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A hippo named Moo Deng is taking over the internet, an outpouring of support from Christian organizations is helping survivors of Hurricane Helene, and for the first time, young men outnumber young women in evangelical churches. But first:

Resource of the Week

“Fake news” keeps making headlines, and trust in the media is at an all-time low. Is there still a way to find truth and goodness in what we watch, read, and play? We think so. Axis partnered with our friends at The Pour Over (a politically neutral, Christ-first news source) to create a new course on media discernment. This course unpacks how and why to apply a critical eye to the media we engage with—everything from music, movies, and video games to statistics, news articles and online advertisements. We hope you’ll check it out!

Three Conversations

1. Pork Roll

What it is: A baby pygmy hippo from Thailand named Moo Deng (which translates to “bouncy pork”) has stolen hearts across the internet over the last few weeks.

Why she’s so popular: Moo Deng’s chubby cuteness, tiny ferocity, and propensity to toothless-ly bite her caretakers feels like it was manufactured in a lab designed to create viral internet moments. The pocket-sized hippo has inspired countless memes, an SNL sketch, skincare routines, and most remarkable of all—a wholesome internet trend. While Moo Deng could probably inspire some deep, spiritual point, sometimes it’s worth celebrating the world in which we live and the cute (and ferocious) creatures who share it with us (see also: Pesto the penguin).
Continue the conversation: Why do people love watching baby animal videos online?

2. Hurricane Helene

What it is: TikTok footage of the hurricane that created a 500-mile path of destruction in the US is spreading awareness of the disaster—and providing people with opportunities to help.

What Christians should know: Ministries like Samaritan’s Purse, Send Relief, and Convoy of Hope are on the ground to address the widespread destruction of this storm. Even though resources are stretched thin, these ministries are partnering with local communities in hardest-hit Asheville, North Carolina as well as communities in Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. Grassroots invitations to donate to these efforts have been going viral online as Christians and other compassionate people feel led to give what they can to those who have lost so much. Even in times of unthinkable devastation, God gives us so many ways we can serve, uplift, pray for, care about, and be really, physically present for meeting the needs of our neighbors.
Continue the conversation: What have you heard about the impact of Hurricane Helene? What can we do to help?

3. Outnumbered

What it is: For the first time in recent memory, young men are more likely to be religious than young women, a study of 5,000 Americans found.

Why it’s bittersweet: According to Ruth Graham at the New York Times, this demographic shift shouldn’t surprise us all that much. For several years, researchers have noted that young men and young women are moving in opposite ideological directions on key social issues. Graham notes that Gen Z men seem to place a higher value on having children and upholding traditional gender roles, which could be what draws them to finding or staying in a church. For Gen Z women, these stats are a reflection of why they’re leaving the pews, and those very same conservative attitudes towards gender roles are being cited as a major reason for their exodus. No matter where you land on said gender roles, it shouldn’t be controversial to say the church needs men and women engaging in the work of the Kingdom together.

Let’s translate this one further…

We should grieve the way young women are feeling unwelcome and undervalued in the church, and their disillusionment is somber news that Christians should aim to understand. But it’s also worth asking why men are being drawn back to Christianity.

One of the most consistent themes of the Biblical wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job) is the value of good friendship. When Solomon argues in Ecclesiastes that a cord of three strands is not easily broken, it’s meant to demonstrate the importance of having friends who will have your back. Job’s friends gain points by grieving with him, but their poor advice reveals their flawed perspectives and friendship. Proverbs 27:6 says the friends who challenge and “wound” us are the faithful ones.

These verses don’t only apply to male friendships, but they do show us a healthy picture of what they could look like. Modern male friendships, at least the ones we see on streaming shows and YouTube, are a far cry from Biblical examples like the soul-connection of the warrior-king David and Jonathan, his loyal best friend. In our culture, radical is the environment that celebrates healthy masculinity while calling out its more fallen aspects for what they are: sin.

We reached out to a men’s leader of a local church, and he told us there’s a real desire from most young men to receive guidance and mentorship from older men of God. They’re looking for other men to pour into them, to pick them up when they’re down, to “wound” them when necessary, to say the hard truths, but not leave them to wrestle with those truths alone. He shared that “men are looking for someone to tell them or show them where they fit and where they are needed in the church.”

A church community that offers accountability, mentorship, and brotherhood feels radically different from what the rest of the world offers young men. Maybe young men are returning to faith, not because it makes life easier or reinforces what they already believe, but because they desperately need guidance, meaning, and other men to challenge them to be more like Jesus, a fully redeemed picture of masculinity. As parents and trusted adults, part of our role is to walk alongside and support the young men we love as they walk through that refining fire of the Gospel.

For a full “translation” of everything in this issue, check out our Monday Roundtable podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. In the meantime, here are three questions to spark conversation with your teens:

Continue the conversation:
  • Do you feel like guys are more involved in church than girls?
  • When you think of a man in the Bible, who comes to mind first—after Jesus?
  • What do you think our world would look like if more men lived like Jesus?

Parenting together,
The Axis Team

PS: This week we interviewed Mary Jo Sharp, the director of content at Darkroom Faith, about apologetics, logic, and how to reach a skeptical generation with the love of Christ. Check it out here!