Welcome to a new feature at Westminster. It’s called “The Intel Report! – Briefings from the Front to Equip Today’s Disciple.” You can listen to the audio clip from our Sunday Service (above), where Pastor Ruttan shares the first episode and explains the goal and intent of this new feature or read on to learn more.

Every so often (perhaps every month or two) an interview or talk with be featured that presents a big idea from the world.

“Intel” means “intelligence.” The “front” is a reference the “front lines” of a battle. These topics will cover a range of ideas but are meant to equip you as a modern disciple of Jesus to be more informed, and to help you think through what is going on around you.

Life is a spiritual battle, and we want to have the latest intelligence and think about it critically from a biblical perspective as we seek to be the loving and truthful hands and feet of Jesus in the world.

This first edition is a conversation between sociologist Jonathan Haidt and Russell Moore, the host of the Russell Moore show (a podcast). Moore is also the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today magazine.

Haidt has just released a book called ‘The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.’

In short, mental well-being took a nose dive around 2012. Anxiety, depression and self-harm started to go up. This was when the “phone-based childhood” took off. Haidt explains how we have re-wired childhood. In many ways we have over-protected our children in the physical world and under protected them in the online world.

And it’s not going very well. What’s more is that this generation knows it isn’t going well. Girls and boys are both impacted by all of this, but in somewhat different ways.

How has this all happened so fast, and what do we do?

A part of what makes this conversation (and book) so compelling, isn’t just the research and analysis of where we’re at, but the suggestions for moving forward — not just individually, but collectively as a society.

You should note that ‘The Intel Report’ will present a variety of conversations or talks. Some will be related to current issues or realties (like this one). Some will be controversial. Some won’t. All of them are intended to equip you for modern discipleship. Since we are presenting a variety of conversations, their inclusion here doesn’t mean we necessarily support everything the speaker says, either in this talk or another. We are simply highlighting important information “from the front” to help you for the living of these difficult days.

A thinking Christian is a faithful Christian.

With all that in mind, here is the link to the talk between Russell Moore and Jonathan Haidt. “The Anxious Generation.” You can also find it on the Russell Moore Show podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you subscribe.