (18:33 - 20:42)What is Virtue? — Dr. Mohler Responds to a Letter from Listeners of The BriefingPart V (20:42 - 27:06)How Do We Think Biblically About Distractions During Worship Services? — Dr. Mohler Responds to a Letter from Listeners of The BriefingSign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:X | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.

It's Friday, February 16, 2024. I'm Albert Mueller, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. As we get ready to go into the weekend, we tend to look at some things that we think are culturally important and perhaps hit fairly close to home for Christians and listeners of the briefing. Here's a headline article in the New York Times. It's just important that it happened. Just days ago, quote, yes, parents are more involved, subhead, and kids are just fine. with it. The reporter is Claire Kane Miller, and the bottom line in the article is that given social media and given changes in parenting, you have older teenagers, college students, and even young adults whose parents are far more involved in their lives day by day, sometimes several times a day, than would have been the case in the past. Now, let me just say that part of this

is simply due to technology, but there is a bigger issue than technology at work here. Let's just talk about the technology. I went to college in the late 1970s. I said goodbye to my parents and family. I got into my Mustang, and I drove several hundred miles to go to a college far, far away. I did not really have the opportunity to stop and call. I really did not have the opportunity to stay in touch. No one had my GPS.

No one could use find my phone. I didn't have a phone for anyone to find. I did have a CB radio, which at least in theory was going to allow. me to call for help if I got into any trouble and a friendly trucker might come along and be of assistance. But quite frankly, I got into my Mustang. I headed out, went to college. And one of the big issues was, and I had such a close relationship with my parents, but one of the big issues was that we had a weekly phone call. And back then, the rates went down on Sunday night, and so guess when we had the phone calls? After church, on Sunday night, I would call my parents. We had a wonderful phone

conversation when the rates were low, and then it was another week before we had a conversation unless something major happened. And as I remember my college experience, I don't remember anything major happening that required a phone call other than on Sunday night. You just saved everything up. Helped to remember it at that time. But that also meant that I was left with making a whole lot of decisions on my own. And it meant that I really wasn't in a position to ask my parents what they thought about any given issue, you know, hour by hour during the day. And there was no technology to allow that. And quite frankly, it would have been horribly out of step with the culture of the time. They just assumed that when a kid goes off to college, especially out of

state, a long way away, that young person has got to make an awful lot of decisions. And, well, frankly, grow up pretty fast. And I think that's pretty much the way it worked. But now technology really has changed all of that, but the technology is not the only part of the picture. The technology has changed such that, yeah, if you have the find my feature on, you can track your loved ones just about all of the time. Not a bad idea, by the way, when it comes to married couples and others, all kinds of good things that that could actually represent. But, you know, when it comes to tracking college students or young adults who are already graduated from college and some who are already married, you know, it's just a little different, but it's also a lot different when parents and their

offspring are talking several times a day and when young people seem to be unable to make just basic decisions without consulting home base. So this does put us in an interesting position, doesn't it? Because as Christians, we want strong families. We want active involvement between parents and children. Yes, we actually do want that. But here's the other thing. We also want children to grow up to be adults. That's the other part of the equation. And right now, that is a huge part of the problem, because young people are not growing up in a lot of ways. And this article simply tells us that even, you know, well outside the Christian world, the fact is that middle class parents are now just much more involved in communication. And by the way, it's uneven. It is, it is admittedly

uneven. Mom gets a lot more calls than dad. And young men over time tend to make fewer calls than young women, but the fact is, those parental strings are still very, very much attached far later into, say, the 20s than had been the case in the past. But there is one absolutely explosive paragraph to which I want to draw attention in this New York Times article, because it ends with a but this that turns out to tell us a very great deal. So here's the paragraph, quote, these close relationships. That means between parents and their young adult offspring. These relationships, quote, don't seem to be holding back young people from reaching certain milestones of independence compared with their parents as young adults in the early 1990s. They are much more

