Breaking deception to live truthfully
In Lesson 05 of the +amigos discipleship course, as we studied John 3:14–18, we encountered the very core of the Christian message: eternal life is a gift from God, given through faith in Jesus—the only Son who was lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him may be saved. Yet for many teenagers and young adults in the “forever while it lasts” generation, words like salvation, eternal life, hell, or even faith have become nearly unrecognizable. They sound distant, irrelevant, abstract—and even absurd. Why?
Younger generations have grown up in a culture deeply suspicious of institutional authority—religion, school, government, church. Anything that sounds dogmatic, definitive, or absolute feels oppressive or outdated. They’ve learned to process the world through micro-narratives: a thirty-second clip, a charismatic influencer, a tear-jerking video. At the same time, they’re shaped by therapeutic discourses that place the self at the center and define truth as subjective. Instead of seeking the truth revealed by God, they seek emotional comfort, embrace agreeable messages, and avoid any real confrontation with spiritual reality.
Meanwhile, prosperity theology has lost its shine. Promises of wealth, success, and instant healing could not withstand real pain, rising anxiety, and the lived experience of suffering. As a result, many simply discard the Christian message as just one more narrative among many. Talk of hell sounds like an ancient myth. Talk of heaven feels like empty hope—a naïve consolation. The Church, for many, has lost its power to speak meaningfully.
But the Gospel, by definition, is revelational. It is not a symbolic or therapeutic story. It is divine truth breaking through human illusion. The mandate to preach this Gospel still stands—even when opportunities are scarce, even when people prefer fables and myths, even when they choose teachers who tell them what they want to hear (2 Tim. 4:1–5). This is the condition of our time, and this is our calling. We’ve come to the role of disciple-makers for such a time as this.
In this context, teenagers and young adults begin to approach discipleship. They come with dulled senses, intoxicated by years of cultural lies, ideologies, emotional wounds, and the pursuit of pleasure. Isaiah 6 describes such a generation: “they hear but do not understand; they see but do not perceive.” Yet to the one who says, “Here I am,” God gives a mission—to proclaim until eyes are opened, ears are unstopped, and hearts become sensitive again.
That’s why John 3:16 must be declared urgently and clearly: “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Eternal life is not just a future promise. It’s a present reality that begins the moment a person believes. They move from condemnation into saving light. They leave behind deadly deception and begin to live in truth, sensitivity, and fullness. Eternal life is the freedom to see, hear, and feel reality as God sees it.
This generation needs to understand that the world is like a drug: it offers momentary relief but poisons, enslaves, and ultimately destroys. Life without Christ is a numbed existence—unable to perceive its own identity. The Gospel is the detox. It is the clarity that comes from truth. To be saved is to awaken from the trance and live consciously and eternally. This is the kind of language today’s youth can understand. It gives them a real reason to pray, to seek God’s Word, to walk with other believers, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They begin to recognize that they are in a battle against deception. And that the Gospel is the weapon that sets them free.
As we study John 3:14–18 with them, the disciple-maker must cling to their disciple and do everything possible to help them see this truth. Pray with them. Share your testimony. Ask what they understand. Answer with patience. Be a living mirror of the sobriety that eternal life brings. In this context, salvation is a rupture with illusion—and that only happens when the Holy Spirit brings conviction. The role of the discipler is to make truth visible, audible, and tangible.
There will be signs that this is happening: the young person begins to question what they once accepted without thought. They begin to resist distractions. They begin to seek truth—even if hesitantly. They begin to love Jesus—even without understanding everything. This is the beginning of eternal life. The beginning of a real, revealed, conscious, and full existence. That is what salvation is about. That is the gift of God: to step out of condemnation, to leave behind blindness, and to live in truth. Eternity begins when we believe.
