{"id":258,"date":"2007-12-06T01:01:36","date_gmt":"2007-12-06T01:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html"},"modified":"2007-12-06T01:01:36","modified_gmt":"2007-12-06T01:01:36","slug":"the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html","title":{"rendered":"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of series: The Barna Update: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities
\n<\/em>Permalink for this post<\/a> \/ Permalink for this series<\/a>
\nA couple of posts ago I began commenting on the latest Barna Update<\/em><\/a>. As you may recall, it highlights four “mega-themes” in our culture. They are:<\/p>\n

\u00e2?\u00a2 Americans\u00e2?? unconditional self-love
\n\u00e2?\u00a2 Nouveau Christianity
\n\u00e2?\u00a2 The five Ps of parenting
\n\u00e2?\u00a2 Designer faith with rootless values.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Last time I shared some thoughts on the first two of these mega-themes. Today I’ll focus on the last two.
\nThe Five P’s of Parenting<\/strong>
\nThese “five P’s” come from George Barna’s recent book, Revolutionary Parenting<\/a><\/em> (Barna, 2007). They are:<\/p>\n

1. Preparation
\n2. Performing well
\n3. Pressure management
\n4. Protection
\n5. Public perception<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>Two comments stood out to me:<\/p>\n

Most parents do not see themselves as the key to grooming a well-rounded child; they believe their role is to place their child in developmental environments and under the tutelage of those who can take their prodigies to the next level of proficiency.
\nMany parents, even those who are born again Christians, also overlook the need to foster deeper a connection between their children and God, or to enhance the child\u00e2??s worldview as a critical component of their decision-making skills.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These observations fit with what I have seen during my tenure as a pastor, though with plenty of exception. Many parents underestimate their role and responsibility as the primary<\/em> encouragers of their children’s intellectual and spiritual growth. They expect schools to grow their children’s minds and churches to develop their children’s spiritual lives. Of course schools and churches play a central role in this process. But parents are essential.
\nWhy do parents minimize their role as educators and disciplers of their children? Partly, they have bought into a professionalism model, in which only trained professionals do the heavy lifting with children. Partly, parents feel insecure about their own abilities. And partly, Christian parents are sometimes ignorant of their God-given responsibility to nurture the faith of their own children. All of this opens up a huge opportunity for the church to teach and encourage parents to be the parents God has called them to be.
\nDesigner Faith with Rootless Values<\/strong>
\nHere’s an excerpt from the Barna website:<\/p>\n

As young adults, teenagers and adolescents have become accustomed to radical individualism, they have introduced such thinking and behavior into the faith realm, as well. Faith is an acceptable attribute and pursuit among most young people. However, their notions of faith do not align with conventional religious perspectives or behavior. For instance, young people are still likely to claim the label “Christian,” but the definition of that term has been broadened beyond traditional parameters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In my experience, it’s not just “young adults, teenagers and adolescents” who exemplify “designer faith with rootless values.” My own generation of boomers has done this same thing.
\nIn fact, I have found that the younger generations tend to look for a kind of rootedness, one that takes Christian tradition seriously. Our “post-contemporary” worship at Irvine Presbyterian Church, called Veritas<\/a><\/em>, featured an excellent rock-band that regularly used hymns. Our worship leader, Dale Huntington<\/a>, who was in his early 20s, was eager to connect what we were doing in Veritas<\/em> with some of the classic Christian traditions. He, and others like him, wanted a faith with roots.
\nNevertheless, I agree with the Barna Update<\/em> about the tendency for many Christians to pick and choose what they want to believe and obey. Thus the church faces the stiff challenge, not only of teaching biblical truth, but of convincing people that they should accept even the aspects of that truth they find unpalatable. My sense is that, for most people, this kind of convincing will come more from how we live than from how we preach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 2 of series: The Barna Update: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A couple of posts ago I began commenting on the latest Barna Update. As you may recall, it highlights four “mega-themes” in our culture. They are: \u00e2?\u00a2 Americans\u00e2?? unconditional self-love \u00e2?\u00a2 Nouveau Christianity \u00e2?\u00a2 The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-barna-update"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2) - Mark D. Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2) - Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part 2 of series: The Barna Update: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A couple of posts ago I began commenting on the latest Barna Update. As you may recall, it highlights four “mega-themes” in our culture. They are: \u00e2?\u00a2 Americans\u00e2?? unconditional self-love \u00e2?\u00a2 Nouveau Christianity \u00e2?\u00a2 The…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-12-06T01:01:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2) - Mark D. Roberts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2) - Mark D. Roberts","og_description":"Part 2 of series: The Barna Update: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities Permalink for this post \/ Permalink for this series A couple of posts ago I began commenting on the latest Barna Update. As you may recall, it highlights four “mega-themes” in our culture. They are: \u00e2?\u00a2 Americans\u00e2?? unconditional self-love \u00e2?\u00a2 Nouveau Christianity \u00e2?\u00a2 The…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2007-12-06T01:01:36+00:00","author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html","name":"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2) - Mark D. Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-12-06T01:01:36+00:00","dateModified":"2007-12-06T01:01:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2007\/12\/the-barna-update-four-mega-themes-examined-section-2.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Barna Update: Four \u00e2??Mega-Themes\u00e2?\u009d Examined (Section 2)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}