likely to be in college or have a college degree. That is to say the Pew Research Center found, quote, they are somewhat more likely to have a full-time job and their inflation-adjusted incomes are higher. But then in parenthesis, this telling line, quote, they're much less likely, though, to be married or have children, end quote. Boom. You know, that's just buried at the end of this paragraph in a parenthetical statement as if, oh yeah, this is kind of not so important, but it's just thrown in here at the end because it's in the report. Quote, they are much less likely, though, to be married or have children. You know, one thing that Christians often don't think about is the fact that when you are looking at the structures of creation

and you're looking at major creational issues, they're all interconnected. And when one part of the picture is injured, it has ramifications elsewhere. And so as you look at this, you recognize that if you see the assignment given to human beings, say in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and we're told here, in parentheses, as if this really isn't all that important, but it's being thrown in because, oh, yes, they're in the report. report too, that young people, though reaching other milestones, aren't getting married and having children. Well, you know, the culture looks at that and goes, well, that's their lifestyle choice. Christians have to look at that and say, this is a disaster. This is an absolute disaster from a

biblical viewpoint. If you have people who are delaying marriage and children, even as they're reaching other milestones, and the society says, we're absolutely great with that, that's a massive problem. And by the way, it's a massive problem for the entire society. Just bracket the Christian worldview for a moment. You don't have enough babies. You don't have enough people. You have a population implosion. You have a disaster following birth rates. Guess what? Those are the other headlines in the same newspaper. But here's something else that Christians just need to articulate pretty clearly. Okay? So let's just say this. God did not make young people this age not to be in a relationship specifically in marriage.

Now, the truth is there are some who are called to celibacy, but the vast majority are called to marriage. And you know what? Puberty doesn't wait for there to be an orchestrated time when all of a sudden a switch is flipped and now you got someone ready to be a husband or a wife. No, we know that the opposite is actually taking place, largely because of human health. And that is a puberty is not coming later. It's coming earlier.

And that means you have sexual maturity. But guess what you don't have? You don't have marriage on the horizon for a very, very long time. and the fact that it's not even there for a very, very long time, that is to say, only marriage but children? What do you have? You have a sentence put at the end of the paragraph in parentheses as if to say, this is probably not very important, but, you know, it's in the report, so we've got to cite it. So, you know, you look at this article and you see, well, quite frankly, of the relationships between parents and young adults that makes you want

to think, you know, there's something really positive here to note. I don't want to fail to note the positive. Very strong relationships between. many parents and their teenage college student and young adult offspring. That is very good. The attachment issues, well, you know, you gotta admit they're attached to it. And the failure of some people, young people, to be able to reach, say, a good maturity, even in professional terms, that's a thing. But you know, this article does tell us that's less of a thing now that used to be in the past. These milestones are actually being reached by the majority of these young adults.

They were studied in terms of this research. But when it comes to not being married and not having children, that doesn't deserve to be in a parenthesis. And for Christians, looking at this development, it turns out that that parenthesis turns out to be the most important sentence of all. Well, next we're going to turn to questions. And once again, I just have to begin by saying, I'm grateful for such good questions from listeners to the briefing.

I want to start out with a question sent in by a mom, for her son, who's a freshman in high school. And what I'm told here is that this mom, Joy, has a son who wants to write a science research paper on neurodiversity. And then she asked, can you give us a Christian insight into learning or understanding neurodiversity? And by the way, not only Joy, but Matt, thanks for listening. Great idea for a research paper. And so here to some thoughts I would put out. there. Number one, a term like neurodiversity is not without ideological commitments. So, or it's not without a certain agenda. And the agenda here is to suggest that many things that might be described in positive or negative terms should be taken out of a positive or negative context and simply put into the context of diversity. So there's a moral statement that's being made here. Okay, so is that right or is that wrong? Well, insofar as it relates to trying to help persons who might be, well, diverse on a spectrum or something like this, I think that's a very positive thing. So I just think love of neighbor means that part of it is a very positive thing. And especially as it is truly neurological or tied to, frankly, any aspect of what they call neurodiversity, well, that kind of kindness is a very good thing. And I think it can even be grounded in an affirmation of human dignity, the Imalgo Dei, and as you know, one can be neurodivergent or identified as such.

