Why Young Men Are Leaving the Church for Secular Voices – Highlight Episode 375

A growing hunger for purpose and meaning among young men has left many susceptible to secular influencers who offer fragmented truths apart from Christ. Ray, E.Z., Mark, and Oscar discuss how the church must respond with intentional discipleship, presence, and bold engagement to guide this generation toward genuine faith. They emphasize that true masculinity, authority, and purpose are found not in cultural substitutes or political agendas, but in a life rooted in Christ. The guys highlight the importance of investing in relationships, speaking life into young men, and modeling godly leadership both in the church and at home. Through relational investment, family devotion, and faithful exhortation, believers can impact young men and set them on a path of lasting transformation that honors God and shapes future generations. They call the church to rise above cultural distraction, prioritize gospel-centered mentorship, and be unwavering in pointing this generation to the truth and life found only in Jesus.

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Learn more about the hosts of this podcast.
Ray Comfort
Emeal (“E.Z.”) Zwayne
Mark Spence
Oscar Navarro

Transcript

Defining Secular Manhood

SPEAKER_02 0:00

This is an interesting tidbit that I came across about what these secular voices are doing, what they're providing. Secular manhood. It defines manhood without God, strength without holiness, courage without repentance, leadership without love. It turns women into props, conquests, or threats. It inflates ego, not humility. It builds brand, not character, and it produces Pharisees, not disciples. It offers behavior change and self-help without a new heart.

SPEAKER_03 0:30

You could be the most conservative person in the world, but without Christ, you'll be the most conservative person in hell. Right? So what we need to be we need to be careful with that and who we listen to, why we listen to, who we're listening to. I came across a quote several years ago, probably 35 years ago, and it was what will a hungry man eat if he's hungry enough? And the answer is anything. If he's hungry enough, he will eat anything. That's why the the best seasoning is hunger. So if if you're if you're hungry, it doesn't matter how bland that thing is, you're gonna feast at that table. So when we start talking about young men that are flocking towards the the Tates and the the Rogans and other people, well, what is going on? There's a hunger that's going on, and we've been designed with that hunger. I think that within our DNA, that we have been designed to behold God. God is designed. What's the problem here? We substitute that. This is what the modern church does. We say, you have a God-shaped hole, a vacuum that only God can fill. And so they respond in that experimental fashion, and then they try to see if that claim is true and they get disillusioned. Our ears have been designed to listen, right? We've been designed to hear. And if you're not speaking into the void of that young man, somebody is. If you're not teaching your kids, your next door neighbor is. There are people and things that are vying for your time. And if you're not listening to the sweet voices of Christ found inside the word of God, well then the sirens will dash you up against the rocks with their waves and they will swoo you away with their sweet voices that will not make any sense. It'll seem to be heady, but there will be no substance to it whatsoever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Yeah. And Mark, you know, you talked about that seasoning uh and and that hunger. But what's making these young people hungry, these

Hollow Promises And Godless Masculinity

SPEAKER_02 2:30

young men specifically hungry to go after these social influencers instead of the church? And I'm talking about even young men growing up in the church. Well, I think first of all, we've seen what's happened to the attack on men. You know, I think our friend Owen Strand, The War on Men, right? He wrote a book on that. And there is, right? I mean, and and we've been seeing this for decades, and you see it in the world's marketplace through its bully pulpit, through movies and TV programs and commercials and advertisements and whatnot. Men are always denigrated. It's the Homer Simpson syndrome. You know, dad is a big buffoon, he's a town idiot, you know, kids rolling their eyes at dad, men, you know, and and so I think men are starting to look and say, whoa, they're like waking up, and then you have these voices that come in and they're speaking with authority, and they're touching on things that are resonating with men. Like, no, God's made you to be masculine, you know, but they won't come at it from that standpoint. But hey, you're a man, you're designed this way, and it's your nature, and you're and so it's like, whoa, wait a minute, you have purpose and you've got so I think a big part of it though is not just that these voices are rising up, but the the voice of the church is being muffled and it's self-muffled. You know, we're not recognizing that discipleship happens through intentionality, it's not by default. We are to make disciples of men and pour into them and influence them in that way.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

So much of what's happening is that men do not have the sense of purpose that they are meant to have. And so they're seeking these false sense of alternatives. Victor Frankel says, here's what will happen. He says, Men will wish to do what other people want them to do, that's conformism, or he'll do what other people wish him to do, that's totalitarianism. And so, in other words, what's happening is that because we have this meaning vacuum in our lives, we are looking to other people. We would think, no, we look within ourselves, but you there's no possible way for you to look for meaning inside of yourselves. You will always find it in the context of the relationships, community, or tribes that you find yourselves in. And so they look to these men for meaning and purpose. And so many of these guys, like you pointed out, they're being told that any form of masculinity is toxic. They're being told there's no difference between men and men, men and women. When God created us to be men, and I think what these social media influences are doing is they're tapping in, they're touching on something that is true. God ordained. You are a man

