See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8
Some false teaching is easy to spot:
“There is no Creator.”
“All religions lead to Heaven.”
“Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.”
“Jesus was just a good teacher.”
Lies like these have been around for as long as people have been around to tell them. They obviously contradict the Bible, and many youth pastors do a good job of equipping their students to counteract overtly heretical beliefs. (Click here to access free equipping resources.)
But every era also has its own set of deceptions — or revamped versions of old ones — that may not be as easy to detect. In the age of reels and TikToks, influencers peddle these attractively packaged falsehoods, often including just enough truth, spiritual buzzwords, or even Scripture to keep Christian teens from recognizing the danger.
Here are three common lies your students are hearing, along with a strategy for grounding them in the truth.
Lie #1: Think positively, and ____ will happen.
This popular philosophy convinces students they can control their lives — their health, wealth, relationships, and destiny — with their own thoughts and words. It sounds compelling, but it’s simply a recycled version of Satan’s first decption, when he told Eve in the garden: ‘You will be like God’ (Genesis 3:5).
Over millennia, this lie has taken many forms. Iterations in more recent years derive from an 1800s movement called New Thought, which includes:
- the Law of Attraction
- manifestation/manifesting prayer
- affirmative/affirming prayer
- The Power of Positive Thinking
- decree and declare (Word of Faith, prosperity Gospel)
- The Secret
These twisted thoughts are often presented as Christian ideas — or even as a deeper, more spiritual form of Christianity — making it easy for believing teens to get sucked in.
As with most effective deceptions, the ideas contain threads of truth. Proverbs 17:22, for example, describes how our thoughts and attitudes can affect our health, and Romans 12:2 tells us that renewing our minds will transform us.
But these aren’t formulas to guarantee good health or any other specific outcomes. Instead, they’re an admonishment to focus our minds on God and His Word and to follow His ways, no matter what happens to us in this life.
Proponents of this idea sometimes cite Jesus when He says:
‘Ask, and it will be given to you.’ Matthew 7:7
But if you continue reading through verse 10, it’s clear He’s not saying God is a magic genie who gives you whatever you want. Instead, He’s a good Father who gives you what’s best for you. When you’re truly seeking and looking to Him, He fulfills the legitimate need beneath the request, not necessarily the exact request itself.
We see this truth again in John 14:14, when Jesus tells His disciples:
‘You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’
To ask in Jesus’s name means to ask according to His will and desires, not our own. In the verse right before this one, Jesus says that the reason He’ll answer the request is so that the Father will be glorified through Jesus, not to gratify the asker’s desires. And in the very next verse, Jesus emphasizes that the disciples must obey His commands, not the other way around.
Lie #2: We are all God’s children.
This lie sounds so good.
Promoted through memes, reels, songs, movies and TV shows, and everyday conversation, it’s used as a call to unity and tolerance. Unfortunately, its feel-good message is dangerous, because it undermines the Gospel.
The Bible makes it clear that only people who trust in Jesus alone for salvation are God’s children. The Gospel of John, for example, says:
Yet to all who did receive Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13
And in Romans 8:1-13, the apostle Paul contrasts people who are led by God’s Spirit with those who aren’t, and then states:
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:14
And in Ephesians 1:13-14, he explains that we are led by the Spirit of God only when we believe in the Gospel for salvation.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of His glory.
This means that when we say that everyone is God’s child, it dismisses the need for people to trust in Jesus to be adopted into God’s family.
What we can truthfully assert is:
- Every human is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and therefore has immense worth and dignity.
- God loves every person who has ever lived (John 3:16) and wants them to turn to Him in faith for salvation (2 Peter 3:9).
- God adopts into His family anyone who believes in Him (John 1:12, John 3:15-18).
That is truly good news.
Lie #3: Anyone who talks about Christ is a Christian.
“Jesus” is all over social media. Celebrities and influencers wear crosses and crowd students’ feeds with reels about God or Christ, sometimes even citing Scripture. The posts can be compelling, but often the Jesus they’re repping is one they’ve fashioned themselves, not the true Jesus: ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world’ (John 1:29).
They might talk, for example, about the spiritual peace and fulfillment they’ve found through Christ or “Christ consciousness.” But if you scratch beneath the surface, you find they’re not referring to having “the mind of Christ,” which the apostle Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 2:16, but rather ancient mysticism wrapped in Christian terms and out-of-context Scripture. Christ-consciousness adherents say that Jesus was given the title Christ because He achieved a higher state of being that transcends the material world. The goal is to strive for this same state by realizing the divine in yourself and others and to become a vessel of love that is never negative and never judges (a twisted reading of Matthew 7:1). But this concept of “Christ” is not found in the Bible.
Students might get excited if a friend mentions Jesus. Or a music artist sings about “the man upstairs.” Or an influencer says God spoke to them. But as leaders, we have an opportunity to teach teens to slow down and examine someone’s claims before concluding they’re a faithful Christian who can provide inspiration and guidance. As John wrote to the Church:
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
We must teach teens to be like the Jews in Berea, whom Paul said were noble because they tested everything they heard against the Scriptures to determine if it was true (see Acts 17:11). We must also equip them to interpret the Bible faithfully when they do look there for truth.
What you can do
These are just three of many viral lies that bombard your students daily. But no matter what deception they encounter, the Gospel is the antidote. Here are ways you can make sure they’re getting the dose they need:
- When you talk with teens, consistently point them back to the inoculating effect of the Gospel, as revealed in the Bible. As Paul reminded the church at Corinth:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 2 Corinthians 4:4-5
- Preach “Jesus Christ as Lord” every time your group gathers to help them deeply understand the Gospel and learn how to articulate it.
- Encourage civil discussion about the ideas they’re hearing. Don’t panic if they seem to be buying some of the lies. Instead, ask them questions about what they believe and why. Share relevant Scripture, but don’t make the Word feel like a hammer. Instead, ask for their reaction to it and dialogue with them about it.
- Take your group through lessons that address these and other worldly philosophies and stack them up against God’s Word. Or conduct an Asking for a Friend series, in which you tackle students’ anonymously submitted questions, which will inevitably touch on some culturally popular ideas that don’t jibe with the Bible.
Whatever you do, don’t shy away from engaging with students about the ideas they encounter and, most importantly, giving them tools to run everything they hear through the perfect filter of God’s Word.