And, you know, we just need to come back and say that individual, regardless of whatever condition is made in God's image and is to be loved and respected as such. But at the same time, we need to recognize that when someone is described as neurodivergent, that means diverging from a norm. And this is where Christians also understand that in a fallen world, I mean, frankly, I think you can make the argument that in theological terms, we're all neurodivergent. And so, you know, in theological terms, sin corrupts the way we think. Sin affects every aspect of our lives. So there's a sense in which biblically defined, we're all after Genesis 3, neurodivergent. But in the context of

how the term is used today, it implies a norm and that there are those who deviate from the norm, but they are to be considered within the community of the neurodivergent. And so, So there is progress here. Rather than using words that, quite frankly, are hurtful and harmful, there's an affirmation here of the personhood of all persons. So that's a good thing. One of the problems with this is that when you look at the category of neurodiversity, and again, I want to say I think it's a very constructive development, which can be fully consistent with a biblical worldview. We should be thankful for it. At the same time, there's the problem that things that are not really about neurodiversity will be brought into this under the agenda,

because that's the way it happens with so many other things. And so it's one thing to talk about, say, neurodiversity, and as you look at persons who might be on the spectrum, so to speak, or you look at persons who might have a different form of neurological response to things, or hypersensitivity. And not a neurologist, so I'm not going to try to document all. all the cases that might apply here. But this is not a behavioral issue. And that's another problem is that, or at least in terms of the big questions of morality, let's just say LGBTQ, you go down the list. So in other words, we can't just assume that diversity in this context and what might be described as neurodiversity just covers anything that people might assign to the category for whatever

purpose. You know, Matt, I've got another thought here. I just want to share from a biblical worldview. and that is that I just have to go back to creation and then the fall, creation and sin. So the Bible tells us that God created us in his image, male and female, created he us, and made in his image he gave us the assignment, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and take dominion. And so that's really important. And so I think it's important to recognize that in the Garden of Eden, in God's perfect creation, there would have been no neurodiversity in terms of anything you wouldn't need any kind of clinical

designations in the Garden of Eden. And that means we trace that diversity to the fall. And as I said already, there's a sense of which, given the doctrine of sin, every single one of us is on some spectrum because every one of us has had our own neurological system and our own thinking very much affected by sin. But there are persons who, even according to, to a secular norm, have particular challenges, or particular sensitivities. You know, I have a friend who has a child who has just extreme sensitivities to all kinds of things, and including labels in the back of the shirt and, you know, just anything. And you recognize, okay, you know, some of this is quite manageable.

There are other parts of it that would be less manageable. That doesn't make any individual any less made in God's image. So once again, I appreciate the question, and Matt, you should share with me what you think as you write this paper. Okay, the next question comes from Timothy. He says, quote, I'm a young man living in Texas where football is the dominant religion. He says, many of my Christian friends are very invested in watching sports, but I really don't care for it. I feel like I'm missing this point of connection with many of the guys in my church. But I also feel like watching sports is kind of a waste of time. He starts out by simply asking, should Christians watch sports?

Okay, fair question, Tim, I'm simply going to tell you. I'm kind of with you in this. I don't think anyone listening to the briefing is shocked by the fact that I don't know a great deal about sports. I'm not a great sports fan. So people close to me would be shaking their head thinking that's not even fully honest. So let me just be fully honest. Yeah, I'm kind of with you in this whole equation. But let me just think here as a Christian thinking through Christian history, thinking in biblical terms. Let me just point out that you take the New Testament. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul uses sports metaphors. the Apostle Paul speaks of running a race, and the background to this is the, of course, classical Olympic games, and that's well understood. And, you know, it has to be informative to us, at least, that certain forms of athletic competition are absolutely mentioned in as if they're just normal and a part of human endeavor and a part of what Christians can be involved in without any taint of the world. And so you have an athlete, you know, the one who is the athlete must compete according to the rules, you know, and life itself. in ministries presented as a long race.