Hunger, Siren Voices, And Influence

SPEAKER_01 5:10

and you were made for something. You were made for God's purpose to glorify him and enjoy him forever, and you were made for a specific purpose in this day and age, but you are losing that. You're not living that thing out. And so they're kind of settling for less than, right? They have the longing, the longing of their heart is there, but they're turning to pagan poets who are touching only briefly on the truths of God. And what we have, not we, but like the scripture, what we have is the truth of the purpose that they're actually looking for.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

So what do we do? How do we reach this whole generation? Do we become more philosophical than Jordan Peterson and talk in that vein to get their attention? Well, the answer's the gospel. And I was just reading about uh Anglican ministers that are around at the time of George Whitfield and how they were almost, how can I put it, there's something sort of wishy-washy about Anglican ministers. Stuffy is the word that was used by us reading. That that's the stuff they seek for an Anglican minister. He's just stuffing and talk like you shouldn't. They used to mock Whitfield because he wept while he was preaching. They said sometimes, one quote is when he's it's like he's just lost, he cannot bring himself back to control because he's so overwhelmed. And Whitfield addressed it by saying this, you blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you're not weep for yourselves, though your own immortal souls are on the verge of verge of destruction? And we tend to forget about hell. It's something I try and meditate on as much as I can, and that's why our prayers and preaching are tearless. Because we've forgotten about hell. Oh my friends said Oswald J. Smith, we touched on this the other day. Oh my friends, we're loaded down with countless church activities, while the real work of the church, that of evangelizing and winning the lost, is almost entirely neglected. And the fields, Jesus said, are white to the harvest. All these people that are flocking to Penison and all these other guys to listen to them, they're ready for the gospel. Yeah. But just the laborers are few. And almost daily, for many years, I've cr I've cried out, Lord, raise up laborers. Because we've been told to pray that. You know, pray the Lord of the harvest that he'll raise up laborers. And we tend not to pray to God to raise up laborers if we're not a laborer ourselves, because that condemns us in our conscience. I'm not laboring, how can I pray for laborers? So the church needs to, we need to um electrify the pews.

SPEAKER_03 7:33

We think, well, what can one person do? What can I do in the life of my friend's son? You could ask him how he's doing, and you could say it in such a way that maybe their parent is not able to speak into their life. I was with a pastor inside of a restaurant, and there was a young child with a mother, but the the child was acting up, and the pastor went over and got down on his knees and started speaking life into that child about obeying the mother. And the child stopped and stopped what he was doing, and the mother looked over at the pastor and just said, Thank you. Wow. So it carries over, it crosses over into other people that we don't even know to speak life.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Yeah. That's what discipleship looked like in the early church. And I think it's it is really the answer because it's not like what we're saying here, what we're kind of alluding to here is like, hey, listen, the answer to this is not turn the young men in your life that are listening to Jordan Peterson to the Living Waters podcast, to a pastor. Actually, I think what we're saying here is disciple them. Come alongside of them. And that's what that's exactly what the early church used to do. I'm, I, you know, I'm just thinking, you guys reminded me, just this interaction the other day, you know, Tany, your son and I, we've gotten really close over the last year or two. Um, I would say we do life together. He's come over for dinner, we hang out, whatever the case. And my kids really enjoy him. So just the other day, I took Levi to a concert, and Tanya happened to be there as well. And when the concert was over, we turned the corner, and the second Levi saw Tany, he bolted over to him and gave him a hug. And then they were sitting there talking for 15, 20 minutes. And I remember thinking to myself, because I know him, that is exactly the kind of man I want in my son's life. And that's the beauty of discipleship. Um, that it's this mutual exchange of edification, of the glory of God, of fruitfulness bearing out in one another.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Yeah. And look, what was the influence behind Tanny's life? Mark. And now Tanny's influencing your son. That that example, man, is powerful. You emulate the people around you. You know, you see some of these videos online of these

Why Young Men Flock To Influencers

SPEAKER_02 9:40

like gangster kids. I'm talking like five-year-olds walking around with guns, and you know, yeah, like Ray. Yeah. And and they're, you know, but where did they where did they learn that? They're watching the men around them, you know. And I think it, you know, Titus 2, too, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, and love and patience. You know, that's who we're called to be as men, to influence, you know, the other other men.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

Well, that's the power of the gospel, because this book is the instruction book for looking after your family. Yeah. And that's what's happened with this world. They've turned their back on the instruction book and everything.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

So we start with a family devotion, a devo. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Thank you for tuning in to this week's highlights from the Living Waters podcast, friends. We value your time. So we've created a bite-sized version of our podcast for listeners who want to get equipped without the jokes and fellowship. Be sure to check out the full episode every Thursday where we dive deeper into the topic. Until then, you can watch the full podcast episode available now on LivingWaters.tv.