Pilot asked Jesus - 
What is Truth?  

· Truth is to be discovered outside ourselves 
· Youth today - truth is to be created.  All truth is personal opinion, personal perspective 

Definition of Old Tolerance - to recognize and respect other’s beliefs, practices, etc. without sharing them, to bear or put up with someone or something not especially liked. 

Definition of New Tolerance - Every individual beliefs, values, lifestyles and truth claims are equal… there is no hierarchy of truth.   All truth is relative and no truth is superior. 

Cost of Tolerance 

1. Biblical Truth 
2. Jesus and the Cross 
3. Sin 
4. The Church 

New Tolerance Implications: 

· Death of Truth 
· Disappearance of virtue - Bravery, Honesty, Integrity, Reverence, Civility, Humility, Generosity, Compassion 
· Demise of Justice 
· Loss of Conviction 
· Privatization of Faith 
· Tyranny of the Individual 
· Disintegration of Human Rights 
· Dominance of Feeling 
· Exaltation of Nature 

What does this new tolerance mean in the way youth today view the world? 

Proof in the Pudding 
Newspaper articles 

Today the following is in vogue: 

· Trust your feelings in order to access them 
· Your focus determines your reality 
· We instill our own morals and ethics 

Columbine - Eric and Dylan - most to least offensive human behaviors and took action 

· 4800 kids killed with a gun 
· Personal values systems - the individual decides his or her own moral ethics 

Data - 209 young people surveyed - 204 said that they would lie 

Out of 338 - 334 said lying was wrong 

Fargo Survey - 11/7/99 

· Cheated 37% 
· Lied to a parent - 40 % 
· Intentionally tried to hurt someone emotionally - 69 % 
· Believe you have to have the experience - 31 % 
· Believe human is not capable of understanding God - 33 % 

Belief vs. behavior - 0 % correlation 

Why is lying wrong? 

· My parents taught me that it was 
· The 10 Commandments state what is Right and Wrong, but does not say why - pure unadulterated legalism 
· We are now at the stage of “It is true because I believe it”; versus “I believe it because it is true”. 

What are we to do? 

LOVE 

· Love as Christ Loved Us. - we were created in God’s image and Christ died for us. 
· Love your neighbor as yourself. 
· Love won’t ignore the truth 
· Love won’t minister condemnation 
· Aggressively live in love and humbly live in truth 
· Love won’t neglect peoples needs 
· Remember, we are in a mission field, not a battlefield 

· Webster’s Definition - Has fidelity to an original - example: liter of Coke versus the official weights and measure standards in France 
· It is not right or wrong because I teach them it is right or wrong, it is right or wrong because it is! 
· You cannot take a child further than you have taken yourself 

Why are things right?  Why are things wrong? 

· Start with a PRECEPT: Stopping here is legalism 
· Next go to a PRINCIPLE: a broad standard that relates and applies to a number of different moral issues 
· Finally reveal the PERSON, CHARACTER AND NATURE OF GOD: God’s nature, character and person is the absolute moral truth of right - things like true, justice, mercy, love and everything else. 

Examples: 
· Thou shall not kill 
· Sanctity of life 
· God is life 
· Lying is wrong 
· Honesty 
· God is truth 

Respect every authority, but challenge every authority. 

Things are wrong because they are contrary to the very person, nature, and character of God. 

How to get kids to believe? 

With every negative commandment there are two positives: 

· Protect you 
· Provide for you 

Umbrella - God’s commandments serve as an umbrella for us.  If we move out from under the umbrella, we move out of his provision and protection. 

Every single precept is meant to protect and provide. 

So we need to get across two concepts: 

· God loves us. 
· You can trust Him. 

Without this understanding it is hard to: 

· See the end from the beginning 
· See the consequences from the choices 

Perspectives/Paradigms 

· Thought/Idea 
· Thinking - the process of asking questions and asking questions.  Intellectually arguing the idea or thought to a logical conclusion. 
· Feeling - moving the head knowledge to the heart 
· Belief - Giving the table top (idea) legs 
· Conviction - Deep internalization of the thought or idea in our heart and mind. 
· Commitment - Playing the action over in your mind 
· Exercise my will to an - Action 
· Series of repeated actions - Habit 
· Stronghold 

God is outside us, beyond us and above us 

Definition of love - Ephesians 5:28 

· To Nourish 
· To Cherish 

Or 

· To provide 
· To protect 

God is LOVE! 

Sexuality 

· 2 sexual diseases in 50’s/60’s 
· Today 38 - More children born with birth defects today caused by a sexually transmitted disease that the polio epidemic did in the 50’s.  Last 12 months, more people born with birth defects than in the 10 years of the polio epidemic. 
· HPV - Human Pappaloma Virus 
o 67 strains 
o 28 passed sexually 
o Has killed 10 times as many women as HIV/AIDS. 
· 31 % failure rate of condoms 
· Everyone is doing it - well if everyone is doing it then it shouldn’t be to hard to find someone 
· Do you want to get in the back seat?  - No I would just as soon ride in the front seat with you. 
· Let me make a man or woman out of you - Dogs or 12 years olds have had sex and it has not made a man out of them 

Remember 
· God calls us to refrain from sexual immorality 
· Biblical principles - sex is an expression of love, Paul’s one flesh.  Sex is an expression of purity when kept in marriage.  The circle, the union of two to become one 
· God is pure and God is love - Cherish and nurture, protect and provide 
 

We need to create a personal value system based on the Word of God that reflects the person, nature and character of God. 

· Maturity - Mentally 
· Favor - Spiritually 
· Favor - Relationally 
· Status - Physically 

He is outside us, beyond us and above us. 

How to get our children or adults for that matter to live it? 

Build a relationship, be an example and share the truth. 

· Emotional attachment 
· Loving bond 
· Intimate connection 

Parental influence 

· 33 % of kids with only mom 
· 68 % of kids with 2 parents but and poor dad role model 
· 0.06 % of kids with 2 parents and a good dad role model 

Structure precedes function - function comes out of structure 

Versus- Structure follows function 

4 simple steps - to infinitely value dignity and worth 

· Acceptance - sense of security - unconditional acceptance 
· Appreciation - sense of significance 
· Affection - sense that I am lovable - lovability 
· Availability - sense of importance 

Things to remember -  

· Our kids security is proportional to our vulnerability 
· Need to learn to catch our kids doing things right and praise them - should develop less of a need to deal with wrong behaviors 
· Express it verbally 10x per day and physically through hugs and pats on the shoulder or back. 
· Availability - Jesus said to all the children to come unto me. 
· Rules without relationships lead to rebellion 

How do we counter the culture? 

· Expose Christians to the issues around New Tolerance and Right From Wrong 
· Choose our issues wisely 
· Build a coalition 
· Know the why’s behind the wrong 
· Be prepared for opposition 
· Counter the principles, not the people 
· Fight the good fight. 

Photographic mind but no film.