And so yet, that's used. At the same time, early Christians came to the determination that it was morally wrong to attend the games of the Coliseum. And many of the games that were popular in the high watermark of the Roman Empire, which frankly were very carnal and ungodly and in some cases absolutely immoral and even murderous. And so you look at that. So Christian said, you can't do that, but you know, you can't do this.

and you know God's given us different interests and different abilities and so you asked your Christians watch sports I just want to say you know I say that's kind of the same that would be related to almost any other endeavor sports can bring out the best it can bring out the worst and there are many I know many people who have said you know their participation in team sports was used by God absolutely to forge their character and their ability and that can't be wrong in it of itself just because it appears to be a part of human endeavor and human activity that like so many other things like business is to be done by Christians according to Christian convictions and to the glory of God. And we kind of know what is the good, the bad, and the ugly in this. But Tim, I guess the other thought I have is this. You know, sometimes you may be called upon to watch sports with some brothers in Christ. And you're not particularly interested in the sporting event, but you are interested in them.

And you're investing in each other's lives. And sometimes, you know, that kind of commonality is just really important because hopefully there's more to it than just watching the game. And my guess is you already know that. The other side of it is I think this is where we as Christians really need the local church. We really need the local church. Because if we are engaged in and faithful in, all the assignments given us in life, everything will fall into a proper balance and proportion.

And I don't think any one of us alone is able to figure that out, which is why we need brothers in Christ to help us to figure that out. So, you know, Tim, I just encourage you along those lines. And I notice you say that you live in, quote, Texas where football is the dominant religion. Well, that's a different issue and it's not just Texas. I will simply tell you that throughout the history of the Christian Church, one of the biggest problems is, is that things that are good in themselves always, and this is not limited to sports, but sports becomes a graphic illustration, they're always in danger of getting out of proportion, claiming more of us than they deserve to claim.

Once again, it's why we need the body of Christ, help us think these things through and be faithful. Okay, next, a question from Abigail. Abigail is a sophomore in high school, and she writes, she's involved in classical Christian education. She said, quote, in seminar, we were recently assigned to ask a few people what their thoughts on virtue are

because we've been reading and practicing Socratic dialogue. Then she says, I would be really intrigued to learn how you would define virtue, end quote. Well, you know, first of all, thanks for listening. And let me just say that I would define virtue. In terms of that which aligns with the character of God, with God's law, God's command, with holiness, righteousness, justice, all the moral criteria that are given to us in scripture. Virtue is alignment in character and in behavior in language and in demeanor with those criteria. and I think the scripture reveals them. And you have the Apostle Paul talking about if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.

And that is clearly calling us to a standard, not so much of cultural popularity, but of godliness. These are the things that God declares to be virtue. And they are virtuous precisely because they conform to God's character and to God's law. Now, and that says the opposite of virtue is vice. And vice is evil. It's wrongdoing. It's bad behavior. or it is breaking the law of God.

I think what's really interesting, Abigail, and this is an interesting angle to take. You talk about Socratic dialogue. You're being trained and homeschooled in classical Christian education. I would simply say, isn't it something that the classical thinkers, the classical writers,

classical philosophers, they had the notion of virtue, and you know they actually did a lot of good with it. They don't get to a Christian understanding because without Christ and without revelation, they can't get there. But it does tell us that God made us in his image as moral creatures, and he also is embedded in the entirety of creation all the signals of virtue and vice, such that even the ancient philosophers, they were drawn to make the distinction between

virtue and vice, and they were also drawn to praise virtue and to condemn vice. That is not an accident. Now, a question coming from a man, a really sensitive question about the context of the local church, and particularly the local church at worship. And he writes asking, how should we think biblically about distractions during worship services? And, you know, I appreciate the candor with which this question has asked

has to do with disruptive children, with noise, with people getting up and down, people, you know, just in movement during the service. What about those distractions? He said, should I worry about those things? Quote, should members approach those who regularly disrupt services or is that the duty of the pastor, or should we be happy the gospel is being preached

and bear with those things which might or may distract us, end quote. Good question, sensitive question. Let me give an historical context here, which I think might be important. I think if you were to go to a church from, say, many decades past, go back to the 19th century, early 20th century, I think you'd be surprised about a couple of things. I think we all would be. Number one, by how reverent it is, and then secondly by kind of how loud it is, is at the same time. And it is because humans are actually noise makers and the younger of us,

the more noise we make. And throughout most of Christian history, you really haven't had a nursery in which there are children. You really haven't even had side rooms. You've generally had a church room, a church building. And, you know, I've traveled all over the Christian world. And I will tell you that, you know, the vast majority of Christian buildings that are built for worship are basically one room or at least one central room structures. And so evidently a lot of people were in there and there were a lot of human bodies, some of them very little and wiggly, and they were making noise. So my answer to this listener is I really don't know.

I really don't know. There's a balance between order for worship out of respect for the worship of the one true and living God. And there's respect for the fact that, you know, an 18 month old is 18 months old. and you know what the 80 year old that has to get up you know that also is just a fact of nature right now now maybe people are irresponsible and you know you get a lot of people together it's hard even to know exactly why some people are doing certain things and you might think some parents you know you really need to take that child out and by the way I think that in terms of Christian history have pretty good evidence of that that happened from time to time because you can reach a point in

which it's virtually impossible especially in a small room for communication to take place as say the word of God is being preached. But the bottom line is, I think that if we were to go back in Christian history at almost any previous time, we'd be surprised not by how quiet it is, but how loud it is. And now I'm really going to go out on a limb here and say to this listener something that I can't say with a proof text. I can simply say, I really believe, as an evangelical Christian, as a preacher, as a theologian, I really, really believe that it is good that the little wiggly ones are in worship, that we do not separate them out. I believe so much in the power of the preached word that I believe that word has an effect even on tiny little ears and on tiny little hearts. and I believe that being raised in the context of learning how, yes, to sit and be quiet, yes,

but to sit for the preaching of God's word and to sing the songs, the Christians sing together. I will tell you as a grandfather, nothing can make me happier than to see a child on his or her own. And you see the child playing over there. And what you hear is a hymn, a Christian song coming out from the context of worship. there's something so absolutely right about that. So I think I would say I will trade distractions for little children and those who may have other issues, bladder issues or anything else. I'll trade those things for the glory of hearing the preached word together.

And yes, do we want to limit distractions as much as humanly possible? But the key word there, I think, is humanly. All right. Well, some absolutely outstanding questions and a lot more we'll try to get to in days and weeks to come. It's just a sign of the times. It's a part of what it means to live in this world, in between the times, knowing we've got a lot of really important questions to think about, and I'm indebted to listeners for sending them. You can send your questions simply by writing to mail at Albertmuller.com. As I conclude, I want to remind you about Boyce College Preview Day coming up.

It's March 21st to 22nd. I'm incredibly thankful to God for what's happening here at Boyce College. It's just one of the happiest things I get to be involved with. Boyce College is one of the most faithful, outstanding educational options for Christian young people looking for a Christian worldview undergraduate college experience. Every one of those words really important. That Boyce Preview event is March 21 through 22. You can register for the event. You can register a student, a prospective student in your home.

Students and parents will join hundreds of other students and their families for the Boyce Preview event. you'll have the chance to tour the campus, learn more about our academic programs, meet our world-class faculty, and I'm looking forward to meeting those who come, and I'll have the opportunity to speak with you and to you. They're going to have a special Ask Anything session, by the way, a private one just for those gathered here for this event, and that's always interesting. You can register online at boyscology.com slash preview, and if you use the code, the briefing, you can register for free. That's all one word, by the way. The Briefing. Again, Boyce College Preview Day, March 21 through 20 seconds, coming up fast. I hope to see you there.

Thanks for listening to the briefing. For more information, go to my website at Albertmohr.com. You can follow me on Twitter. I go into Twitter.com forward slash Albert Moller. For information on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbtsketech.org. For information on Boyce College, just go to voicecollege.com. I'll meet you again on Monday for the briefing.